Feminist Library - Part III

Continuing with the theme of books on feminism, in this post I’d like to tell you about a brand-new book—released less than a month ago—that I read during the first week of 2021, while enjoying some time off at the beach :)

The book is *Stories of an Unrequited Love: Feminism and the Left in the 1980s*, by Ana Laura de Giorgi.

Ana Laura de Giorgi is a professor and researcher in the Department of Political Science at the University of the Republic, and in this book she explores the different ways in which feminist movements integrated (with varying degrees of success) into the Uruguayan left.

Although it’s an extremely rigorous academic work, with many quotes, references (perfect for further reading!), and support from material published at the time, it’s a very engaging and enjoyable read. The author intersperses quotes and dialogues from the various protagonists (using pseudonyms to protect their identities), which lends a fresh perspective to the narrative and allows us to gain insight into each woman’s experiences and immerse ourselves in their daily lives.

The book explores the transition experienced by Uruguayan feminists in the 1980s. A decade that began against the backdrop of a military dictatorship, was marked by all the excitement and anticipation typical of a transition, and culminated in a Uruguay that was now a democracy but unable—both at the state level and within the party structures themselves—to address the demands of the feminist movements.

In conversations with the various protagonists, it becomes clear how prison, exile, or forced confinement—all imposed by the dictatorship—were pivotal life experiences that led these women (who were already active on the left) to turn toward feminism and attempt to integrate it into the struggles and demands of left-wing groups and parties. This was a comprehensive theoretical, academic, outreach, and educational effort which, as the book’s title suggests, was not fully reciprocated by a left that could not set aside its patriarchal structures and traditional practices, and that failed to conceive of the role of feminism within its classic framework of “class struggle”.

Until now, I hadn’t read anything about feminism in Uruguay (except for a few articles and speeches by Paulina Luisi that obviously date from another era), and I find this book essential for understanding the movement today and reclaiming its history within Uruguayan politics. Of course, now I want to read more on the subject and continue delving deeper into “Uruguayan-style feminism,” which already had its own distinct characteristics within the Latin American context back in the 1980s.

As a point of curiosity, I’d love to know who the women behind the pseudonyms are, because when you read their work, you can’t help but feel gratitude for the entire journey they undertook—mostly on their own and with many personal sacrifices—to gradually change realities that once seemed impossible to transform.

Until next time!