McGill Journal of Political Studies 2014 April, 2014 | Page 48

government like no other organization or
movement had done before, Las Madres de
la Plaza de Mayo defied the assigned gender
roles defined by the concepts of machismo
and marianismo, introducing themselves
into a public sphere traditionally reserved
for men, and confronted the Church and
the military’s ideas regarding the place of
women in society.
Creation of a Political Space for Women
As a result of the cult of machismo and
marianismo, the Mothers, like the majority
of women from the working class, had never
engaged in anything remotely political
before Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo.21
However, the movement would have
important consequences on the political
opportunities of women in Argentina.

“As they continued to confront
the government the Mothers
realized the extent to which
the military was ready to lie in
order to hide its activities and
protect itself.”

The introduction of the Mothers into
political activism began when they accepted
the challenge to continue the fight of their
children. Indeed, most of their children were
abducted for having acted against the regime
or for having expressed dissent toward the
military. As they continued to confront the
government the Mothers realized the extent
to which the military was ready to lie in
order to hide its activities and protect itself22.
As a result, the Mothers decided to pursue
the work of their children by confronting
the government and demanding justice
in a process called “inverted generational
transmission” because it was the Mothers
who “learned from the example set by their
offspring23.”
Fisher, Mothers of the Disappeared, 52.
22
Bouvard, Revolutionizing Motherhood, 175-7.
23
Graciela Di Marco, “Women’s Movements in
Argentina: Tensions and Articulations,” in Women’s Ac21

48 | McGill Journal of Political Studies 2014

From this point on, Las Madres de la
Plaza de Mayo started practicing “social
motherhood,” which implied that, instead
of women striving to protect their own
missing children, they saw themselves as
the mothers of all those oppressed within
Argentinean society and therefore, saw
it as their mission to protect all of these
individuals from the government’s actions.
For example, even after the junta left power,
they took care of the political prisoners that
were arrested and jailed under the military
government and pushed for their cause to
be heard.24 The consequence of the Mothers’
practice of “social motherhood” was the very
politicization of motherhood, making “it
no longer a private exercise in the privacy
of the home subjected to male authority”
but rather a basis for political activism25.
Even after the Supreme Court’s decision to
declare the amnesty laws unconstitutional
and void in 2005, the Mothers continued to
engage in political activism and collaborated
with other human rights organizations and
movements, guaranteeing their persistent
relevance in Argentina26.
The empowerment of women in Argentina
was directly linked to social motherhood.
According to Craske, empowerment is a
“process by which oppressed persons gain
some control over their lives by taking part
with others in development of activities
and structures that allow people increased
involvement in matters which affect them
directly27.” Through social motherhood,
women that were once confined to their
homes found a cause for which to fight,
giving them their first opportunity to
involve themselves in politics. Therefore
the empowerment of women becomes
tivism in Latin America and the Caribbean: Engendering
Social Justice, Democratizing Citizenship, ed. Elizabeth
Maier and Nathalie Lebon (New Brunswick, NJ:
Rutgers University Press, 2010), 161.
24
Bouvard, Revolutionizing Motherhood, 185.
25
Di Marco, “Women’s Movements in Argentina,”
161.
26
Ibid.
27
Craske, Women and Politics in Latin America, 23.

implicit within the movement of the
Mothers, challenging traditional notions of
public and private spheres by demanding
the right to find missing and abducted
children28. Furthermore, the empowerment
of women during this violent period in
Argentina contributed to the expansion
of the place of women in politics. Women
in Argentina, and Latin America more
generally, have increasingly held legislative
and executive positions in political parties
and the government at large29. Additionally
most women’s organizations in Argentina
were created following the movement
of Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. By
politicizing the idea of maternity through
social motherhood, the Mothers created a
political space and opportunities for women
in Argentina who came mostly from the
working class and whose primary role was
being a mother. This, in turn, empowered
many women and led to the introduction of
women in formal politics and to the creation
of many women’s organizations. However,
the concept of motherhood is still central
to the many political activities in which
women engage in Argentina30.
Feminist Critiques
Even though many see Las Madres
de la Plaza de Mayo as one of the most
important women’s movements, it is still
heavily criticized, particularly by feminist
scholars within political science who have
condemned the Mothers for emphasizing
the role of “motherhood” in their cause.
Indeed, they thought “it [locked] women
into a traditional, marginalized and passive
role [...] and [reinforced] the sexual division
of labor” instead of promoting new gender
roles31. As explained previously, Las Madres
de la Plaza de Mayo did not challenge their
role as mothers; rather they based their whole
Ibid, 25.
Di Marco, “Women’s Movements in Argentina,”
162.
30
Craske, Women and Politics in Latin America, 25.
31
Bouvard, Revolutionizing Motherhood, 184.
28
29

campaign on the concept of motherhood.
Many feminists believe that the Mothers
should have found an alternative means to
challenge the government and its violent
activities in a way that directly defied the
traditional place of women in society or, in
other words, in a way that was more radical
to ensure drastic change.
Other middle class feminist groups in
Argentina resembled their counterparts
within the We