page_title: Women in Mexico
section_title: Women in the arts
hierarchical_section_title: Women in Mexico / Women in the Professions / Women in the arts
caption_attribution_description: Español: Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes 2013. Palacio Nacional. Ciudad de México. 10 de diciembre de 2013. English: Science and Art National Prize 2013. National Palace. Mexico City. 10 December, 2013.
context_page_description: 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 beginning in the sixteenth century, following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire, cities have provided economic and social opportunities not possible within rural villages. Roman Catholicism in Mexico has shaped societal attitudes about women's social role, emphasizing the role of women as nurturers of the family, with the Virgin Mary as a model. Marianismo has been an ideal, with women's role as being within the family under the authority of men. In the twentieth century, Mexican women made great strides towards a more equal legal and social status. In 1953 women in Mexico were granted the right to vote in national elections.
  Urban women in Mexico worked in factories, the earliest being the tobacco factories set up in major Mexican cities as part of the lucrative tobacco monopoly. Women ran a variety of enterprises in the colonial era, with the widows of elite businessmen continuing to run the family business.
context_section_description: There is a long list of Mexican women in the arts. Probably the most famous woman artist in Mexican history is painter Frida Kahlo, daughter of a prominent photographer Guillermo Kahlo and wife of muralist Diego Rivera.  In the circle of Mexican muralists was painter María Izquierdo, whose work is often examined with her contemporary Kahlo. Ángela Gurría was the first woman elected to the Academia de Artes. Graciela Iturbide is one of a number of Mexican women photographers who have gained recognition. Amalia Hernández founded the Ballet Folklórico de México, which continues to perform regularly at the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Google celebrated Hernández on the anniversary of her 100th birthday.
  A number of Mexican actresses have reached prominence outside Mexico, including Salma Hayek and María Félix. Yalitza Aparicio, an indigenous woman from Oaxaca, starred in Alfonso Cuarón's 2018 film Roma.
caption: Ángela Gurría
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