María del Refugio García (ca. 1898 – 1970) is an important figure in the early struggle for

women's rights in Mexico The status of women in Mexico has changed significantly over time. Until the twentieth century, Mexico was an overwhelmingly rural country, with rural women's status defined within the context of the family and local community. With urbanization ...

Early life

García was born in lake region of Uruapan in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Her father was a village doctor. She made her first speech to the country people when she was a girl, described as still wearing short skirts and braids down her back. She urged her audience to defend themselves against the tyranny of the

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in times ...

, President Díaz. Her reputation as a radical speaker became well known.

Politics

At the first Mexican congress held in

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

in 1934, García endorsed

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

thinking that

prostitution Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, n ...

was caused by

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and would never be eradicated while a

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

system prevailed. She called for

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

campaigning to ameliorate the conditions of poverty in which people lived and to educate women. García believed that self-respect could only be gained through

equal pay for equal work Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full ...

and that women would not need to turn to prostitution if they had access to cheaper food, state housing,

child care Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...

facilities, free school, textbooks, and school meals. García regularly contributed to ''Machete'', the journal of the Mexican Communist Party. In 1935 she was a cofounder of the Sole Front for Women’s Rights. She worked with radical groups for

women’s suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...

and the right to stand for office – they called for amendments to the

civil code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property, family, and obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdictions with a civil code, a number of the core ar ...

that would allow women equal political rights. They also argued for the agrarian code to be modified to allow women the right to apply for government land grants. She also addressed worker’s rights, calling for all women to be allowed

maternity rights Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and ...

, for indigenous women to be encouraged to take their place in society and politics, and for

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

women to be helped by establishing work center. At its height, the Sole Front had a membership of 50,000 women, taking in over 800 women’s groups.

1937 election

In 1937, Mexican feminists challenged the wording of the Constitution concerning who is eligible for citizenship - the constitution did not specify “men and women.” They fought for women's right to vote. García ran for election as a Sole Front candidate for her home district, Uruapan, to the Mexican Chamber of Deputies. She won by a huge margin, but was not allowed to take her seat because the government would have to amend the Constitution first. In response, García went on a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

outside President

Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Born in Jiquilpan, Michoacán, to a working-class family, Cárdenas joined the M ...

’ residence in

for 11 days in August 1937. Cárdenas responded by promising to change Article 34 in the constitution that September. By December, the amendment had been passed by Congress, and women were granted full

citizenship Citizenship is a "relationship between an individual and a state to which the individual owes allegiance and in turn is entitled to its protection". Each state determines the conditions under which it will recognize persons as its citizens, and ...

. However, the vote for women in Mexico was not granted until 1958.

Teaching

García taught at La Huerta Agricultural School, where she gave

seminars A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

on scientific materialism and other radical doctrines.

Death and legacy

García is remembered as one of the most genuinely popular women in Mexico. Despite her high-profile campaigning, she died, probably

destitute Extreme poverty, deep poverty, abject poverty, absolute poverty, destitution, or penury, is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, includi ...

, sometime in the 1970s. Today her name appears mainly in specialist books on Mexican history of the early twentieth century.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Maria del Refugio 1890s births 1970 deaths Mexican feminists Mexican women's rights activists People from Uruapan