3190217 | The representation of the female role in the Spanish Civil War posters

THE POSTER AS AN INSTRUMENT IN GENDER STUDIES

MARTA SEIJAS ESAD.CR 2020

THE REPRESENTATION OF THE FEMALE ROLE IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR POSTER.

"Men look at women.

Women watch themselves being looked at. This determines not only the relations of men to women, but the relation of women to themselves."

- John Berger

"What are other women really thinking, feeling, experiencing, when they slip away from the gaze and culture of men?"

- Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth

PRESET ROLES & STEREOTYPES SET BY THE MALE GAZE

"Propaganda, as a communicative mode, is a form of intentional communication, whose objective is the indoctrination or ideological manipulation of the recipient."

- Eguizábal, R. Teoría de la publicidad

"Propaganda is the expression of an opinion or action by individuals or groups, deliberately aimed at influencing the opinions or actions of other individuals or groups for predetermined ends and by means of psychological manipulation."

- Edwards, V. 1938

WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?

HOW WERE WOMEN REPRESENTED

BY THE TWO POLITICAL SIDES? REPUBLICANS & NATIONALIST

How were they represented physically?

young

thin strong

beutiful weak soldier wife What roles did they have in society?

nurse

worker mother

victim

sweet

01

02

Throughout

history,

graphic

design has been used in politics time after time. We can see this demonstrated

clearly

in

the

periods with political turmoil, with the war posters and propaganda.

While

the

wars

where

being

fought on the battlefield, graphic designers

were

using

communication to fight another type of war. The propaganda battle could help change the course of any war due to its ability to either mobilize and encourage or

demoralize

its

target

audiences.

Propaganda could be defined as an organized diffusion of a mass message

with

persuading

the public

intent

of

opinion,

involving the intent to reinforce or change

people’s

beliefs

and

behaviors with the dissemination of

facts,

arguments,

half-truths or lies.

rumors,

03

During the Spanish civil war, both

On one hand, the republican side

sides

used

graphic

design,

promoted the idea of change and

posters

and

progress, trying to leave behind

their

outdated values, such as the

specifically pamphlets,

to

amplify

minuscule role of the woman in

message.

the social and political life.

I would like to research the unique power that design had on

But

the

the

nationalist, showed they wanted to

woman’s role in the Spanish civil

continue with those old values that

war and how it varied from one

were the essence of the Spain

political side to another. The way

they wanted, such as religion,

they were represented shows us

monarchy, a patriarchal society,

the difference in ideology of both

and the traditional family.

representation

of

the

subversive

side,

the

sides, how the viewed and valued females, and how the outcome of

For context the war began in

the war shaped society's view on

1936 after losing the election, the

women.

military

and

conservative against

the facets

the

most revolted

republican

government trying to win control of the country, they failed in their attempt

of

control

started a civil war.

but

they

04

To understand the significant shift

Little

by

little

and

throughout

that women had during the years

hardship

of the Spanish civil war, we need to

discrimination women began to

understand the historical setting

protest for their rights, creating

right before and during this time.

feminist

and

fighting

organizations

and

assemblies.

Before the war, during the first years of the XX century, women

With the proclamation of the

were out of the political, social,

second republic (1931) these

cultural, and work life. Women

groups were consolidated and

were made to depend on men,

moved

they were not to receive an

movement, women were freer

education or work that left them

than they had ever been. And

isolated with the only task they

these ideas carried on with the

were allowed to do, stay at home

republican side and how they

and take care of the domestic

used the female figure on their

duties.

graphics.

forward

the

feminist

05

When

talking

about

the

The Republican side generated

representation of women, there

important

are many different aspects we

renovated iconographic image

can distinguish. For example how

and representation of women,

women were viewed as a part of

from their perspective they were

society and what role they had in

able to elevate the female figure

it. And in correlation to that how

thanks to the messages that were

their appearance and physical

broadcasted on their posters.

attributes varied.

Some

of

contributions

the

on

types

a

of

representations of we can find As

a

general

rule,

most

are:

representations of the female appearance

in

these

posters

were depicted as young and slim.

Then depending on the role they had in society, they had more particular characteristics on top of

those.

Within

the

field

of

healthcare, and as a wife and a mother

they

looked

beautiful,

tender, and sweet, taking care of the man. There were also two opposing

positions,

strong

women as soldiers and weak

PARRILLA ¡ (1938)

women as victims.

PARRILLA · (1937)

MEZQUITA · (1936-1939)

ANÓNIMO · (1937)

ARTECHE, C · (1936)

06

07

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Nationalist

were

fighting

to

dismantle everything the Republic had

achieved,

that

included

women rights hence why the posters of the national side were aimed

at

perpetuating

those

traditional conservative values, portray

the

image

of

a

purpose of taking care of the house and the children.

ANÓNIMO · (1937)

submissive woman, with the sole

So that's why we can only see representations of women in the role of the wife and mother and

SÁENZ DE TEJADA, C · (1937)

ANÓNIMO · (1937)

women as victims of communism.

08

Taking everything into account,

Although this propaganda gained

the representation of women in

a certain relevance, it was not as

the

very

important as the one on the

important role in the perpetuation

republican side. And, despite the

of role models of society and we

fact it wasn't as significant at the

have such a clear example here,

time, due to the outcome of the

in that they were so different on

war, these traditionalist values

the Republican side and on the

became the new norm. These

National side.

ideas of how women should look,

posters

plays

a

act, and think were force into The republican posters, we see

women

women

and

generations that came after that

she

in a way shaping the country.

have

participatory

a

leading role,

and

shaped

the

symbolized the values of the Republic, such as freedom and independence.

And

this

representation

was

very

important

the

for

female

collective at the time, fighting to keep the rights and changes they had achieved.

And in the posters of the national side, we can see the conservative to women.

ANÓNIMO ¡ (1940)

values and ideals of men pushed

09

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