APSU Professor’s New Book Examines Women’s Suffrage Movement in Argentina
August 3, 2011
Clarksville, TN – In 1947, women in Argentina were finally given the right to vote. Jubilant crowds took to the streets, and the country’s first lady, Eva (Evita) Perón was hailed as a hero for her role in spearheading the new law.
But Dr. Gregory Hammond, assistant professor of history at Austin Peay State University, points out that not all women were happy by this historic turn of events. In his new book, “The Women’s Suffrage Movement and Feminism in Argentina from Roca to Perón,” he argues that some of that country’s most ardent feminists were against the Perón government enacting the new law.
“Here’s the great irony,” Hammond said. “The early generation of feminists, the ones who had worked for four decades in some cases, were all opponents of (President Juan) Perón. They thought he was basically a Fascist. Peron had said things in the past that indicated he supported Mussolini. And they believed if women got the right to vote from Perón, then they would vote for Perón.” [Read more]
