Acceso usuarios
Silke Hensel
In Mexico, as in other Latin American countries, a political revolutionbegan even before independence with the constitutional process ofCadiz. Citizenship and representation became important politicalconcepts, but they were also hotly contested. The question of whoshould have the right to vote and who best represented thepolitical will of the nation was constantly debated in a growingpublic sphere. These debates were gendered in several ways. First,despite the broad definition of citizenship, women were excludedfrom exercising the political rights that came with it. However, thisdid not mean that they were completely absent from politics. Thisparticipation led to public debates about gender roles. Second,representation as a new form of politics was not free fromcriticism, which was sometimes framed in gendered terms, such aswhen satirical publications questioned the masculinity of thedeputies. This article will discuss the construction of gender rolesin the public sphere in the context of representative politics andits institutions, especially national and state congresses
