«Cuida tu alma y tu cuerpo por Dios y la Falange»: Women’s Education and la Sección Femenina in Franco’s Spain

Author

Madeleine Fontenay, College of the Holy CrossFollow

Date of Creation

5-14-2021

Document Type

Thesis

Department

History

First Advisor

Prof. Theresa McBride

Second Advisor

Prof. Ke Ren

Abstract

My thesis exploration is on La Sección Femenina and its diffusion of female cultural guides and shaping of female education in the early francoist period, from 1939 to 1959. The Sección Femenina and its field offices published work in many facets of women's lives to influence and reeducate women or their values and place. The contrast of rhetoric and reality gives insight into the values and upbringings of generations of Spaniards. By setting the female figure as the foundation of their francoist society, the Sección Femenina held immense cultural power. I am approaching the topic from an educational perspective, focusing my research on publications meant for girls and their mothers. Historians have studied this time period from a religious or gendered perspective, but I want to add to the educational facet. I have concluded that the Sección Femenina did find a space to exert agency and create opportunities for positive change under Franco’s dictatorship, but primarily for elite women. However, in the process of establishing their power, the organization instilled more traditional, distinctly anti-feminist values and gender roles via their media and educational publications for the public. The paradoxes and complexities within the Sección Femenina make it worth further and deeper study, and I hope to contribute to the rich historiography.

Comments

Reader: Prof. Estrella Cibreiro

Departmental Honors thesis for History.

Recommended Citation

Fontenay, Madeleine, "«Cuida tu alma y tu cuerpo por Dios y la Falange»: Women’s Education and la Sección Femenina in Franco’s Spain" (2021). College Honors Program. 24.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/honors/24