Feminism and Conservatism in México

Abstract

Mexico is usually described as a secular country with a Catholic following that remains above the regional average. In this context, a strong presence of feminist institutional activism and a relatively weak performance of Evangelical religious conservative activism have developed (Pérez Guadalupe 2017). This essay reviews these usual descriptions in order to adjust this image, undertaking the task of avoiding both overestimating and underestimating the scope of these activisms. The essay also identifies emerging challenges for research on politics and gender in Mexico and Latin America more generally.

Introduction The Grassroots Right in Latin America: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences

“…In practice, what does Latin America's grassroots right look like? Perhaps the single set of issues distinguishing the right today from that in previous periods is the centrality of sexuality politics; for instance, opposition to abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, and school-based sexual education (Biroli and Caminotti 2020;Pérez Betancur and Rocha-Carpiuc 2020;Vaggione and Machado 2020;Zaremberg 2020). In this section, for instance, Corredor and Reuterswärd describe movements opposing "gender equality" in Colombia and abortion access in Mexico, respectively.…”

“…The new right's repertoire of contention still includes traditional insider strategies. For instance, Mexico's Catholic pro-life movement relied on backroom deals and campaign contributions to pass anti-abortion amendments in some state constitutions (Reuterswärd this issue; see also Zaremberg 2020). In Peru, groups linked to Catholic and Evangelical churches have drafted legislation replacing legislative references to gender with the words women and men, defined as distinct and complementary (Rousseau 2020, 30-31).…”

Opening the Attitudinal Black Box: Three Dimensions of Latin American Elites’ Attitudes about Gender Equality

“…Additionally, religiosity shapes gender equality attitudes more than differences in religious denominations (Inglehart and Norris 2003; Seguino 2011; Mikołajczak and Pietrzak 2014). Scholars studying Latin America’s backlash politics likewise note that denominations matter less than religious fervor itself: whether strong Catholics or newly-energized Protestant converts, believers oppose progressive ideas about gender and sexuality (Biroli and Caminotti 2020; Zaremberg 2020).…”

“…Despite Evangelicalism’s rising appeal in Latin America, most legislators are still Catholic: 80% in the PELA surveys. Since denomination lacks variation, and since the fervor of religious beliefs likely matters more than denomination (Biroli and Caminotti 2020; Zaremberg 2020), we include attendance at religious services, measured on a 6-pt scale (0=non-believer and 5=attending services more than once a week). Finally, recalling that women may diverge from men in their gender equality attitudes while sharing conservative views in other spheres (de Geus and Shorrocks 2020; Piscopo 2014; Xydias 2013), we include interaction terms that capture how religiosity and ideology may operate differently for men and women: woman * religiosity and woman * ideology.…”

Feminism(s) and anti-gender backlash: lessons from Latin America

“…and secular organizations that opposed comprehensive sexuality education in schools, and, with the slogan "Don't mess with my kids," defended what they considered to be the "natural" (heterosexual) family (Corrêa 2018). Since then, anti-gender equality actors have organized around a wider range of sexuality and gender policy issues, and with particular vehemence on abortion and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ) rights, with the aim of questioning the relevance of gender equality as a central public policy objective (Rousseau 2020;Zaremberg 2020). Moreover, campaigns against "gender ideology"as originally the Vatican and more contemporary proponents call ithave shaped national political and electoral competition: from the defeat of Colombia's Peace Accord referendum in 2016 to national electoral campaigns in Brazil and Costa Rica in 2018 (Wilkinson, this issue).…”