Women in Spain : A Transition from Dictatorship to
Democracy as seen through Film
April Rolfe
Dr. Jenna Torres, Faculty Mentor
McNair Summer 2005 Research
What does it mean to be a woman in “modern” Spain after almost forty years of institutional repression? “Spain has often been viewed as a more traditional society resistant to change. In gender terms, this label signifies a world defined by separate spheres--a world in which female identity is equated with motherhood, marriage, and home; and male identity is linked to citizenship, work, and politics” (Enders 399). The progress of Spanish women is a rather unique situation as the events and changes of the past half century have been compressed into the last twenty years. Throughout my investigation, I will first provide the historical context under the Franco regime (1936-1975) in order to the show how the institutions set up during this time were used as a means to re-impose traditional gender norms on women in an attempt to control a chaotic Spanish empire. I will then explore the evolution of women’s social behaviors as a result of the creation of new values and norms set by changing ideologies and institutions through the contemporary film of Pedro Almodóvar and Benito Zambrano.