The
Madres de la Plaza de Maya made a huge impact on Argentina from 1977
to 1983, with their courage still inspiring people to this day.
During the “Dirty War”, a military junta took the government's
power by force. Anyone that questioned the junta's motives, rebelled
against them, or spoke ill of the group suddenly disappeared from
their homes. This was their military strategy to keep the numbers of
the opposition
negligible. Argentinian people of the 70s lived in silence and in
fear until a small
group rose from the paranoia. Because of Argentina's belief in
patriarchy and gender roles, one would assume that if any group
protested, that that group would be made up of males. Instead, the
group that stood proudly up against the junta was made up of women
that peacefully protested the disappearances of their children and
grandchildren. María
del Rosario de Cerrut, one of the madres, proudly stated to the press
the following quote that further convinces us of how revolutionary
these women were.
“One
of the things that I simply will not do now is shut up. The women of
my generation in Latin America have been taught that the man is
always in charge and the woman is silent even in the face of
injustice...Now I know that we have to speak out about the injustices
publicly. If not, we are accomplices. I am going to denounce them
publicly without fear. This is what I learned.” (Maria
del Rosario de Cerrut)
These
14 brave women gathered in front of the president's palace and the
national cathedral with white scarves to symbolize the white dove of
peace and to help the women identify others in their group.
Protesting and leading silent marches in front of these buildings
gave these housewives the attention to their cause that they needed.
By having their cause spread
massively, this enabled the public to finally know the truth of what
the junta was doing.
Once
the group grew from just 14 people to over 100, the junta realized
that the women had become too public and that they would not be able
to make them “vanish” otherwise the junta would receive
repercussions from the public. With vanishing them not an option,
they had no idea how to suppress the women, and with the women's
message spreading world wide, the world outside was becoming informed
of the issue. All of this would later help to bring the junta
dictatorship to an end.
This
group of mothers has empowered women across the world even to this
day to speak up for their rights and to not stay silent while their
rights are being stripped from them, and they've convinced
people that no matter what gender you are, that with a group, anyone
can make a difference.
In
my personal experience, I have noticed that even women of today are
still looked down upon. Imagine how much harder it would have been
for women in the 1970s to toss aside others' opinions of them and
rebel. For those women to stand up to their oppressors was truly
respectable and inspiring and has earned them great respect over the
years.
http://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/index.php/movements-and-campaigns/movements-and-campaigns-summaries?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=28
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