This weeks readings focuses many issues such as of citizenship and rights during the formation of Latin America and its many states, the issue of woman's rights and religion. This review will focus on Document 3.4 titled 'Brushstroke' by Maria Eugenia Echenique. Maria strongly believes in the freedoms of woman and wishes to fight against the oppression of woman. Through a combination of education and increased freedoms, Maria believes woman can truly break through prejudice and succeed at life far more easily than before. It is undeniable the access to education is one of the most critical factors in the fight against oppression. This can be seen in modern times in countries such all around the world from the middle east, to the Asia and even into the west. Education has always been seen as the gateway to freedom and choice; without the ability to understand and think critical and make decisions, society is unable to progress. Whilst this fact is undeniable, Maria does become quite stereotypical and generalizes the male population quite destructively. She continues to state that men laugh at everything, make jokes of themselves, only think about filling their pockets (with money presumably) and satisfying their desires whilst becoming angry, aggressive and destructive if something comes between them and their goals. Whilst this would upset the modern reader, this document must be placed into context of Latin American society in the late nineteen hundreds when woman's right's were blatantly non existent.
Whilst I am writing this I feel the need to compare Maria's original document to document 3.5 titled “Women: Dedicated to Miss Maria Eugenia Echenique” by Judith (Josefi na Pelliza de Sagasta). Judith contradicts Maria completely stating that she believes equality between sexes would be destructive and a terrible thing if it occurred. She argues that woman would lose their "greatest charms and the poetic prestige of their weakness: the prestige which forms the most noble attribute of their sex, the prestige that later, when women are mothers, doubly beautifies them and places them on the sacred throne of the home, where women best belong. Women, in our opinion, should never even in thought surpass the limits that God." This type of comment would not stand in modern times without serious backlash and it is surprising that a comment like this would be made by a woman even during such a turmoiled time.
I agree that Echenique over generalizes the male population, in addition to the past female population. Especially when she says, "when women had no aspirations nor anything to think about." She creates a very black and white divide between men and women, and makes men to seem like an enemy which could be destructive.
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