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Feminism For The Descamisadas: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Eva Perón's Speeches, Kayleigh Fick

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF)

Eva Perón’s “moral reform” feminism inspired the beginnings of feminist expansion in Argentina by praising tradition and promoting gender equality. Peronism, a populist movement, mobilized the Argentine working-class after decades of socioeconomic oppression. Eva Perón empowered Argentine working-class women, her descamisadas (“shirtless ones”), in fiery speeches. Eva Perón’s feminism was exceptional for a first-wave feminist context:: working as a female politician in a traditionalistic nation. Though scholars have labeled Eva Perón a “non-feminist,” I contend that her approach to feminism was extraordinary because of her ability to craft rhetorical appeals to working-class women. I analyzed Eva Perón’s speechwriting during her …