Hispanic eugenics

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Hispanic eugenics are a positive eugenics based around the political purification of a people, developed in Spain during the interwar period and put into practice in the Spanish Civil War, eventually being made into political policy in Francoist Spain. The concept was first expounded upon in the 1930s by men like Antonio Vallejo-Nájera and Gregorio Marañón. It was heavily influenced by Roman Catholicism. Much of this was realized through Francoist policies around the role of women and their bodies.

Contents

Race and ideology

Eugenics in Spain in the late 1930s and through to the 1940s was not based on race, but instead on people's political alignment with the regime. Ricardo Campos said, "the racial question during the Franco era is complex." He went on to say, "despite the similarities of the Franco regime with the Italian and German fascism and the interest that the eugenics provoked, the strong Catholicism of the regime prevented its defense of the eugenic policies that were practiced in the Nazi Germany." Campos's translated text went on to say, "it was very difficult to racialize the Spanish population biologically because of the mixture that had been produced historically."[ citation needed ] Vallejo-Nágera in his 1937 work, Eugenics of the Hispanicity and Regeneration of the Race defined Hispanicness around spirituality and religion. The goal was the "strengthening psychologically" of the phenotype. Because Catholicism was opposed to negative eugenics, the only way to fight the degradation was through repression of abortion, euthanasia and contraception. [1]

Ideological pioneers

Hispanic eugenics was pioneered by doctors like Antonio Vallejo Nájera and Gregorio Marañón. Antes que te cases was published by Nájera in 1946, with one part saying, "Racial decadence is the result of many things but the most important is conjugal unhappiness in the most prosperous and happy of homes. ... Eugenic precepts may avoid morbid offspring. ... It is impossible a robust race without a sound preparation of youth for marriage, through Catholic Morality.  This little work is a minuscule contribution to the exaltation of the Fatherland." [2]  Vallejo Nájera's 1937 book, Eugenesia de la Hispanidad y la regeneración de la raza outlined the purpose of Hispanic eugenics as being about returning Spain to its historical glory by purifying not the Spanish race, but Spain's political ideology. [3] Marañón's 1921 Maternidad y feminismo, republished as a second edition in 1951, said, "The difference between the sexes is insurmountable. Such difference emerges from the anatomical surface of each man and woman, and it goes to the deepest, darkest roots of life, to the home of the cells." [4]

Catholic influence

Science was viewed as a complement to Catholic eugenics in Spain. [3] Hispanic eugenics has, in comparison to Nazi Germany, been tremendously influenced by the Catholic Church. [1] [3] In Francisco Haro's 1930 Eugenesia y Matrimonio, he wanted to see the introduction of marriage certificates to insure morality in eugenic practices through the use of positive population control instead of negative population control. His thinking was informed by Catholic tradition. [3]

Hispanic eugenics were further supported out of condemnation of the left, who supported negative eugenics policies and who were anti-clerical in their outlook. This made Hispanic eugenicists more likely to support positive eugenics with a Catholic tie in. [3]

Women's reproduction in Spain

Doctors in Francoist Spain had two roles: to be moral protectors of Spanish reproduction and to provide science based medical services.  This put male doctors in charge of women's birth control. When medical doctors in the Second Republic and early Francoist period defended birth control, it was on the eugenics grounds that it protected the health of both women and children, especially as it related to the spread of genetic disease and the spread of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases. [5]

Hispanic eugenics and pronatalism were viewed as key components of addressing the decline in the Spanish birth rate and the need for an increased population size to serve the needs of the Spanish state during the Francoist period. Policies around this eugenics program involved bans on abortion, infanticide, contraception and information around contraception. This practice was started as policy during the Dictatorship of Primo de Rivera, discontinued by the Second Republic and then picked up again as a national level policy by Francoists. Anything that was viewed by the state as interfering with women's reproduction activities and increasing the size of the Spanish population size were viewed as being in opposition to the state. All activities that stopped this began to become defined by the regime as crimes. [6] [7] [8]

Anyone who did not fit into traditional gender norms and who expressed any deviance from Roman Catholic sexual norms was viewed as a sexual pervert. While some women quietly questioned their biologically determined place in society, male intellectuals provided rationals to support Francoist policies that used medical and biological sciences, along with anatomy and physiological studies. [4] These works often drew on phrenological works by doctors such as Franz Joseph Gall that were later translated into Spanish. Carmen de Burgos Seguí published one such translation in La inferioridad mental de la mujer which said, "Many female characteristics are very similar to those of beasts; mainly the lack of a main of their own. Since the beginning of times they have functions like that, hence the human race would be stagnated in its original state if there were only women." [4]

The Franco government found an ally in their anti-abortion beliefs and practices in the Roman Catholic Church. [9] Those within the Catholic Church wrote in support of the law, with Father Jaime Pujiula, Professor of the Colegio Máximo de San Ignacio de Sarriá and member of the Royal Academies of Sciences of Madrid and Medicine of Barcelona [9] saying, "The fruit that is lost criminally would be perhaps the most robust man, the healthiest, the most intelligent to raise the same society or to renew it or print new directions and directions." It is also an attack against population problems. of society and Eugenics, not only the women who cause the abortion, but the perverse midwives and doctors conspired with them to perpetrate the crime for the vile spirit of profit are responsible before God, before society and before the Eugenics." [10]

Because midwives appeared to be so frequently involved in sharing knowledge about abortion and contraceptives and performing abortions, the male led scientific community in Spain tried to marginalize these women. Professionalization in medicine would help to further relegate the importance of midwives in Spain. Further attempts to dislodge midwives from the birthing process included accusing them of witchcraft and quackery, trying to make them appear unscientific. This was all part of a medical and eugenic science driven effort to reduce the number of abortions in Spain. [11]

PSOE introduced legislation to legalize abortion in 1983 through an amendment to Spain's penal code. [12] Abortion was finally made legal by Congress later that year by a vote of 186 - 50, but did not enter into legal effect until July 1985 as Coalición Popular (now Partido Popular) challenged the constitutionality of the law. The decriminalization of abortion was allowed for three reasons. The first was that it was ethical in the case of rape. The second was it could be a necessary to save the life of the mother. The third reason was that eugenic, allowing abortion in case of fetal malformation. [13] [14] [15] [12]

History

A Hispanic eugenics conference took place from 21 April to 10 May 1933 in Madrid, where topics like eugenics, divorce, abortion, birth control and prostitution were discussed by over fifty intellectuals. [3]

Catalan eugenics supporters were advocating their own form of Hispanic eugenics by 1934, with its leading advocates including Hermenegildo Puig i Sais, Josep A. Vandellós, Pompeu Fabra, and Francesiso Maspons. Josep A. Vandellós published his first book advocating Catalan eugenics in 1934. The Societat Catalana d'Eugenèsia was founded that year. Their purpose was to create an improved Catalan people. [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sección Femenina</span> Womens branch of the Spanish political party Falange

The Sección Femenina was the women's branch of the Falange political movement in Spain. Founded in 12 July 1934 as part of the Sindicato Español Universitario (SEU) of the Falange Española de las JONS, and fully incorporated to FE de las JONS later in the year, it remained as part of the FET y de las JONS following the 1937 Unification Decree, subsequently becoming an official institution of the single-party of the Francoist dictatorship. Following General Franco's death and the beginning of the transition to democracy it was disbanded on 7 April 1977 together with all Movimiento Nacional institutions. Sección Femenina was led throughout its history by Pilar Primo de Rivera, the younger sister of Falange Española founder José Antonio Primo de Rivera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Francoist Spain</span>

Women in Francoist Spain (1939–1978) were the last generation of women to not be afforded full equality under the 1978 Spanish Constitution. Women during this period found traditional Catholic Spanish gender roles being imposed on them, in terms of their employment opportunities and role in the family. For Republican women, Francoist Spain was a double loss, as the new regime first took away the limited political power and identities as women which they had won during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), and it secondly forced them back into the confines of their homes. Motherhood would become the primary social function of women in Francoist Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women's media in Francoist Spain</span>

Women's media in Francoist Spain suffered as a result of Francoist Spain policy. Many writers, translators and others were forced into exile, or faced stifling censorship and harassment if they remained. Spanish restrictions meant writing became one of the few acceptable occupations for women, and literate women with few other outlets for participation in Spanish society became voracious readers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the workforce in Francoist Spain</span>

Women in the workforce in Francoist Spain faced high levels of discrimination. The end of the Spanish Civil War saw a return of traditional gender roles in the country. These were enforced by the regime through laws that regulated women's labor outside the home and the return of the Civil Code of 1889 and the former Law Procedure Criminal, which treated women as legally inferior to men. During the 1940s, women faced many obstacles to entering the workforce, including financial penalties for working outside the home, job loss upon marriage and few legally available occupations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women prisoners in Francoist Spain</span>

Women prisoners in Francoist Spain were often there because of specific repression aimed at women. During the Civil War, many women were in prison because family members had Republican sympathies or the authorities wanted to lure out male Republican affiliated relatives; it was not a result of anything the women did themselves. The Law of Political Responsibilities, adopted on 13 February 1939, made such repression easier and was not formally removed from the Criminal Code until 1966. Prisoners and people in concentration camps, both male and female, would total over three quarters of a million by the end of the Spanish Civil War. Of these, 14,000 women were held in the Las Ventas Model prison in Madrid.

Motherhood in Francoist Spain was the definition of being a woman. Motherhood was important to the state because Hispanic eugenics saw women's bodies as state property. They were needed to rebuild Spain by creating a race of people aligned with the prevailing Catholic morality of the period. The regime then created numerous laws to enforce its vision of motherhood. These would not begin to relax until the late 1950s, and only face radical changes in the post-Franco period.

Feminism in Francoist Spain and the democratic transition period took place in a specific socio-historical context. Spanish feminism went through several waves in the Francoist period. Broadly speaking, they are first-wave feminism taking place from the mid-nineteenth century to 1965, second-wave feminism taking place from 1965 to 1975, and third-wave feminism taking place from 1975 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender roles in Francoist Spain</span>

Gender roles in Francoist Spain became more regressive following the end of the Spanish Civil War. Women, who had achieved some degree of liberation during the Second Republic, were forced back into the home. Misogyny and heteronormativity became linchpins in the new fascist Spain, underpinned by Hispanic eugenics. Under this system, anyone who did not adhere to state and religious mandated gender roles and who expressed any deviance from Roman Catholic sexual norms was considered by both church and state to be a sex pervert. 

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in Partido Comunista de España in Francoist Spain</span>

Women in Partido Comunista de España in Francoist Spain faced many challenges. Partido Comunista de España (PCE) had been made illegal by the new regime, which banned all political parties and trade unions. In the final days of the Civil War and during the first days of Francoist Spain, women were imprisoned just for being related to "reds". They were also investigated, harassed, imprisoned and executed for expressing sympathy for Republicans or belonging to any leftist organization. Many women in PCE were caught up in this. PCE women's organization Agrupación de Mujeres Antifascistas survived the war, and shifted their priorities to assisting political prisoners in Francost jails.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prostitution in Francoist Spain</span>

Prostitution in Francoist Spain (1936–1975) presented the government with a problem. The Nationalist faction in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) tolerated the practice, but prostitution was actively opposed by the Catholic Church. During the 1940s, state policy was more tolerant of it, and allowed officially sanctioned brothels to serve the "needs" of men and prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). However, clandestine prostitution was actively suppressed, while its economic causes, which largely involved war orphans and women in dire economic situations, were ignored.

Women in CNT in Francoist Spain were persecuted as part of state organized efforts to eliminate remaining leftist elements. Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) was formed in 1910, and from the onset it did not treat women equally to men inside the organization. This continued during the Second Spanish Republic, the Spanish Civil War and into Francoist Spain.

Abortion in Francoist Spain and the transition period was illegal. Francoists opposed abortion because it interfered with Spanish population growth. Abortion was only briefly legal in Spain in this period in Catalonia in the final days of the Spanish Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Contraception in Francoist Spain and the democratic transition</span>

Contraception in Francoist Spain (1939–1975) and the democratic transition (1975–1985) was illegal. It could not be used, sold or covered in information for dissemination. This was partly a result of Hispanic Eugenics that drew on Catholicism and opposed abortion, euthanasia and contraception while trying to create an ideologically aligned population from birth. A law enacted in 1941 saw usage, distribution and sharing of information about contraception become a criminal offense. Midwives were persecuted because of their connections to sharing contraceptive and abortion information with other women. Condoms were somewhat accessible in the Francoist period despite prohibitions against them, though they were associated with men and prostitutes. Other birth control practices were used in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s including diaphragms, coitus interruptus, the pill, and the rhythm method. Opposition to the decriminalization of contraception became much more earnest in the mid-1960s. By 1965, over 2 million units of the pill had been sold in Spain where it had been legal under certain medical conditions since the year before. Despite the Government welcoming the drop in the number of single mothers, they noted in 1975 that this was a result of more women using birth control and seeking abortions abroad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex education in Francoist Spain and the democratic transition</span>

Sex education in Francoist Spain (1939–1975) and the democratic transition (1975–1982) was prohibited by law to be taught in schools. When it was addressed, it was originally done so from a moralistic point of view, highlighting concepts like the need for chastity. During the mid-1950s, this practice began to change, and after formal government approval sex education incorporated more elements of psychology and biology. Despite a lack of government-sanctioned sex education, people were taught informally. Middle-class women could learn from marriage guides. More generally, as women approached the age to marry, they received more sexual education from friends, mothers, sisters, and future in-laws. Upper-class men learned by having sex with prostitutes and maids employed by their households.

Women's sexuality in Francoist Spain was defined by the Church and by the State. The purpose in doing so was to have women serve the state exclusively through reproduction and guarding the morality of the state. Women's sexuality could only be understood through the prism of reproduction and motherhood. Defying this could have tremendous negative consequences for women, including being labeled a prostitute, being removed from her family home, being sent to a concentration camp, a Catholic run institution or to a prison. It was only after the death of Franco in 1975 that women in Spain were finally allowed to define their own sexuality. Understanding Francoist imposed definitions of female sexuality is critical to understanding modern Spanish female sexuality, especially as it relates to macho behavior and women's expected responses to it.

Women in 1930s Francoist Spain experienced major changes to marriage. Civil marriages that took place between 1932 and 1939 were annulled, and only if both partners were Roman Catholic were they permitted to remarry.

Women in 1940s Spain were mainly recognised as mothers.

References

  1. 1 2 "Los rojos fueron los 'judíos' de Franco: así fue la eugenesia del régimen". El Español (in European Spanish). 2018-03-13. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  2. ↑ Morcillo, Aurora G. (2010). The Seduction of Modern Spain: The Female Body and the Francoist Body Politic. Bucknell University Press. ISBN   9780838757536.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Turda, Marius; Gillette, Aaron (2014-10-23). Latin Eugenics in Comparative Perspective. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN   9781472523693.
  4. 1 2 3 Morcillo, Aurora G. (2010). The Seduction of Modern Spain: The Female Body and the Francoist Body Politic. Bucknell University Press. ISBN   9780838757536.
  5. ↑ Enders, Victoria Lorée; Radcliff, Pamela Beth (1999-01-01). Constructing Spanish Womanhood: Female Identity in Modern Spain. SUNY Press. ISBN   9780791440292.
  6. ↑ Herranz, Inmaculada Blasco (1999). "Actitudes de las mujeres bajo el primer Franquismo: La práctica del aborto en Zaragoza durante los años 40". Arenal: Revista de historia de mujeres. 6 (1): 165–180. ISSN   1134-6396.
  7. ↑ Nash, Mary.: "Pronatalism and motherhood in Franco's Spain". In G. BOCK & P. THANE. (ed.): Women and the Rise of the European Welfare States, 1880s-1950s. Routledge, London & New York, 1992, pp. 160-173.
  8. ↑ Eiroa, Matilde. "Mujer y política social en los primeros años del franquismo: Málaga 1941". In P. Ballarín and T. Ortiz (eds.): La mujer en Andalucía. Primer Encuentro Interdisciplinario de Estudios de la Mujer. Vol. 1. Granada, 1990, pp. 397-406.
  9. 1 2 Herranz, Inmaculada Blasco (1999). "Actitudes de las mujeres bajo el primer Franquismo: La práctica del aborto en Zaragoza durante los años 40". Arenal: Revista de historia de mujeres. 6 (1): 165–180. ISSN   1134-6396.
  10. ↑ Pujiula, Jaime. La Eugenesia ante la Iglesia y ante la ciencia". Revista Internacional de Sociología. Volume 11, Number 2-3, April-September 1943, pp. 113-155.
  11. ↑ Herranz, Inmaculada Blasco (1999). "Actitudes de las mujeres bajo el primer Franquismo: La práctica del aborto en Zaragoza durante los años 40". Arenal: Revista de historia de mujeres. 6 (1): 165–180. ISSN   1134-6396.
  12. 1 2 Cambronero-Saiz, Belén; Cantero, María Teresa Ruiz; Vives-Cases, Carmen; Portiño, Mercedes Carrasco (2007-01-01). "Abortion in Democratic Spain: The Parliamentary Political Agenda 1979–2004". Reproductive Health Matters. 15 (29): 85–96. doi: 10.1016/S0968-8080(07)29295-X . hdl: 10045/3367 . ISSN   0968-8080. PMID   17512380.
  13. ↑ Díez Balda, Mª Antonia. "El Movimiento feminista en Salamanca después de la muerte de Franco". mujeres en red. Universidad de Salamanca. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  14. ↑ Roth, Silke (2008-09-01). Gender Politics in the Expanding European Union: Mobilization, Inclusion, Exclusion. Berghahn Books. ISBN   9780857450708.
  15. ↑ Ashton, John R.; Alvarez-Dardet, Carlos; Colomer, Concha; PEIRö, Rosana (2001-06-01). "Does the liberalization of abortion laws increase the number of abortions? The case study of Spain". European Journal of Public Health. 11 (2): 190–194. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/11.2.190 . ISSN   1101-1262. PMID   11420809.
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