Women’s Movements, Feminism, and Mexican Politics

This chapter examines the political participation of women in Mexico between 1970 and the early 1990s, paying particular attention to the organizational forms and demands that emerged after the 1982 crisis. It explains how feminist ideas have impinged on the Mexican political process. The chapter provides a historical overview of women's political participation in Mexico after 1916, when the first feminist congress in Mexico took place. It presents the following two case studies of women's political participation during the 1980s: the women's movement in defense of the vote in Chihuahua and women's participation in the popular urban movements in Mexico City. The emergence of the Frente Unico pro Derechos de la Mujer was the most important development for the organized women's movement during the mid-1930s. The chapter discusses the principal elements of the feminist agenda in Mexico in the early 1990s and its impact on Mexican politics.