The participation of Catholicism in the women’s movement during the late Francoism period and the transition to democracy in Spain (1965-1980)

Abstract

During the 1960s, there was an evolution of the meanings of gender within grassroots Catholicism. Especially relevant was his critique of the hegemonic model of femininity and the forms of affective relationships promoted by the dictatorship. Spanish Catholic youth put into practice a genuine mode of social belonging by reflecting on an intersection of components that challenged them such as class, youth and gender. From the values of primitive Christianity, many young women acquired a class consciousness, which when analysed from their own experience became a feminist consciousness. Using oral history as an analytical tool and memory as an object of study, in this article we will investigate the internal debates within the Catholic grassroots movement about feminism and the incorporation of Catholic women into the Spanish feminist movement that began in 1975.