McGill Journal of Political Studies 2014 April, 2014 | Page 44

Abstract
Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo is part of an ongoing debate in the literature regarding
feminine movements and whether they can be considered feminist. While the movement
has been criticized by feminists for advancing its cause through motherhood, the Mothers
succeeded in carving a space in politics for Argentinean women by challenging the entrenched gender norms. Additionally, the examination of the movement must take capacities into account as the use of feminine values was a direct consequence of the Mothers’
background, in contrast to the middle-class feminists who have criticized them.

G
Los Madres de la Plaza
de Mayo: Feminine or
Feminists?
By Zoé Lajoie

ender equality has become a major
issue for human rights organizations
in recent decades. Indeed, many
organizations have been formed, and are
still formed, all around the world to promote
equality between men and women. While
many of them are ‘feminist’ organizations,
there also exist some that are considered
‘feminine,’ especially in developing
countries. Indeed, feminist organizations
focus on equal opportunity between genders,
while feminine organization promote values
usually associated with women, such as
motherhood, love, caring, etc. However,
the distinction is not as clear as it looks
since these two types of organizations
can sometimes share common goals1. Las
Madres de la Plaza de Mayo is representative
of these blurred distinctions since there has
been an ongoing debate regarding whether
it is a feminist or a feminine movement. This
question remains important because of the
long-term consequences this movement had
on women activism in Argentina, but also
more generally in Latin America.
In this paper I will argue that the
movement of Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo
constituted a feminist movement because
it challenged traditional gender roles as
dictated by the Argentinean government
and Church. It created a space for women
in Argentinean politics even though it was
based on the value of motherhood. First I
will discuss how the movement challenged
Nikki Craske, Women and Politics in Latin America
(New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1999),
165.

1

Keywords: Argentinean Politics, Social Movement, Feminism, Political Activism

deeply entrenched gender roles and norms
in Latin America. Then, I will demonstrate
how the Mothers contributed to the
opening of a political space for women
in Argentina. Finally, I will go over some
of the most important feminist critiques
toward the movement and the Mothers’
responses.
Historical Context
On March 24, 1976, the government
led by Isabel Peron was overthrown by
the military, making it the sixth coup
d’état in Argentina since 1930. However,
this military coup was different from the
previous ones, as it would initiate the
darkest period in the history of Argentina,
one characterized by atrocities committed
by the government. Shortly after the coup,
the statute for the process of national
reorganization, also known as the Proceso,
replaced the constitution and gave the
military full judicial, legislative and
executive powers2.
The military regime was based on the
Doctrine of National Security: the enemies
ostensibly came from within Argentina, not
abroad, and were seen as “[threatening] the
fundamental Western and Christian values
of Argentine society3.” This threat led to the
“dirty war,” or the war against subversion,
which had two main components: direct
Rita Arditti, Searching for Life: The Grandmothers
of the Plaza de Mayo and the Disappeared Children of
Argentina (Berkeley: University of California Press,
1999), 7-8.
3
Arditti, Searching for Life, 12.
2

Los Madres de la Plaza de Mayo | Lajoie | 45