Inquiry Question:
What types of power did women access and exert during the Mexican Revolution?
Developed by
Vanessa Herrera
UCLA-HGP teacher leader
vcherrera2878@gmail.com
Content Standards
10.2 Students compare and contrast the Glorious Revolution of England, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution and their enduring effects worldwide on the political expectations for self-government and individual liberty.
Framework:
What were the causes and effects of the Mexican Revolution?
CCSS
RH 10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
WHST 10.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
A) Introduce precise claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that establishes clear relationships among the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.
B) Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly, supplying data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form and in a manner that anticipates the audience's knowledge level and concerns.
E) Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.
Background Information
“Prior to the Mexican Revolution, rights and opportunities for women were limited. Mexican women’s lives had been shaped for centuries by a conservative social and religious culture influenced heavily by the Catholic Church. Women were not recognized as citizens and were unable to vote. In the late 19th century, additional laws were enacted that limited women’s rights and opportunities even further. The Civil Codes of 1870 and 1884 imposed severe legal restrictions on women. As historian Shirlene Soto states, “Prior to the Revolution, Mexican Women lived in virtual seclusion. Only 8.82 percent of Mexican women were gainfully employed in 1910; marriage, family life and the Catholic Church dominated their existence. In the early 1910s…a British visitor noted that ‘the life of a Mexican woman is not a jovial one; she marries straight from the convent or school, and her home is her horizon.” -The Storm that Swept Mexico
“Las Adelitas or soldaderas where the many women who participated in the Mexican Revolution which took place between 1910-1917...This was not only the women who fought shoulder to shoulder with men in the battle field , but they were the many mothers, sisters, daughters that accompanied the revolutionary to the battlefield …They were welcome and they were not welcome. They were welcome because of course the soldiers could have tortillas everyday a little salsita, you know Mexican mothers. So they wouldn’t complain about that. They were not welcome because they [men] had their prejudices toward women because they thought it was a danger or inconvenience to have women on the battlefield.” Arjona says. “What many Adelitas did is they pretended that they were men.” -Gloria Arjona
https://static.pbslearningmedia.org/media/media_files/revwomen_educatorguide.pdf
https://static.pbslearningmedia.org/media/media_files/revwomen_studenthandout.pdf
What do these images tell us about women in the Mexican Revolution?
Photos by Agustín Víctor Casasola 1878-1938
POWER MODEL
Expressions of Power (with Ethnic Studies Concepts)
POWER OVER (Systems of Oppression) | POWER TO (Agency) |
Power is a one way relationship. One side has power �and acts in ways to maintain that power.
Example: An empire has control over their �citizens. Or a parent’s control over�their children. | Every person or group has the potential to make change. This can open up possibilities for individuals and groups to unite.
Example: A person refused to work under unsafe conditions. A group organizes a strike for a fair wage. |
POWER WITH (Solidarity) | POWER WITHIN (Internalized Power) |
A group of people with a common goal. All support and work together to make it happen.
Example: A student finds peers that have the same grievances and they go to the principal together. | A person’s belief in themselves to imagine that change can happen, and seeing yourself as part of the solution.
Example: Someone sees the power they have to �create change and draws on their inner strength to act. |
POWER FOR (Aspirational) | |
Power impacts our world. �It should move us toward a more just society. Example: A group organizes to expand access to voting access in Black and Brown communities. |
|
Adapted from VeneKlasen & Miller (2002).� A New Weave of Power, People & Politics. Oklahoma: World Neighbors.
Use the sources below to complete the graphic organizer on power
What types of power did Mexican women exert during the Mexican Revolution?
Graphic Organizer
Expressions of Power - Introduction (Chart)
How do these show up ... | Power Over Power is a one way relationship. One side has power and acts in ways to maintain that power. (Systems of Oppression) | Power To Every person or group has the potential to make change. This can open up possibilities for individuals and groups to unite. (Agency) | Power With A group of people with a common goal. All support and work together to make it happen. (Solidarity) | Power Within A person’s belief in themselves to imagine that change can happen, and seeing yourself as part of the solution. (Internalized Power) | Power For Power impacts our world. �It should move us toward a more just society. (Aspirational) |
What types of power did women exert in the Mexican Revolution? | | | | | |
Evidence | | | | | |
Activity: Discuss and enter an example of each expression of power
When prompted: Discuss how this lens on power might influence students’ understanding of an historical event or period.
Be prepared to share key takeaways.
Graphic Organizer
Expressions of Power - Introduction (Chart)
How do these show up ... | Power Over Power is a one way relationship. One side has power and acts in ways to maintain that power. (Systems of Oppression) | Power To Every person or group has the potential to make change. This can open up possibilities for individuals and groups to unite. (Agency) | Power With A group of people with a common goal. All support and work together to make it happen. (Solidarity) | Power Within A person’s belief in themselves to imagine that change can happen, and seeing yourself as part of the solution. (Internalized Power) | Power For Power impacts our world. �It should move us toward a more just society (Aspirational). |
Women in the Mexican Revolution | The Diaz government was oppressive for working class and peasant farmers and doubly oppressive for women who had few rights. | Women dressed as men to fight Women were skilled soldiers, military leaders, and horsemen. | Women supported troops by traveling with troops to feed and care for them. | Women believed in their own skills as soldiers and military leaders - raise and led their own troops in battle. | Women Journalist and Fighting for Women’s Rights write about how to create a better Mexico for all including women. |
Evidence | Women had few rights under the Diaz government Villa did not want women to fight. Cultural norms and law gave women few rights Women forcefully taken by troops, sexual assault, kidnapping | Women dressed as men to fight - Petra/ Pedro Herrera Strong leaders Good riders Good shot | Elisa Griensen Zambrano was a young woman from Parral, Chihuahua. 1916, she assembled a group of women and children to meet Major Frank Tompkins and his soldiers at the city limits. The women and children, with sticks and guns, forced Major Tompkins and his troops to retreat. Women nurses, feeding and taking care of their men/families, fighting in battle with male soldiers | “Margarita Neri raised her own troops, numbering about 200 workers at the beginning and increasing to 1,000 in just two months. Her forces followed her because she could shoot and ride as well as any of them. She led her troops through Tabasco and Chiapas on looting raids, frightening the governor of Guerrero so thoroughly he fled in a shipping crate when he learned of her approach” Petra Herrera raises her own all women troup | Hermila Galindo edited the feminist journal Mujer Moderna.She argued for general and sex education for women, and believed that women deserved every right granted to men, including the vote. Juana Belén Gutiérrez, born in Durango, wrote radical feminist literature against Catholicism, political corruption, and social injustices during the Porfiriato |
Activity: Discuss and enter an example of each expression of power
When prompted: Discuss how this lens on power might influence students’ understanding of an historical event or period.
Be prepared to share key takeaways.
Use the graphic organizer to write a 11-sentence paragraph
Playlist of song of the Mexican Revolution