The Salvadorans, the first Latin American women to vote. 1921

Abstract

This exploration of early feminism in El Salvador describes the social environment since the late 19th century in which Salvadoran women began to organize and infuence Salvadoran political life to claim their right to participate as citizens with the right to vote. By studying the increasing participation of women in urban workplaces and their involvement in the new forms of sociability of the time, the research shows that early feminism in El Salvador had a broad social base. The study shows that iconic fgures like Prudencia Ayala did not work in isolation. Numerous seamstresses, market vendors, teachers, typographers, and elite women organized associations, wrote articles, attended demonstrations and lobbied politicians to achieve their goals. The cause of unionism was a vehicle for numerous groups of women to participate in political life and promote what was their most important achievement: the incorporation of female suffrage into the federal Constitution of 1921 and the exercise of suffrage in the October elections of that year.

Realidad: Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades No. 156, 2020: 35-82