EQUALITY FOR WOMEN

One of the goals of the Second Republic was to promote equality between men and women.
Women were given the vote, and the legal and social barriers that had prevented them from
participating in social, political and economic life were removed.
Civil marriage and divorce were approved, and women were given access to official
positions. Coeducation was also introduced, which allowed men and women to be educated
equally and in the same schools. Girls were given better access to education.
Prominent women
● Clara Campoamor (1888-1972) and Victoria Kent (1898-1987), lawyers and
Republican members of parliament, were the first female members of the Madrid Bar
Association.
● Margarita Nelken (1894-1968), a socialist member of parliament and intellectual
specialising in literature and art.
● Federica Montseny (1905-1994), an anarchist politician and unionist, was the first
female minister (Ministry of Health), not only in Spain but in Western Europe.
● Maruja Mallo (1902-1995), an avant-garde painter, was a member of the Generation
of 27 and was closely involved in the Pedagogical Missions.
● María Luz Morales (1889-1980) was a journalist and the first woman to direct a
newspaper in Spain (La Vanguardia).
FOR AND AGAINST THE FEMALE VOTE
Decide whatever you want, but face the responsibility of bringing half of the human race into
politics, so that politics is a two-way thing. Because only one thing is done by one gender
alone: giving birth. Everything else is done by everyone. You can't come here to legislate,
vote on taxes, enforce duties, legislate on the human race, on women and on children,
isolated, outside of us.
Speech by Clara Campoamor in the Cortes, 1931.
We believe that a woman's proper place, her role, her duties and her purpose are in the
home. It doesn't seem right for us to uproot her and awaken urges that make her want to
leave the home. A society in which a woman is not content with being a wife and a mother
would be a wretched one.

A group of women voted for the first time in the 1933 elections.
El Debate, conservative newspaper, 1931.
The debate in the Cortes on women's right to vote was highly controversial.
Conservatives opposed it because they believed that a woman's place was in the home. The
left supported it, but some Republican politicians questioned whether it would benefit them,
since they claimed that women voted conservative.

Clara Campoamor at a rally for women 's suffrage, 1931.

QUESTIONS:

1. What were some of the key goals of the Second Republic regarding gender
equality according to the document?
2. Describe some of the measures implemented by the Second Republic to
promote gender equality as mentioned in the document.
3. Who were some prominent women mentioned in the document, and what
contributions did they make to society during the Second Republic?
4. What were the arguments presented by Clara Campoamor in favor of
women's right to vote in her speech to the Cortes in 1931?
5. What were some of the arguments used by opponents of women's suffrage,
as mentioned in the document?
6. Explain the controversy surrounding the debate on women's right to vote in
the Cortes during the Second Republic.
7. Why did conservatives oppose women's suffrage, according to the
document?
8. What was the stance of the left regarding women's suffrage, and what
doubts did some Republican politicians express about its potential impact?
9. How do the speeches and arguments presented in the document reflect the
societal attitudes towards women's roles and rights during the Second
Republic?
10.Discuss the significance of the Second Republic's efforts towards gender
equality in the broader context of Spanish history.