How Socialist Feminism in Cuba Was Restricted by Hegemony

Throughout history, subordinate groups in society have accommodated and adjusted to higher authority in order to advance individual rights. More specifically, revolutionary women in Cuba during and after the revolution of 1959 adjusted to the socialist, and later communist ideologies that established limitations and restrictions through the establishment of hegemony over subordinate groups. In the context of this paper I define hegemony as the dialect between dominant and subordinate groups; further, this working definition will not be used in the context of dominance, but mutual struggle that results in a 'give and take' relationship . During Batista's dictatorship, large numbers of women held positions of domestic servitude and even prostitution. However, after the revolution, Fidel Castro came into power and declared Cuba a socialist state with gender equality. This political environment contributed to a specific relationship between the government and the leading women's organization, the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).  For the first time, national reforms were educating women in "study circles" so that they could be integrated into the workforce while organizations like the FMC began to further women's legal rights. Despite having gained freedoms and liberties that weren't available before the revolution, Castro's creation of the FMC essentially monopolized women’s commitment to an institution that was bounded by ideological restrictions; consequently, the hegemony that developed stopped Cuba from becoming the paradigm of sexual equality that the revolutionaries fought for.

Much research and data has been collected in order to determine what the revolution did for women in terms of literacy, cultural roles, and participation in the workforce. In Sex and Revolution: Women in Socialist Cuba, Lois Smith and Alfred Padula looked at how women's advancement was seen evident in evidence of economic participation. Because some women were working as domestic servants and prostitutes, finally working jobs outside of the home that included office positions, taxi driving and even in politics was an important step toward gaining women's rights. In 1940, the literacy rate of women was under ten percent and because of the work done by the FMC and Castro, “By 1968 there were 1,543 academies with 23,950 students… [and a] 59 percent literacy rate.”  Moreover, in 1943 only 3.7 percent of women were in the workforce as opposed to 14.2 percent in 1958 and over 25.3 percent by 1974 . This advancement was a result of national literacy reforms and specialized training in a wide variety of fields. Understanding how women initially gained autonomy through the socialist government is critical to understanding how the same institution still limited them, especially through the FMC.

A primary concern of many women was that cultural and social norms remained unchanged despite national laws. Nicola Murray explored this topic and argued that many sexist attitudes persisted in Cuba. Guerillas during the revolution certainly proved that they were capable of doing the work that men were doing, and the author attacked the fact that after the revolution women were dominantly reassigned to positions of “women's work." The percentage of women in the service sector, teaching, and child care as opposed to the percentage of women in positions of management emphasized the point that the system was far from ideal.  Furthermore, Lois Smith suggested that there was still further oppression associated with gender and class even after the revolution. While there were professional and educated Cuban women, who experienced social mobility very quickly, many black, peasant and lesbian women were still limited with a glass ceiling. Many of the peasant women that received training in Havana were still stuck with jobs that took on women’s roles like dressmaking.  This major cultural problem was addressed in Asuncion Lavrin's book. She discussed the specific problem that socialist feminists "believe[d] that the patriarchal system, buttressed by capitalism, favors male values and a masculine-oriented social order, and is the source of women's subordinate position in society."   This evidence suggests that in the case of Cuba, socialism was the ultimate source of gender equality and Julie Shayne explored this issue a little more thoroughly.

In The Revolution Question: Feminisms in El Salvador, Chile and Cuba, Julie Shayne asserted her position on the complexity of Cuban feminism and the word 'feminism' in a socialist environment. Shayne also analyzed the complex relationship between the FMC and the ruling socialist regime. Further, she concluded that many Cuban women, albeit feminists in practice, actually put the socialist agenda ahead of their own needs.  Fully aware that taking 'feminist' actions could potentially lead to government disapproval, Cuban women acted in accordance with the knowledge that "it is because of socialism that Cuban women feel entitled to their equality, so attacking socialism would be highly counterproductive to the feminist agenda."  Therefore, many Cuban women worked based on an on-going revolution in which they were fully supporting the government. Since other scholars have tackled the issues of gender roles, economic integration and political involvement quite thoroughly, I will be going deeper into the relationship of socialism and women and explain why the system acts as a giver and a taker by putting extreme limitations through hegemony. 

In examining exactly how the relationship and exchange between the government and the FMC affected hegemony, I will be looking at speeches that Fidel Castro gave as well as broadcasts that talk about his intentions for Cuba right after he took power. Further, it will be critical to look at the progression of how the FMC communicated their agenda and how Castro responded. Women and the Cuban Revolution, edited by Elizabeth Stone, and Cuban Women Now by Margaret Randall are both collections of primary accounts by Fidel Castro as well as influential FMC members that will give insight into the exchange between the government and women's organization. Through context and figuring out the ‘roles’ of each side and analyzing the exchange that took place, one can deduce what position women were in and what exactly was the reason that they were restricted from carrying out a feminist agenda. Furthermore, primary accounts from Julie Shayne's The Revolution Question and the film From Maids to Companeras will look at how women progressed through the transition to socialism and their responses. All these accounts and others will be tied into together so we can see the framework that developed from this complex relationship. 

Started by Fidel Castro, the FMC quickly became the most popular women's organization, focusing on the advancement of women's rights through the revolution. While there were a few different groups with different agendas prior to the revolution, Clotilde Proveyer explained in a personal interview that:

There was a meeting of all of the [women's] organizations and each one...incorporate[d] into what was the Federation of Cuban Women...That is why it is called the...Federation and not union; a federation in which all women's organizations that existed at that point in time participate[d] and...integrate[d] themselves...the fundamental objective was fighting for women's incorporation and...participation as equals in the construction of a new society.

The forming of this organization was an important step in women's advancement because they could meet, organize and set an agenda for mobilization on a national level. The FMC quickly gained members and established its government status. As Vilma Espin, the organization's president noted, "[the revolution] offered our women the opportunity to study and work, it offered them economic security, thereby putting an end to oppression and hardship" The incorporation of women into the formal economy would provide women with economic independence and therefore, emancipate them from reliance on males. It is worthy to note here that as a prominent voice for the FMC, Espin believed that putting women in the workforce, which was also the primary objective in the socialist national agenda, would be the answer to the woman question of equality. However, as we will explore later, there were still cultural issues that remained unchanged. When the organization was formed it was a movement for women yet simultaneously an extension of the government. This organization was the primary means of women communicating their agenda to the nation. Therefore, an instant relationship was formed between the Socialist government and this women's organization; a relationship that fit into a larger framework in the form of an ongoing struggle for women was born. Women were the subordinates and the government acted as the dominant hand because of the nature of a socialist ideology where the state had complete control. 

Fidel Castro mentioned in his speeches that the women of Cuba and the FMC had a very close relationship with his ruling body. Aside from the important role that women played during the revolution, the same women continued to receive praise and recognition by Castro through their involvement in the Federation. Also, in response to the popularity and growth of the FMC, Castro clearly outlined the situation of women by establishing an incentive for women to support the revolution. Since many women were faced with discrimination and oppression from the government when Batista was in power, the revolution meant that it was the opportunity to overcome the oppression and fight for a change in society. To illustrate this point, Castro, in his speech at the FMC Fifth National Plenum, emphasized that “if women in our country were doubly exploited, were doubly humiliated, this simply means that in a social revolution women ought to be doubly revolutionary."  This quote implied that women had a duty to strike back against not only the government but the patriarchal society as well. Further, women who fought along Castro's side like Haydee Santamaria and Vilma Espin held power in the FMC while still being tied very closely to the Castro family (Espin married Raul Castro, Fidel's brother). In relation to hegemony, women in the Federation ultimately attained a state of dependency on the socialist regime because of this close relationship. Since the revolution provided the means for women to emancipate themselves and grow in society, they were ultimately tied to the same revolution in a subordinate position.

The FMC took on a role of subordination since for it to have a voice that the government approved of, it had to operate according to the goals of the nation of Cuba, not just Cuban women. Since many of the women that would become prominent voices in the FMC had a connection with Fidel Castro during the early years of the revolution, the same women ultimately supported the revolution and were still involved in maintaining that order. For instance, a 17 April 1959 Washington Post article cited how Celia Sanchez, Fidel Castro's secretary and member of his entourage, was "the most important feminine personality of the Cuban revolution," despite never being in the FMC . Nonetheless, Celia worked closely with Vilma Espin and held political influence. In addition, while serving as members of the FMC, many were part of the Revolutionary Defense Committee (CDR) and participated in defending the revolution by contributing in neighborhood watch programs and maintaining vigilance throughout Cuban communities. This was essentially a commitment to the revolution. At the Second Congress of the FMC in November of 1974, Margaret Randall observed that "Forty-seven percent were members of the Cuban Communist Party, nine-percent held membership in the Young Communist Union, one hundred-percent belonged to the FMC, [and] ninety-seven percent to the Revolutionary Defense Committee..." . With such high numbers of women tied directly to the government, it is difficult to argue that there wasn't a close bond. Teresa Sanchez, a member of both the CDR and FMC, remembered that the CDR began due to an act of terrorism by a counterrevolutionary group . From that point on, the Defense Committee was focused on applying public enthusiasm and support into vigilance so that communities could be watched over. Such overwhelming participation in this organization is a representation of the commitment and bond the Federation's women had to Cuba's sovereignty. This bond between the state and the FMC is critical in analyzing the hegemony that developed because now that we have established the main roles and overall framework, we can see what influence this had on the interaction between both sides.

The FMC remained very careful about what agenda they had and even using the word "feminism" to avoid government resistance. As already mentioned, the Federation focused on integrating the women into the workforce so that they could attain economic independence (while respecting the national agenda). However, in order to stay in good graces with the socialist government, the FMC could not allow organizational goals and feminist agenda to have supremacy over the national one. For instance, by supporting the integration into the workforce, Cuban women were ultimately supporting the concept that Fidel Castro talked about in his BBC broadcast interview with Robin Day in which Fidel quoted that "everybody [is] working, everybody [is] happy...We are building a socialist associate...with no oppression by authority" . As mentioned, the FMC had the same goal and vision that applied to women. This agenda was very clear and direct: a united nation working together in coherence and harmony that symbolized unity within the whole population, regardless of age, race, class and especially gender. 

In terms of the word feminism, the institutional problem that came up was that by choosing to describe oneself as a feminist in a socialist society, one was choosing to separate him or herself from the "whole" and united society that socialism intended to create. Therefore, it was considered anti-nationalist to try and further the agenda for only a segment of the population. As an undisclosed interviewee explained it, "Consciously or unconsciously, I believe[d] that the [communist] party ha[d] prejudices against feminism because of the idea that has been spread in Cuba that portray[ed] feminism as extreme" . In a society where equality among everyone was the basis for governance, social movements that did not include everyone were frowned upon. Therefore, feminism was seen as counter-productive for the advancement of the nation. Moreover, many of the interviewees in Julie Shayne's book chose to remain undisclosed and some also denounced that they were even feminists. This reflects the level of consciousness, consideration and carefulness that the women had for the larger ruling body, the socialist government. At this point, we can see the definition of hegemony at work; that is, the government and the FMC were negotiating between party obedience and women's rights within a framework of dominance and subordination that was already inhibiting the Federation's scope.

To illustrate how this same framework worked, we must look at the outcome of a similar group, like Magin. Originally called the Association of Women's Communications Workers, this organization was nicknamed Magin and did not consider itself a feminist organization as well. The goal of Magin was to change how the media perceived women and promote an anti-stereotypical view of women because there were derogatory instances of women in the media through journals, magazines, newspapers and radio broadcasts. While the actual exchange between Magin and the Communist party was unclear, the reason that was given for the disassembling was that it duplicated the FMC's goals and was thereby illegal . The major point here is that both Magin and the FMC were subject to government approval to even be legal. Ultimately, as Belkis Vega of Magin conceded, "When the Party decided to dissolve Magin, as comrades’ we women accepted it, because we were revolutionaries and among other things we did not want to be separated from the revolution" . In a nation that fought relentlessly for the revolution and based its success on the unity and coherence of society could not allow a duplicate women’s group. Therefore, the members of Magin, subject to the authority of the socialist government, had to disassemble and find another means for their project. This represents the hegemonic relationship that took place. The exchange between the government and Magin was not fully documented but the message was clear: government disinterest alone was enough to cause this group to disassemble. To this end, there still were institutional problems that needed to be dealt with in Cuba, even after women were integrated into the workforce.

Problems in terms of workforce discrimination, social welfare programs and political participation remained an issue that was further subject to negotiation by Castro and the FMC. While in her early writings, Vilma Espin confirmed that women in the workforce would end the oppression and hardship, this was not the case. Unfortunately, women still faced sexual discrimination because by 1997, only 25.4 percent of women held leadership positions and large numbers of women were still involved in "women's work" . This evidence reflects the same strategic feminist issues that the FMC could not directly address. Moreover, some women felt that the problem was that the government did not fully give them all the opportunities to excel because social welfare institutions lacked the capacity to accommodate women with children into the workforce. In a private interview with Margaret Randall, Haydee Santamaria suggested that "[in order] for the woman to be able to make the next really definitive step, we need better conditions so that she won't have the constant concern for her children."  Again, we see the solution for women only made possible through government institutions and more integration into the labor force (the national agenda). There is no mention of the male system of patriarchy or discrimination, but the problem is only addressed based on an ideological standpoint that the system is just incomplete, not wrong. However, labor workforce integration did not account for political participation.

Finally, the problem of political participation was an ongoing one that is still even an issue in the 21st century! For instance, Castro recognized that "in these elections the candidates nominated by the masses and the masses only proposed 7.6 percent women candidates when women make up approximately fifty percent of the population. And the masses elected only three percent women delegates" . This was fifteen years after the revolution, so at that point there has been enough time for the government to implement national agenda and push gender equality in all sectors of Cuba. Even in 2003, almost fifty years after the revolution, the gender composition of Cuba's council of State included 19.4 percent women, albeit up from 13.8 percent in 1991 .  From a woman's standpoint, this indicates very little progress and a major problem in terms of political equality. Ultimately, the institution of socialism was not the answer to the woman question simply because "[it] is not in itself an automatic end to sexual discrimination, but it is a necessary prerequisite to winning the battle against all forms of inequality" .  However, to understand this from a hegemonic viewpoint, we must now turn to the response and negotiation that resulted.

The issues mentioned were recognized and addressed by Castro in response to the FMC's Second Congress meeting. When Castro addressed the issue of political participation and cultural gender roles, he noted that it was a problem that could be fixed with attention on "sufficient day-care centers, of sufficient semi boarding schools, of sufficient boarding schools...and education" . Once again, we can see that the solution proposed was tied directly with the national agenda. Further, the cultural issue of gender roles and discrimination was not seen as the government’s responsibility, but a problem that could only be solved with the involvement of the whole society . However, according to the original intentions and promises of socialism when the revolution was over, women in the workforce intended to end these types of problems that women faced. Unfortunately, for twenty years of socialist ideology did not overcome this problem, Castro deferred that responsibility to the rest of the society. Because the relationship between the government and the FMC was a subordinate one, the FMC had very little they could do against this argument besides wait on society to unite and work together. Therefore, the government asserted that while they supported women and their agenda, they could only support it to a different end, the national agenda.

Even in the face of existing discrimination and gender inequality, the goal of the FMC remained focused on integration into the workforce. As we have already examined, aspects of gender inequality remained unchanged despite of the promise and belief that socialism would be the means to that end. Rationality and logic would suggest that if the method for ending inequality was adopted for twenty years without success that an alternative form of consciousness would be necessary. Unfortunately for women of Cuba in the FMC, this opportunity was not a realistic option because of the relationship that existed with the government. The paternal figure of the regime remained the dominant hand that dominated the FMC. As Espin quoted in a personal interview with Margaret Randal twenty years after the revolution, "Our main strategic objective is [still] incorporating women into the labor force" . Espin also outlined that fixing the issues would be a result of more child care institutes and educational centers, the same solution that was being implemented twenty years ago . As time passed and cultural norms never changed, the government never received criticism or had to deal with movements that disturbed established order. The framework of hegemony was maintained, and women ultimately remained subordinate while gender inequality was still predominant.

The hegemony that developed as the FMC developed ultimately resulted in a give and take relationship where women were still subordinated. The Federation held conferences and Fidel Castro attended them, such as the national Plenum every decade. The FMC also communicated the cultural and work-related problems. Because Castro and his regime were the ones in power, the FMC remained dependent on that ruling body that consisted of laws and regulations. This created a framework, or hegemony that restricted the FMC to an agenda that coincided with the national one and therefore, took the social organization's status and made it an extension of the government. Furthermore, despite Castro even admitting that "after more than fifteen years of the revolution, in this respect we [Cuba] are still politically and culturally backward," the government was not able to subordinate to the FMC . Ultimately, the FMC was bounded by a socialist ideology that did not allow them to have the freedom of civil disobedience in a democratic society. The reason that the FMC even existed in Cuba was because it held a status of governmental approval and practiced obedience toward that authority. 

The FMC did eventually address the cultural, workplace and political inequality existed. For example, there were still stereotypical and prejudicial views held both in the workplace and society. In addition, while women did enter the workforce, they still held primarily service sector jobs and others that were classified as "women's work." Finally, even after twenty years of the revolution, the percentage of women elected to the State Council was still under ten percent, a very low number. The Federation expressed these views at the Second Congress and Fidel Castro was given a chance to reply. He responded by first expressing concern over the number of women participating in policies and then provided a solution for the workforce problem by promising that more social welfare institutions open to take care of children. Unfortunately, this solution was nothing more than the same agenda that has been going on in Cuba since the revolution ended. Further, Castro deferred blame of cultural roles to the rest of society. He expressed that men and women had to work together to overcome the issue of gender inequality and answer the woman question. The government simply focused the attention of the problem over to society and not themselves; and the hegemony that had developed allowed them to do so without criticism or resistance.

The hegemony that developed between the FMC and the government was a relationship where the FMC ultimately had to follow the government’s wishes because they were subordinate. For instance, we read about how the government was constantly in a position of power while the FMC and women were not only subordinate, but dependent on the system of socialism for any freedom. They knew that without socialism and without the revolution, women would still be in the same position they were when Batista was in power. Therefore, the FMC commanded obedience from all its members and with respect to the government. This obedience developed a give and take relationship in which they exchanged words and negotiated through the framework of hegemony. However, the government and Castro were the ones that held the dominant position in every aspect of influence because in a socialist state, the government has control over everything. We can thus conclude that the relationship that developed between the FMC and the government was a give and take one because both sides did in fact negotiated however, when it came down to it, the state had full control and obedience of the FMC because they were dependent on that authority for autonomy.

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