Historian Martha Eva Rocha Islas explored the role women played in the Mexican Revolution, which is often overlooked or ignored, and created a book that compiles the stories of the veterans who participated in the armed conflict .
For her book The Faces of Rebellion , the researcher used the Defense Ministry 's historical archive to better understand the role of women as propagandists , nurses , soldiers , and feminists , who were decorated by President Lázaro Cárdenas .
Rocha Islas
researched different cases and events, especially those in relation to the transgression of socio-cultural rules of the time, for example, the first trans-gender revolutionary , Amelio Robles Salas .
“It seems like this figure didn't have issues to pose as a man. The colonel joined the Zapatist movement in 1913. He gathered 15 men in Xochipala, Guerrero, where there is a museum named after him. His file mentions his acts and courage in the taking of Iguala that year, as well as Chilpancingo in 1914, where both victories were for the Zapatists .”
The author also sheds light on the lives of the women who participated in the Mexican Revolution . For example, the majority of women who joined the political movement where middle class, educated and lived in the city.
Moreover, this book highlights the need to recognize and tel l women's stories as part of Mexico's history .
However, this book also emphasized the need to further explore the role women have played during Mexico's armed conflicts .
The author emphasizes that many other women joined the political movement through their jobs as teachers or journalists , who often participated in the dissemination of liberal ideas .
Martha Rocha
explains that women also acted as spies , sent clandestine letters, and distributed guns and that years later, President Lázaro Cárdenas issued a decree to acknowledge women's right to be recognized as veterans and as a result, at least 432 women were recognized and received a pension.
In the archives, Rocha found that the 22 female soldiers recognized by Mexican authorities were farmers ; four supported Francisco I. Madero , 7 supported Zapata , and 11 supported Venustiano Carranza .
Unfortunately, women were also sexually abused during the Revolution , a situation that often forced them to dress as men.
In the fifth chapter, the author explains that some women shared political propaganda and were feminist activists and analyzes the story of feminism through the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship and until the early 20th century , including the 1 916 feminist seminar and the fight for women's right to vote .
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