The Power of Women: A Comparative Analysis of Women's Movements in Chile, Peru, and the United States
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2000
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Haverford College. Department of Political Science
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Award
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eng
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Haverford users only
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Abstract
In the 1960s the second wave of the women's movement began in the United States and by the 1980s it had gained many rights for women. In the late 1960s and early 1970s a similar phenomenon occurred in Latin America, the second wave of their women's movement began. Many political scientists and theorists, as well as feminists from the United States, believe that the political theory of the feminists in the United States helped to mobilize the women in Latin America. They claim that the example of the women's movement in the United States was followed by women in Latin America and that they furthered the movement for women in Latin America because they had such a good model. "Feminists in the United States claim a universal theory of injustice and a global vision of what is to be done, despite the fact that their experience is generally limited to societies that are wealthy, industrialized, and democratic ... they still tend to view women in the Third World as victims of oppression rather than as creators of feminist theory or as agents of change" (Jaquette 1). These theorists and activists do not see that while there are similarities between the movements there are also large differences, such as which factors mobilized the women, which play greatly into the dynamics of the women's movements in each country. They do not understand that, in fact, much of the feminism copied by the movements in Latin America fragmented the movements there rather than brought them together because the theory and action imposed by outside influences did not apply to many of the experiences of the women they were trying to help. In this paper, by comparing women's movements in the United States, Chile, and Peru, I hope to show that the ways in which feminism in the United States affected the women's movements in Latin America were, in fact, for the most part divisive rather than helpful. To be able to understand the ways in which feminism affected these movements we have to understand first the different feminist political theories that have been developed by feminists in the United States and we need to understand how these feminisms affect the way in which women in these movements interact with one another and the outside world. After looking at the different types of feminisms I will then explore the women's , movements in the United States, Chile, and Peru and look at what mobilized the women to take action and form women's organizations, how the different organizations and wings of the women's movement interacted, and then what is happening today in the women's movements. Once the three cases are explained, then I can compare them and show what similarities and differences they have. I will explore how the similarities and differences bring out different successes, failures, and needs for each individual movement. This will then lead to an exploration of what this can tell us about international feminism and the international community of women.