198 Latin American feminism and women’s suffrage During the Mexican Revolution, rebel army leader Pancho Villa signed with an American film company to film him in action—even going so far as to restage battles and skirmishes if cameramen had failed to get good shots during actual combat Appalled by being shown to world audiences as uncultured savages, early Mexican film directors like Manuel de la Bandera and Mimi Derba dedicated themselves to producing films that showed the “goodness and greatness” of their culture Without the backing of the state, there was little they could to counteract the endless output of American studios Things were only slightly better in Brazil and Argentina Local feature films were eschewed by theater owners in favor of more profitable and American imports However, film historian John King notes that several films produced during the period showed glimmers of what was to come In Brazil, a 22-yearold director named Mario Peixoto created Limite (The boundry, 1931), chronicling the struggle for survival on a small boat after a wreck at sea In Argentina, King identifies three films that presage the socially conscious films of the 1960s and 1970s: El ultimo malon (The last Indian attack, 1917), a fictionalized retelling of a turn-of-the-century uprising; Juan sin ropa (Juan without clothes, 1919) by the French Georges Bent about a massacre during a contemporary strike; and Frederico Valle’s El apostol (The apostle, 1917), a political satire of the presidency of Hipolito Yrigoyen and the first full-length animated feature in film history Sound films arrived in Latin America in the late 1920s, but the technology was expensive and its distribution uneven Many countries would not have “talkies” for years Even in the few countries that had a well-developed film industry, it was a struggle to compete against the hegemony of the U.S industry But the period also saw the rise of Latin American musicals, including the tanguera in Argentina, the chanchada in Brazil, and the ranchera in Mexico, that blended indigenous songs and dance traditions of those countries with the formulas popularized by North American studios Thanks to wartime changes in the U.S film industry and a decline in the powerful Argentine film industry, the 1940s became known as the “Golden Age” of Mexican cinema The key film of the era was Maria Candelaria (1943), which brought together famed director Emilio “El Indio” Fernández, cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa, and actress Delores del Rio With the end of World War II, Mexican film slipped back into decline, where it would remain for more than a decade Further reading: Chanan, Michael “Cinema in Latin America In The Oxford History of World Cinema Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996 Section 2: Sound Cinema, 1930–1960, p 427–435; ——— “New Cinemas of Latin America.” In The Oxford History of World Cinema Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996; Section 3: The Modern Cinema, 1960–1995, p 427–435; King, John Magical Reels: A History of Cinema in Latin America London: Verson, 1990 Heather K Michon Latin American feminism and women’s suffrage Feminism and women’s suffrage in Latin America blazed a different trail than their European or U.S counterparts, although these movements provided inspiration Latin American feminism is marked by diversity, as the region itself spans many ethnic and cultural zones, and class differences among Latin American women are pronounced However, common threads exist Many Latin American feminists held to the idea that women are as good as men but not the same as men Rather than demanding complete equality, these women advocated strengthening their power and prestige through traditional paradigms of gender, notably motherhood They used conventional gender norms that constructed women as morally superior to men to demand special rights and a voice in the public realm Suffrage came over a period of 30 years, with Ecuador first in 1929, followed by Brazil in 1932, Cuba in 1934, Argentina in 1947, Mexico in 1953, and Paraguay in 1961 The construction of women’s gender roles throughout Latin America is central to understanding the Latin American women’s movement The legacy of Spanish colonialism served as the basis for men and women’s roles in society and thus influenced Latin American feminism Traditional gender roles stemming from the colonial period dictated women’s place in the home and men’s place in the public realm The Virgin Mary served as the model for ideal womanhood, encouraging self-denial, piety, humility, purity, and obedience in women Family, honor, and the home were the central tenets of the patriarchal family structure and dictated that women would remain in the home as wives and mothers Honor was paramount to the family and impacted social standing and business ties, and women’s sexual purity in particular served as a marker of that honor This focus on women as indicators of family honor created a double standard, as men’s sexual