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Women in Latin America

HIST 6340, Sec. 501, GR 4.208
Spring 2006, T, 7:00-9:45

Dr. Monica Rankin Office: JO 5.714

Email: mrankin@utdallas.edu Office phone: 972-883-2152
Office hours: T/TH 2:00-3:00 Cell phone: 972-822-5375
Website: www.utdallas.edu/~mrankin

Course Description: This course provides an in depth, graduate-level coverage of the

history of Latin America through the lens of women’s roles and activities in the region
from the beginning of the colonial period (roughly 1492) to the present. The course will
require students to examine women in Latin America in the context of existing theoretical
models for Women’s Studies. As a graduate seminar, the course will incorporate critical
analysis of secondary literature and interpretations of primary sources. Students will gain
an understanding of how the history of Latin America viewed through the perspective of
women frequently presents different themes and different emphases than the political,
economic, and social narratives that dominate traditional survey courses. Students will
learn the unique roles women played in their societies compared to men and compared to
women in other societies.

Readings: There are several required books for this course, and one
optional/recommended text. All books should be available in the campus bookstore and
through Off Campus Books. Two copies of most of these books will be on reserve at
McDermott Library. Additional chapters and/or articles will be available on reserve at
the library. A link to the E-Reserve system is on the course website. Our password is
hist6340.

Required Reading
Susan Migden Socolow, The Women of Colonial Latin America (Cambridge University
Press, 2000) ISBN 0-521-47642-9

**Elizabeth Dore, et. al. (eds) Hidden Histories of Gender and the State in Latin America
(Duke University Press, 2000) ISBN 0-8223-2469-5

Irene Silverblatt, Moon, Sun, and Witches: Gender Ideologies and Class in Inca and
Colonial Peru (Princeton University Press, 1987) ISBN 0691022585

Richard Boyer, Lives of Bigamists: Marriage, Family, and Community in Colonial

Mexico (University of New Mexico Press, 2001) ISBN 0826323847

Kathleen Higgins, Licentious Liberty in a Brazilian Gold-Mining Region: Slavery,

Gender, and Social Control in Eighteenth-Century Sabara, Minas Gerais (Pennsylvania
University Press, 1999) ISBN 0-271-01911-5
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Ann Twinam, Public Lives, Private Secrets: Gender, Honor, Sexuality, and Illegitimacy
in Colonial Spanish America (Stanford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0804731489

Steve Stern, The Secret History of Gender: Women, Men, and Power in Late Colonial
Mexico (University of North Carolina Press, 1997) ISBN 0807846430

Christine Hunefeldt, Liberalism in the Bedroom: Quarreling Spouses in Nineteenth-

Century Lima (Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000) ISBN 0271019360

Katherine Elaine Bliss, Compromised Positions: Prostitution, Public Health, and Gender
Politics in Revolutionary Mexico City (Pennsylvania University Press, 2001) ISBN 0-
271-02126-8

Shirlene Soto, Emergence of the Modern Mexican Woman: Her Participation in

Revolution and Struggle for Equality, 1910-1940 (Arden Press, 1990) ISBN 0912869127

Julie Shayne, The Revolution Question: Feminism in El Salvador, Chile, and Cuba
(Rutgers University Press, 2004) ISBN 0813534844

Marguerite Guzman Bouvard, Revolutionizing Motherhood: The Mothers of the Plaza de

Mayo (SR Books, 1994) ISBN 0-8420-2487-5

Pierrette Hongagneu-Sotelo, Gendered Transitions: Mexican Experiences of Immigration

(University of California Press, 1994) ISBN 0520075145

** There are no assigned readings from the Elizabeth Dore book this semester but you
will need to use it for the final project. Purchasing the book is optional.

Recommended Textbook Reading - Optional:**

John Charles Chasteen, Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America
(W.W. Norton & Company, 2001)

**You are not required to purchase or complete any of readings from the Chasteen
textbook. It should be used only as a reference for any students who do not already have
a solid base of knowledge of the historical narrative in Latin American history. It should
be used to clarify references made in the assigned readings to important events in Latin
American history. Many chapters in the Chasteen text also includes a brief description
on how the political, economic, and social events outlined in the chapter affected women
in that time period. It may be useful to review those sections regularly, but students
should focus on the assigned readings to prepare for class.
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Reserve Readings:
Available on McDermott Library E-Reserve system. See the course website for a link.
Password for this class is hist6340.
1. Sueann Caulfield, “The History of Gender in the Historiography of Latin
America,” in Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 81, No. 3-4, 449-490.
2. Joan W. Scott, “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” in The
American Historical Review, Vol. 91, No. 5 (Dec. 1986), 1053-1075.
3. Donna Guy, “Future Directions in Latin American Gender History,” in The
Americas, Vol. 51, No. 1 (July 1994) 1-9.
4. Evelyn Cherpak, “The Participation of Women in the Independence Movement in
Gran Colombia, 1780-1830” in Latin American Women: Historical Perspectives
edited by Asunción Lavrin (Greenwood Press, 1978)
5. Silvia M. Arrom, “Changes in Mexican Family Law in the Nineteenth Century:
The Civil Code of 1870 and 1884,” Journal of Family History, (Fall 1985), 305-
17.
6. Pablo Piccato, “ ‘El Chalequero’ or the Mexican Jack the Ripper: The Meanings
of Sexual Violence in Turn-of-the –Century Mexico City,” in Hispanic American
Historical Review, Vol. 81, No. 3, 623-651.
7. Marysa Navarro, “Evita and the Crisis of 17 October 1945: A Case Study of
Peronist and Anti-Peronist Mythology” Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol.
12, No. 1 (May 1980), 127-138.
8. Francesca Miller, “The Suffrage Movement in Latin America,” Latin American
Women and the Search for Social Justice (Hanover, NH: University Press of New
England, 1991); reprinted in Gertrude M. Yeager (ed.) Confronting Change,
Challenging Tradition: Women in Latin America (Wilmington, DE: 1994) 157-
176.
9. Sandra McGee Deutsch, “Gender and Sociopolitical Change in Twentieth-
Century Latin America” The Hispanic American Historical Review, Vol. 71, No.
2 (May 1991), 259-306.
10. Maria de los Angeles Crummett, “El Poder Feminino: The Mobilization of
Women against Socialism in Chile” Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 4, No. 4
(Autumn 1977), 193-113.
11. Angela Neves-Xavier de Brito; Charlotte Stanley, “Brazilian Women in Exile:
The Quest for an Identity” Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Spring
1986), 58-80.
12. Christine G. T. Ho, “Caribbean Transnationalism as a Gendered Process,” in
Latin American Perspectives, Vol. 26, No. 5 (Sept. 1999) 34-54.
13. T. Bar-On, The Ambiguities of Football, Politics, Culture, and Social
Transformation in Latin America,” Sociological Research Online, Vol. 2, No. 4
<http://www.socresonline.org.uk/socresonline/2/4/2.html>
14. Abelardo Sánchez-León, “The History of Peruvian Women’s Volleyball” in Sport
in Latin American and the Caribbean edited by Joseph L Arbena and David G.
LaFrance (Scholarly Resources, 2002.
15. David Kunzle, “Róger Sánchez’s ‘Humor Erótica’ and the Semana Cómica: A
Sexual Revolution in Sandinista Nicaragua?” in Rereading Women in Latin
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America and the Caribbean: The Political Economy of Gender edited by Jennifer
Abbassi and Sheryl L. Lutjens (Rowmand and Littlefield Publishers, 2002)
16. Antonio C. La Pastina, et. al., “The Centrality of Telenovelas in Latin America’s
Everyday Life: Past Tendencies, Current Knowledge, and Future Research,” in
Global Media Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 2003).
17. Heloisa Buarque de Almeida, “Telenovela and Gender in Brazil” Global Media
Journal, Vol. 2, No. 2 (Spring 2003).

Class Requirements and Grading: The grading in this course is based on weekly
discussions, weekly notes, book reviews, and a final project. The breakdown of the
grading is as follows:

Book Reviews/Weekly Notes 25%

Participation and Discussion Leader 25%
Final Project 50%

Weekly Notes: You will prepare a reading response reading assigned. The papers
should include a statement of the author’s main argument, followed by supporting
evidence the author provides. You should examine the author’s use of sources,
methodology, and theory. Your notes should conclude with a critical analysis of the
readings. In your analysis, you should provide your critique of the readings. This is also
where you should include any information you have about the author that may influence
your interpretation of the readings. It is also appropriate to compare your critique to
published reviews of the readings (where available). Peer-reviewed journals publish
reviews of many historical monographs, and these should be available for the books
assigned in this course. These papers should be typed and prepared prior to class
meetings.

Class Participation: This is a graduate readings seminar and all students are expected to
participate in class discussions. All students will also serve as discussion leader twice
during the course. You will lead discussion for the topics you have chosen for your book
reviews. Discussion leaders will help lead class discussion and should contribute with
leading questions and issues for debate. They are also responsible for finding a short
primary document (or excerpt of a document) that pertains to the week’s topic to
distribute to the class. Next week we will choose the days/topics for discussion leaders.

Book Reviews: The discussion leaders will write book reviews each week. These must
be completed 24 hours before class meets and they must be sent via email attachment to
everyone in the class. Each of you should “grade” the book review prior to coming to
class. We will devote the first part of class every week to assessing each other’s book
reviews. (You will not be required to turn in notes when you write the book review.)

Guide for Writing Formal Book Reviews:

Book reviews are designed to test your knowledge of the arguments and evidence
presented in a monograph, and also to challenge you to critique the work. Book reviews
should be typed and prepared prior to the due date. Each book review should be a
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maximum of three typed pages in length. The review should begin with an introductory
paragraph which briefly states the thesis of the AUTHOR of the monograph as well as a
concise summary of his or her main evidence. The introductory paragraph should
conclude with the YOUR thesis statement or the basic critique/opinion of the work.

Following the introduction, you should include at least one paragraph detailing the
evidence that the author uses to frame the book’s thesis. This evidence should be well-
organized and detailed in the book review. Then the book review should include three to
five paragraphs outlining your argument and evidence. In this part of the book review,
you should consider several questions? How well did the author support his or her
argument? How persuasive was that argument? How important were the author’s main
points? Was the author’s research thorough, or did the book leave out important issues?
What sources did the author use? Were his/her sources lacking or were they sufficient
for the scope of the work? Was the writing style clear and concise, or was the book
difficult to read? The book review should end with a succinct concluding paragraph. I
recommend becoming familiar with professional book reviews published in scholarly
journals. You should use these in your weekly reading and you should use them as a
model for writing formal book reviews.

Final Project: The majority of your grade in this course will be determined by a final
project. You are to write a DETAILED prospectus for a book on the history of women in
modern Latin America (post-independence). You should include a detailed chapter
outline/summary with specific references to readings we have discussed in class this
semester. The Elizabeth Dore volume should also be incorporated into the final project.
You may also incorporate additional readings if appropriate. Please use Susan Socolow’s
Women of Colonial Latin America as a model. I expect this project to be at least 25
pages in length. The due date is listed on the course schedule.

FORMAL WRITING: Book reviews and the final project must follow the format for
formal academic writing. In addition to content, book reviews and formal papers will
also be graded for suitable grammar, appropriate style, and proper mechanics. All papers
must be neatly printed in 12-point font, double-spaced, with page numbers in the top right
corner. Your name, course number, assignment description, date, and my name should
appear at the top left corner of the first page for all weekly notes. All book reviews and
the final project should include a cover page with the above information. Proper citations
must be used in book reviews and formal papers. Please see Kate Turabian’s Manual for
Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations for correct citation styles. Please see
Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers for a guide to grammar and stylistic concerns in formal
writing (see also www.dianahacker.com).

Make ups: No late assignments will be accepted and there is no make-up policy for in-
class work. I will NOT accept final versions of any assignments as e-mail attachments.

Note: As in every class at the University of Texas at Dallas, scholastic dishonesty will
not be tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and
falsifying academic records. For a description of plagiarism and academic dishonesty,
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and the university’s policies on these offenses, see

www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/dishonesty.html. Students engaged in any type of
scholastic dishonesty will be receive a failing grade in this course. NOTE: FULL
CITATIONS MUST BE USED AS APPROPRIATE ON ALL FORMAL PAPERS. Any
students who are unfamiliar with using citations should see me.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO UTD STUDENTS: all course correspondence by e-mail

must now occur through the student’s UTD e-mail address. UT-Dallas provides each
student with a free e-mail account that is to be used in all communication with university
personnel. This allows the university to maintain a high degree of confidence in the
identity of all individuals corresponding and the security of the transmitted information.
The Department of Information Resources at UTD provides a method for students to
forward email from other accounts to their UTD address and have their UTD mail sent on
to other accounts. Students may go to the following URL to establish or maintain their
official UTD computer account: http://netid.utdallas.edu.

Every effort is made to accommodate students with disabilities. The full range of
resources available through Disability Services can be found at
www.utdallas.edu/student/slife/hcsvc.html.

PLEASE NOTE: I reserve the right to make changes to the following course schedule as
needed. All changes will be announced in class with sufficient notice.
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Week 1 Introduction
January 10 Introduction to the Course
Definitions and Concepts

Week 2 The Study of Women in Latin American History

January 17 Socolow, Introduction and Chapters 1-2
Reserve Readings, 1-3
Stevens (Handout)

Week 3 Gender and the Conquest

January 24 Socolow, Chapters 3-4
Silverblatt

Week 4 Family and Religious Life

January 31 Socolow, Chapters 5-7
Boyer

Week 5 Women, Work, and Slavery

February 7 Socolow, Chapters 8-9
Higgins

Week 6 Women and Public Behavior

February 14 Socolow, Chapters 10, 11, and Conclusion
Twinam

Week 7 Latin American Women and the Wars of Independence

February 21 Reserve Reading #4
Stern

Week 8 Women’s Lives in the Nineteenth Century

February 28 Reserve Reading #5
Hundfeldt

March 6-10 Spring Break

NO CLASS

Week 9 Gender and Poverty at the Turn of the Century

March 14 Reserve Reading #6
Bliss

Week 10 The Feminist/Populist Movement in Latin America

March 21 Reserve Readings, #7-8
Soto
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Week 11 Women in Latin American Revolutions

March 28 Reserve Reading #9
Shayne

Week 12 Latin American Women and Military Regimes

April 4 Reserve Readings #10-11
Guzman Bouvard

Week 13 Women, Immigration, and Globalization

April 11 Reserve Reading #12
Hongagneu-Sotelo

Week 14 Contemporary Women and Latin American Popular Culture

April 18 Reserve Readings #13-17

April 25 FINAL PROJECT DUE BY 5:00

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