Federation of Cuban Women

The Federation of Cuban Women (Spanish: Federación de Mujeres Cubanas)[1] (FMC) was established in 1948 by a group of activists including Mirta Aguirre, María Argüelles, Edith García Buchaca, Ana M. Hidalgo, Celia Machado, Candelaria Rodríguez, Caridad Sánchez, Cipriana Vidaurreta, and María Josefa Vidaurreta as the Federación Democrática de Mujeres Cubanas (Democratic Federation of Cuban Women). García was the first president of the organization, which immediately became affiliated with the Women's International Democratic Federation.[2][3]: 72  In 1960, it was reorganized as the Federación de Mujeres Cubanas under the revolutionary government, with Vilma Espín as its president.[4] Espin fought in the Sierra Maestras with Fidel Castro and Raúl Castro and married Raúl in 1959. She was the president of the FMC until her death in 2007. The FMC was deeply involved in the 1961 Cuban literacy campaign and in supplying workers after the mass exodus of trained labor following the Revolution. A few of the stated goals of the FMC are:

  • Bringing women out of the home and into the economy
  • Reorganizing peasant households that keep women in subservient positions
  • Developing communal services to alleviate domestic work and childcare
  • Providing equal opportunities for women
  • Mobilizing women into political work and government administration
  • Providing adequate working conditions "to satisfy the particular needs of the female organism and the moral and spiritual needs of women as mothers."[5]
  1. ^ Shreir, Sally, ed. (1988). Women's Movements of the World : an international directory and reference guide. Longman Group UK. pp. 65–66. ISBN 978-0-89774-508-6.
  2. ^ Ramírez Chicharro, Manuel (2019). Más allá del sufragismo: las mujeres en la democratización de Cuba (1933-1952) [Beyond Suffrage: Women in the Democratization of Cuba (1933-1952)] (PDF) (in Spanish). Albolote, Spain: Comares. p. 252. ISBN 978-84-9045-808-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 December 2023.
  3. ^ Chase, Michelle (Fall 2020). "'Hands Off Korea!': Women's Internationalist Solidarity and Peace Activism in Early Cold War Cuba". Journal of Women's History. 32 (3). Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press: 64–88. doi:10.1353/jowh.2020.0027. ISSN 1042-7961. OCLC 8659760063. Retrieved 4 November 2023. – via Project MUSE (subscription required)
  4. ^ Gradskova, Yulia (September 2021). "La FDIM y los derechos de las mujeres en América Latina: expectativas y alianzas durante la Guerra Fría, 1950-1970" [The FDIM and Women's Rights in Latin America: Expectations and Alliances during the Cold War, 1950-1970]. Decentered (in Spanish). 5 (2). La Plata, Argentina: National University of La Plata. doi:10.24215/25457284e150. ISSN 2545-7284. OCLC 9456556253. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  5. ^ Harris, Colette, "Socialist Societies and the Emancipation of Women: The Case of Cuba. " Socialism and Democracy 9:1(1995)91-113. Print.