(A series brought to you by Feminist Global Resistance)

The Series::

Patriarchy ensures that male (almost exclusively white colonizer) history is remembered though a few women shine through or are given a twisted footnote.

More often, women are relegated to lost tomes and forgotten lore. Some shine through in song and tales while others, more recently, are beginning to have their stories told (progress?)

Throughout history, women around the world have stood to fight patriarchy, some winning, some losing, but they often brought revolution and change, their lives given for the just causes of freedom, liberty and justice.

Here are just a few who have stood to fight oppression and colonization; Stood against the tide of patriarchy.  There have been many.  I have chosen just a few of those who inspire me by their bravery and resolve.

Learn their names, learn from them, let them inspire you to do great things.

 

Part 4: Las Soldaderas

 

The Female Army of the Mexican Revolution, Las Soldaderas

The Mexican Revolution of 1910 grew out of the anger, poverty and oppression of the peasant and working classes throughout Mexico, during the regime of President Porfirio Díaz.  

“Don Porfirio” or “Porfiriato”, as he was called, rose to prominence as a general in the Mexican Army, during the wars against foreign nations and interests, from the War of the Reform (1857–1861) and the French Intervention of 1861 (1861-1867).

After an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government of Benito Juarez, in 1862, In 1867, Díaz succeeded in staging a coup against the newly elected President, Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, naming himself “President”.

Thus began the 30-year reign of “Don Porfirio” that ended in the revolt of peasants, industrial workers and reformers against the regime.

“Don Porfirio” began his reign by industrializing the nation, stabilizing the economy and consolidating wealthy landholders, allowing certain landholders to greatly expand their holdings with the theft of lands from indigenous peoples. Díaz’ elitist and oligarchical policies favored the industrialists and large landholders. Unfortunately, the wealth and prosperity did not filter down to the working classes and the peasant class.

On November 20, 1910, the revolution begins….

 

HER story…

 

 

Las Soldaderas were the women in the military who were part of and participated in the Mexican Revolution. There were Soldaderas on all sides of the revolution – those who joined with the revolutionary or rebel armies that arose in 1910 and those who were a part of the federal army.

The roles of Las Soldaderas were, generally, defined along “gender” lines.  During a period of and in a nation filled with extreme sexism and inequality, most of their duties were to cook, do laundry, clean weapons, nurse the sick or injured, and provide every service in support of their husband, lover or the male soldiers.  Many were just considered “camp followers” (those who provided both goods and every kind of service for the men) while others rose to levels of command.

The Soldaderas were mainly comprised of peasant women who went willingly and unwillingly into “service”.  Some were abducted and raped – young girls and women taken from their homes and forced to follow the troops, kidnapped on trains, nuns taken from convents. Of those who went willingly, many suffered poverty, rape, oppression and violence at the hands of the “Rurales” (Federal police forces established in rural areas with a reputation for oppression), the military under the regime of President Porfirio Díaz, and the rebel armies; Others were the wives or lovers of the soldiers who joined the revolutionary armies; And a few were staunch feminists who joined the revolution to fight alongside their male counterparts (some disguising themselves as men to avoid sexual assault or violence at the hands of their “brothers in arms” who, often, looked at women soldiers as “freaks”) for a cause in which they strongly believed.

In the revolutionary armies, every Soldadera was given a weapon with the expectation that, if called upon, they were expected to fight.  

Those who became known for their bold strength, their fearlessness and their leadership rose in spite of the oppression at the hands of their “brothers” in service of the revolution.  They fought side by side and often excelled in battle.  Some became leaders of their own armies; some led guerilla campaigns, but none ever achieved the title of “General” since that title was only allowed for men, often lesser in strength, intelligence and prowess.

We highlight just a few of the women who became prominent and rose to fame in service to the Revolution:

ANGELA JIMENEZ, aka Angel Jimenez

Angela Jimenez, the daughter of a Zapotec mother and the Spanish political chief of Tehuantepec, was born in 1886, in Santa María Jalapa del Marqués, State of Oaxaca, in the southern part of Mexico. 

In 1911, Federal soldiers, searching for rebels, attacked the family home.  Angela’s sister shot a federal officer and then turned the gun on herself rather than submit to rape.  Angela decided then and there to join the rebel forces, seeking revenge on the Federal soldiers.

Angela dressed in men’s clothing, called herself “Angel”,  and joined her father’s command as a soldadera, banner carrier, explosives expert, and spy.  She, eventually, moved north to serve with the Villistas (followers of Poncho Villa) and the Zapatistas (followers of Emiliano Zapata).

She was shot in battle, receiving a gunshot wound, and left the revolution, emigrating to Texas then, finally settling in San Jose, California.

In later years, Angela became a staunch defender and activist in the Chicano Movement of the 1960’s in San Jose.

 

MARGARITA NERI (Date of Birth and Death Unknown) aka, La Neri, “The Rebel Queen of Morelos”

 

Margarita Neri was born to a Mayan mother and former Mexican general who had rebelled against the repressive government of President Diaz around 1900.  A landholder ( a rarity for women in the early 20th century) but following in her father’s foot steps, she gave up her lands and holdings to join the Zapatistas in 1910 and rose to Commander of her own force of 1000 warriors.

Margarita and her army swept through Tabasco and Chiapas, looting, burning and killing. She was so effective and feared by anti-revolutionary troops that the Governor of Guerrero, a southern state in Mexico, is said to have hid in a crate and fled the town upon hearing of her approach. Margarita and her soldiers were a serious threat to the Government.

By 1911, even the “Los Angeles Times” took note of her revolutionary battles in Guerrero. “Petticoat leads band of Rebels,” the headline blared in a story picked up all across North America. 

La Neri was eventually captured and executed, but the location and date are unknown.

 

AMELIO ROBLES (Nee,Amelia Robles)

 

Amelio Robles Ávila may have been one of the first transgender figures in Latin American history and the only documented transgender transitioning during the revolution.

Robles adopted the dress of her male counterparts choosing carefully those clothes that would hide her breasts and assumed the mannerisms of men.

Born Amelia Robles Ávila, in 1889, to Casimiro Robles and Josefa Ávila. Her father, Casimiro, was a wealthy landholder in Guerrero, Mexico, also owning a small mezcal factory. 

Amelia is said to have shown “interest in activities that were considered masculine” from an early age.  Training and riding horses and handling weapons, Amelia became an excellent rider and marksman.

In 1911, Amelia joined the revolutionary army; Two years later she began dressing as a man and demanded to be treated as such.

Now as Amelio, he rose to the rank of Colonel in the army and fought during a decisive battle that put down a 1923 rebellion.

After the battles were fought and the revolution calmed, Amelio left the service to become a civilian. He met and married a woman after settling in Apipilulco, Mexico, in the 1930’s, and adopted two children. 

After his service in the Revolution, he was accepted as a man by his family, by society and by the Mexican government receiving multiple military honors for his service.  He used both his male and female names and pronouns, he is now commemorated as both a hero of the revolution and a female warrior.

 

These are just three of the many hundreds of women who are now being remembered as Las Soldaderas – Women who advanced the revolution, fought valiantly with their male counterparts and pushed the change that brought about a new constitution, new independence and new government to a nation.