Sección Femenina
The Sección Femenina (SF, dt. Female Section) was a women's organization within the fascist Spanish party Falange and later the official women's representation of the "National Movement" (Spanish Movimiento Nacional ) during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco . The SF had up to 680,000 members.
history
In 1934 Pilar Primo de Rivera , the sister of José Antonio Primo de Rivera and daughter of the former dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera , founded the Sección Femenina within the Falange . In the early years of the Second Republic , the SF primarily took care of party members in prisons and their families, and during the civil war it primarily looked after the surviving families of the fascist soldiers. They were mostly responsible for organizational and support services, such as the issuing of food and ration cards. In contrast to some members of the Mujeres Libres , the largest women's organization on the opposing side, however, they did not take part directly in fighting.
The winter aid organization founded in October 1936 by SF member Mercedes Sanz-Bachiller proved to be very successful and tensions arose between Sanz-Bachiller and Primo de Rivera, who feared for their authority. The winter relief organization was separated from the SF in 1937 and renamed social welfare (Spanish Auxilio Social ). At Sanz-Bachiller's suggestion, a compulsory social service for women was also introduced in the same year.
The SF was raised to the sole legitimate representation of women in Spain in 1939 and, until its dissolution in 1977, took care of the upbringing of the children according to the ideas of the party.
ideology
Some women who were organized in the SF did not necessarily see themselves as fascists, but were mainly enthusiastic about the religiosity and socio-political demands of the Falange and later of the Movimiento Nacional . The political orientation of the organization, however, was largely similar to that of the party and can roughly be described as Christian national syndicalism, but syndicalism increasingly lost its importance after the war. The feminism as him about the Mujeres Libres represented, was rejected in accordance with the party line, the traditional family image was instead held up and refused to equality for women against the man.
“The real duty of women towards the fatherland is to found families in which they will cherish everything that is traditional. What we will never do is enter into a competition with the men, because we will never achieve equality with them and instead lose all the elegance and grace that is essential for a harmonious coexistence. "
Web links
- Fascist Women Speak - Sección Femenina: Women Who Combined Religious Zeal and Social Justice , International Museum of Women (English)
- Kersten, Frauke: Camaradas en fe y alegría. The Falange Sección Femenina 1945-1975. Dissertation. Oldenburg 2019.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Victoria L. Enders: Nationalism and feminism: The Seccion Femenina of the Falange . In: History of European Ideas . tape 15 , no. 4-6 , 1992, pp. 673-680 , doi : 10.1016 / 0191-6599 (92) 90077-P .