Building a movement involves both conflict and cooperation. During the early 1900s, feminists in North, Central, and South America navigated these dynamics at international organizations and conferences. A feminist is someone who believes that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men. These platforms helped feminists to recognize their shared goals across borders and build transnational networks.
Think of a time when you worked as part of a group or team. What were you able to accomplish that you wouldn’t have been able to do alone? How did you overcome challenges as you worked toward your shared goal?
After the devastation of each World War, many national governments wanted to promote cooperation and diplomacy. In the Americas, organizations like the Pan-American Union (PAU) and United Nations (UN) helped to foster diplomatic and trade relations. Feminists hoped to leverage this spirit of cooperation to cultivate resources for organizations founded by and for women. In other cases, transnational alliances provided new political opportunities between activists in countries where women could vote, like the United States, and places where women could not, such as Cuba.
But working together was not always easy. By the turn of the 20th century, some Latin American countries had begun to view U.S. foreign policy as imperialistic, due to US military interventions in Central and South America. Heightened distrust and ill will towards the US also influenced the experiences of Latin American feminists. While they recognized the benefits of the US’s political influence, they also wanted to ensure that women from the US did not dominate their struggles for equality.
Despite these challenges, the cooperative purpose of international organizations aligned with the goals of women’s rights activists and helped to advance their cause across borders. The places in this article illustrate how feminists used international conferences and organizations to pursue women’s equality throughout the Americas.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service