Some highlights from Cuban Feminism

1807 - Capture of Carlos IV and Ferdinand VII lead to women showing their opposition to repression by cutting their hair to distinguish them from Spaniards

1859 - Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda edited a women's journal "Album Cubano de lo bueno and bello"

Prior to1868 - Women were uneducated, subordinate and restrained to the house

1868-98 - Cuba fights for independence from Spain

1895-98 - Both black and white Cubans fight side by side and women distinguished themselves with their war efforts

1897 47 - women's political clubs were formed

1917 - Women's control over property became a law & Club de Femenino de Cuba formed

1923 - First National Women's Congress formed

1930 - Women begin to graduate from a maj-ority of coed schools

June 8, 1932 - Bill proposed to allow women to vote (only in municipal elections)

1934-40 - Women's education funded; maternity and welfare services provided, & women attained the same literacy level as men

1950 - The number of women in the work force increased to 10.66%

Women To Know

Aurora Levins Morales (b. 1954) is an award-winning Puerto Rican feminist writer who writes and speaks about multicultural histories, feminism, the uses of history and cultural activism, and the ways that racism, anti-Semitism, sexism, and other systems of oppression interlock. Her most recent work is Medicine Stories, a retelling of the history of the Atlantic world through the lives of Puerto Rican women. She is also co-author, with her mother Rosario, of Getting Home Alive, a collage of poems, short stories, and essays.

Mexican feminist Ana Castillo, in her book The Mixquiahuala Letters, writes a probing description of the relationship between the sexes that encompasses both Mexican and U.S. Hispanic forms of love, and gender conflict. This book is considered essential reading for anyone who wants to be literate about both feminism and U.S. Hispanic culture. Castillo's novel is a strong addition to a group of outstanding novels about the Latina experience.