Emerging Cuyo Feminisms. Political Experiences of Christian and Feminist Women in Recent Local History

The Institute for Family Social Action (Iasyf) (Mendoza, 1968–1975)

Abstract

The text addresses the political experiences of feminist and Christian liberationist women in Mendoza between 1968 and 1975, centered on the Institute for Family Social Action (IASyF) and its Center for Women's Research (CIM). These women, coming from liberationist Christianity, emerged to debate the specific oppressions they faced in a social context marked by machismo and the radicalization of the working class. The IASyF was established as an autonomous space for training, research, and activism that integrates religious, political, and feminist perspectives with the goal of transforming society. It highlights the publication of "Oppression and Marginality of Women in the Machista Social Order" (1972), a pioneering text that articulates debates on female oppression, the mythology of femininity, and the connections between gender and class from a critical and feminist perspective. The book includes analyses of women's history, social diagnoses, and philosophical expositions that dismantle the patriarchal myths that sustain gender inequality, incorporating international feminist authors and theories. The work also emphasizes the importance of individual and collective consciousness for women's liberation and highlights the work of the IASyF as a key player in the origins of feminism in Argentina in the 1970s.

It is also worth highlighting the contributions of three men, Ezequiel Ander Egg, Enrique Dussel, and Jorge Gissi, intellectuals with recognized careers in the region and with a great sensitivity in addressing the subject.