page_title: Feminists and the Spanish Civil War
section_title: Women's media and writing
hierarchical_section_title: Feminists and the Spanish Civil War / Prelude to the Second Republic (1800 - 1922) / Women's media and writing
caption_attribution_description: English: Carmen de Burgos.Español: Retrato de Carmen de Burgos.
context_page_description: Feminists were involved in the Spanish Civil War, although the conditions underlying their involvement pre-dated the Second Republic.
  The feminist movement in Spain started during the 19th century, aiming to secure rights for women and striving for more than women could expect from their place in the home. Supported by a number of Spanish writers, it was one of the first feminist movements to inject anarchism into feminist thinking. In contrast to feminism developments elsewhere, many Spanish feminists sought to realize their goals in this period through the education of women. When political activity took place to further feminist goals and the more general aspirations of groups, it tended to be spontaneous and easily dismissed by men. Margarita Nelken, María Martínez Sierra and Carmen de Burgos were all important pre-Republic writers who influenced feminist thinking inside Spain.
  The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera provided more opportunities for women to be engaged politically, with the appointment of women to the Congreso de los Diputados. Thought they were not successful, the first steps were also taken towards women's suffrage.
context_section_description: Margarita Nelken, María Martínez Sierra, Carmen de Burgos and Rosalía de Castro were all important pre-Republic writers who influenced feminist thinking inside Spain.
  Carmen de Burgos was not primarily known for her feminist writings in the pre-Republican period but rather for writing popular novellas.  Despite that, her La mujer moderna y sus derechos in 1927 was one of the most important feminist works of its time. As a feminist, she started her writing career in the early 1920s as a relatively moderate feminist.  Having written for various liberal and progressive newspapers from the 1900s to 1920s, it was only as time passed during the latter part of the decade that she became more radical and part of the First Wave Feminism.  As a feminist, she advocated for reforms to Spain's legal system, including legalizing divorce and women's suffrage.
  María Martínez Sierra wrote under the name Gregorio Martínez Sierra, publishing a series of four essays using her husband's name during the period from 19116 to 1932.  These included Cartas a las mujeres de España, Feminismo, femindidad, españolismo, La mujer moderna, and Nuevas cartas a las mujeres de España.  Not until the death of her husband in 1947 did María de la O Lejárraga claim authorship of these writings and admit to intentionally trying to use a masculine name in order to gain credibility. The feminism she espoused in these letters was a paradox given the impression of male authorship.  Her wider body of feminist work also sat outside the feminism being developed by Anglo women in North America and Great Britain, but was well received inside Spain as her plays were performed in Madrid's theaters.  One of her major contributions was in changing the medium from which feminist themes were shared, her primary themes being the problem of subordination of women.
  La condición social de la mujer en España was the most notable work of Margarita Nelken in this period.  Published in 1919, it was revolutionary in Spanish feminism to the extent that it went beyond describing the problems of women to proscribing solutions, and advocating for changes in women's relationships to groups such as working and middle-class men, women of different classes, and institutions like the Catholic Church.   Writing from a socialist perspective, her feminist works sought to address the conflict between the roles women were expected to maintain in a patriarchal society.
  Rosalía de Castro, born in 1837 in Santiago de Compostela, wrote novels from a female point of view that addressed suffering at the hands of men, with this violence supported by the patriarchal society in which it took place.  Her work took a more realistic approach to the condition of women, and their problems in overcoming social injustices that chained them to a certain way of life.  She played an important role in calling for assistance for women seeking justice for the violence they suffered.
caption: Portrait of Carmen de Burgos by Julio Romero de Torres in 1917
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