Gender and privilege. The singular femininity of Pilar Careaga in interwar Spain

• Nerea Aresti Esteban ^[1]
  1. [1] Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

     Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea

     Leioa, España

     
• Localización: Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, ISSN-e 1469-9524, ISSN 1470-1847, Vol. 31, Nº. 1, 2025, págs. 33-47
• Idioma: inglés
• Enlaces
  • Texto completo
• Resumen

  • The naturalization of sex difference seems like an almost infallible mechanism for constructing gender identities. Nevertheless, gender does not lose its performative character even in contexts of radical naturalization of sex-based differences. This article explores this idea through the case of Pilar Careaga, a singular woman in twentieth-century Spain. A pioneer in both the political and professional realms, Careaga conceived of herself more as a member of a select minority than a woman. This vision led her to develop strategies that allowed her to elevate herself above the conditions of her gender and evade the mandates of normative femininity. To do so, Careaga used all of the resources available in the traditionalist political culture she belonged to. Her disobedience was not linked to a feminist project; on the contrary, she always defended the social and gender orders that sustained her position of privilege.