From virile heroines to mothers of the nation. Women and Basque nationalism (1893-1937)

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of visions of gender in Basque nationalism before 1937, and it pays special attention to changes in the perception of women and in the political meaning of sex difference. I argue that the strength of the concept of «mother of the nation» is unstable and it cannot be taken for granted in the construction of nationalist political cultures. Early Basque nationalism, as formulated by Sabino Arana, considered women to be inferior to men, while he upraised Basque nation’s virility. At the same time, Basque women would share their race’s sublime virtues, and some virile heroines, in particular, played a leading role in the most important episodes of the epic narrative that idealized the defense of an originally independent and free nation. However, in these early decades, women were not allowed to participate in the nationalist movement, even as mothers. During the 1920s, significant changes regarding visions of gender happened. The image of the «mother of the nation» broke into the political scene and it gained unprecedented symbolic relevance. And then women’s gendered incorporation to Basque nationalist movement took place.