The Role of Women in Spain

There is some evidence, however, that women's position declined after this golden age. Instead of greater liberalization, there was a backlash after the Protestant Reformation in which the Catholic Church sought to impose its rule even more severely over the population. This meant control of both men's and women's sexuality, and a strict division of labor along sex roles. These attitudes led to stringent control of women's lives, and great isolation of women within families. During the 19th century, the vast majority of Spanish women were illiterate, and most of the educated were educated in convents. The focus was on creating obedient wives and mothers who fit into arranged marriages, and were willing to accept their husband's mistresses and abuse (Traditional roles, 1997). Although women were given muni

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what their situation. They fundamentally had no identity separate from their father's or their husband's, and juridically they were property of their husband's. Yet, there were vestiges of the liberal thinking that Franco had defeated during the Spanish Civil War. The students, as always, remained rebellious and full of ferment. There were women's organizations, which gradually came into existence, including the Legally Separated Women's organization and a women lawyers' group. There was the Falange, which was acceptable under Franco, because it was a conservative women's group. They did not approve of changes in marriage and family law, although they did support changes in women's position in the community, and increases in women's political rights (Yglesias, 1977). Toward the end of Franco's reign, the stringent enforcement of women's roles and place began to break down. James Michener might have been one of the first to notice this phenomenon with his discussion of the work of the actress Marisol in society. This actress performed in numerous films in which she took active roles in the plot, often wearing men's clothing. Books were also released along with the films, and all of these provided girls and boys with new
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Approximate Word count = 2479
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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