Concept
The Círculo de Estudios de la Mujer, or the Women’s Study Circle, was a Chilean feminist organization that existed from 1979 to 1983. It was formed during the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile as a response to the regime’s oppressive actions against citizens and women. For the Círculo women, the struggle for democracy and for women’s rights went hand-in-hand, and they also aimed to reframe feminism by prioritizing women as individuals, rather than their maternal identities. The Círculo de Estudios de la Mujer was part of a larger women’s movement which worked towards the end of the dictatorship, but they disbanded and formed two splinter groups in 1983. Feminism in Chile The year 1915 saw the original formation of the Women’s Reading Circle (Círculo de Lectura de Señoras), which was modeled after various American women’s reading clubs. The club focused on the need to integrate women into the cultural and educational spheres of Chilean life. Various upper and middle-class women comprised the members of the club, who essentially felt the need to fill this educational and cultural ‘gap’ in their lives. These women questioned their exclusion from existing social life and its organization, which included female suffrage. In 1949, under President Gabriel González Videla, Chilean women won the right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections, along with the right to participate in the political arena by running for any elected office, including that of the president. Following this victory, there was the eventual decline of autonomous Chilean women’s rights organizations. These organizations had previously worked to ensure equal rights for women. However, by 1978, Chilean society continued to be a repressive space for women, and some women began to articulate their discontent with their subordinate position in Chilean society and the political sphere. These women that stood up did so in the face of derogatory labels and accusations laid on by the opposition. Tentative steps were taken by these women toward political organization on the basis of these concerns.