Teresa, a journal for all women? Gender, class and the space of everyday life in the Sección Femenina’s transition to democracy (1960-1970)

Abstract

Of all the journals published by the Sección Femenina the monthly Teresa, Revista para Todas las Mujeres, was the most read and the one published for the longest period. It functioned as the official mouthpiece of falangist women between the years 1954-1977, a period in the life of the Franco dictatorship marked by profound political, economic and social changes. The articles, interviews and images published in Teresa constitute a conscious effort to fashion the identity of young, urban middle class women. This effort was part of a large project aimed at creating an audience capable of identifying with the messages and images of falangist womanhood. The article analyses the relationship between gender and class in the Sección Femenina’s discourse and practices as a conservative women’s organization during the final years of the dictatorship and the transition to democracy. Our hypothesis is that during the second half of the 1960s gender issues were prioritized differently within the political agenda of right — wing women’s organizations. This was achieved partly through the manipulation of the concept of class and of class differences. The article analyses these changes by focusing on the ways in which the writers in Teresa described and defined the role of women within two spaces: the space of the home and of family life and the space of work and of professional life.