Prepared by Nhia Vang ANTH/SOC 3602

Feburary 5, 2010

Examined how and why gender relations contested in Nicaragua during the 1990 election to 1992

Argued “Nicaragua debates over gender take place with reference to the revolutionary mobilization of the 1980s: rejecting it, embracing it, or, most often in ambivalent relation to it.”

Focused on politics surrounding gender relations

Political alliances that formed regarding gender

The image of Chamorro

The ideal woman was Loyal wife and widow Reconciling mother Virgin MaryShe was elected president in 19901992 women organizations were mobilized In an interview she stated “I am not a feminist nor do I wish to be one. I am

a woman dedicated to my home, as Pedro taught me.”

Widow of Pedro Joaquin Chamorro made her an ideal candidate He was assassinated in 1978

During her campaign she used her status and to her advantage She was seen as the good mother She was the good and traditional wife She was seen as the Virgin Mary

Her symbolism to the traditional women resonated with other women 54.7 percent of elderly women voted for her However, this can be a reflection of those who

supported the traditional hierarchical model of the family

Three executive branches Education Day care/social services “Economic conversion”

The UNO aimed to restore the family structure back to its “traditional nucleus” order through structural adjustment

The UNO financed $35 million U.S. dollars to publish a series of books called “Morals and Civics” Discussed “correct” gender and generational

relationships Mother cooking Fathers engaged in paid employment Middles class social class ideal

The authors of argued the purpose of the books were to recapture the family values of the Somoza’s time

Limited services for children Reduced funding caused local

families to keep their local Child Development Centers afloat

Females were entering the work force UNO believed that mothers should be

dedicated to their homes Economic conversions were created to

reduce the size of state bureaucracy Reduced Sandinistas in bureaucracy

and encouraged women to play their traditional roles

Split within the UNO Social conservatives and the laissez-faire

conservative between laissez-faire conservatives in the National Assembly and left-wing activists of the women’s movement

These groups organized around the same interests in gender relations

The Commission on Women proposed revisions of sex-crime legislation in 1992 It was similar to the 1979 criminal code Only women could be raped and it had

to be vaginal penetration 12 men and women Sandinista

representatives signed the drafted bill

The original Act aimed to broaden the definition of rape and

strengthen penalties Eliminated antigay language

However, in the National Assembly version strengthened antigay language Denied raped women the right to abortion

Both were supported unanimously by the UNO , but rejected by the FSLN

The woman's movement questioned Dona Violeta’s representation of gender relations

Her symbolism political policies places restrictions on the women’s movement Her image promoted ascribed roles of

women Her campaign demonstrated these gender

roles