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Contrasting

 

 

 
"How different could my life had been without the war! Before the conflict I attended the university, it was my second year studying medicine. Then all changed: the militia, the famine, the bombs, our house destroyed, my father’s death. The war drove my mother insane and split up the family. Then there was only a way to go on, I got married at once, we needed a men to support all the family expenses. Thanks God your grandfather was a heaven-sent gift."

 

 

 

  

 

Before the war, during the Republic, women had achieved a higher level of independence, it was easier to get to university and they could have their own job, one woman, Federica Montseny, was even appointed as minister. Spanish feminism, was more social than political, the Constitution of 1931 established universal suffrage and did not exclude women, despite resistance from leftist as well as right-wing parties.

Country Date
Finland 1906
Norway 1912
Great Britain 1928
France 1945
Spain 1931

Universal suffrage in some European countries

 

 

The new political system after the war was a turnaround of women’s role in society. As we can see in the poster, nationalists defined the women as mothers; so that, their activities had to be centred within the domestic sphere. Food processing, the making of clothing, carrying water, caring for domestic animals, caring for others, raising children, preparing and administering remedies and medicines, cleaning...these would have been the only duties deemed acceptable for women. Following this view of women´s roles in society, generally speaking, they were allowed to study up to the age of 14 or less, and her studies were focused on domestic tasks such as dressing or cooking

The majority of women were exploited simultaneously in both their working and reproductive capacity. The product of their labour, for example the making of clothing and tools, selling agricultural or home-made products in local markets, was controlled by either her husband or her father. The Republican defeat and Franco’s dictatorship eliminated universal suffrage until the Constitution of 1978.

 

 
DRESSING

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

According the order issued by the Catholic Church in Avila (1954) women had to follow some strict rules to dress as :
*Dresses should not be provocatively tight.
*Dresses should cover most of the leg. It is intolerable that they only reach the knee.
*It offends modesty to show cleavage.
*It is immodest to wear short sleeves which do not cover the arm or at least until the elbow.
*It offends modesty not to wear tights.
*All girls should wear skirts which cover the knee. Girls over 12 years old should also wear tights.
 
These three pictures show different costumes that were typical of this area :

 

 
  • The first shows ladies wearing the typical dress of peasants, with a straw hat, black apron on flowered or coloured long skirt, and a shawl.

 

 

 

 

  • The second shows a lady wearing the costume reserved for solemn occasions and celebrations such as processions, weddings, or bullfightings: it is usually black, with a "peineta" (curved comb) and embroidery "mantilla" covering the head, and with high-heel shoes.
    Sometimes the mantilla is white, especially for young ladies.

 

 

 

 

  • The third picture presents a mother with her four children (families were very large those days, encouraged by the government and the church), wearing the same or very similar coats (clothes were handed down from elder to younger brothers when the former had grown and the garment did not fit them any more). The girl was wearing a woollen jacket; probably until she could wear her brother's cast-off coat.
 

 

 

 

 

In 1962, there were great changes in the fashion world. The young people’s clothes were the most used. The necklines were round and the sleeves were short. The dresses were simple and the hair was straight and shorter . The women wore high-heeled shoes and discreet make-up. The suits were short and tight-fitting. The handbags and the hats were made of straw and were very big with decorative flowers and bows. In the mid 1960s all skirts were above the knee. In the 1960s the miniskirt came to Europe, they won over everybody, although at the beginning the Vatican condemned them.

 

 

 


Today, most girls, especially teenagers, wear very short miniskirts, high-heeled shoes and “ballerinas” are the most popular shoes for teenagers. For young girls smaller handbags are the best ones, but for older women the bigger ones are better, they are plain. The t-shirts have sentences on them and bright colours. One of the most popular colours is pink, boys wear it too. The most popular fashion accessories are big bracelets (in electric colours), ties (thin without prints) and leggings (always without prints, most of them are black, brown or white). The most fashionable shoes are the Converse-All Star, these unisex shoes are in all colours and prints, they are combined with miniskirts but mostly with jeans and other type of trousers.
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