Women of Spain

Like many women around the world, the women of Spain are the mainstay of the family and daily pull things together to ensure harmony within the home, but with the fall of fascism and the rise of democracy  things started to change for the women in Spanish society.

During Franco's reign social values were strongly conservative, oppressive and restrictive,  enforcing a set of social structures aimed at preserving the traditional role of the family in general and women in particular.

After Franco's death many social and sexual mores started to relax. After 1975  criminal laws against homosexuals were either lifted or no longer enforced,  indeed today Spain recognises civil marriages between gay couples.

Many magazines and films previously prohibited were allowed into the country, one such being 'Playboy which had been banned until 1976. Issues around contraception and abortion where extremely restrictive under Franco's rule, together with the strict attitude of the Catholic church.  Today Spain has a more liberal aproach to such issues.

But perhaps the most significant change in social values revolves around the role of women in Spain. For many women the opportunity of a professional career was very limited,as the woman's role was thought to be in the home as wives and mothers.   The return of democracy also brought about the changing place of women in the work force and society.  During the years since his death women have grown both  in the work place and have increased in number in the Universities.

During Franco's years, Spanish law discriminated strongly against married women. They would need their husbands approval to engage in economic activities, employment, ownership of property or even travel away from home. Over the years there have been many sweeping changes which have become law which centre around marriage, contraception, abortion and divorce. But one of the biggest changes is that the role of women has greatly expanded. Spanish women are rapidly catching up with their European counterparts.

The lives of women under the Franco regime have been captured by Joan Fallon in her book 'Daughters of Spain' and is the story of the hard won changes within society that the women of Spain have achieved.

The Road to Equality?

Although premiered last week, today sees the general release of this new and enlightening film 'Made in Dagenham'.  In these days of austerity and cut backs it is a timely story of a group of women workers from the Ford Dagenham car plant in Essex, UK, who in 1968 went on strike for equal pay. The women not only took on the Ford Motor Company but also the Government of the day to highlight the injustice.

The women were employed to sew seat covers for Cortina's and Zephyr's.   They worked long hours and in poor conditions, for during the summer, the shed they were based in was so hot they practically worked in their underwear and during the winter the conditions were freezing and the roof leaked.  Health & Safety today would have a lot to say about that!   The final straw came when the bosses at the plant declassified and downgraded the women to unskilled workers. For many women workers during this period,  this will not come as a surprise.

Despite many women going out to work, men were still considered to be the breadwinners.   Women have always had to fight for their rights in the workplace and the women car workers were no exception.   The only difference is that these women decided to do something about it. There was little known about the strike at the time as the newspapers did not carry the story for very long, despite some 300 women coming out on strike for 3 weeks. Nonetheless the strike created many heated discussions in households, pubs and clubs, as well as fuelling the all important political debate that the women were hoping for.

                                                        (Photograph by Graur  Codrin)

Another woman of particular note during the time of the strike,  was Barbara Castle who was a cabinet minister in the then Labour Government. Whilst making  no secret of the fact that she was in support of the women, she found it extremely exasperating dealing with Harold Wilson who was  Prime Minister at the time, as he was more ambiguous. Despite dealing with opposition from their bosses  and their male colleagues, the women were not to be daunted.  As a result the first Equal Pay Act was passed in 1970 and later in 1975 Barbara Castle brough in legislation making it illegal to pay women less than men for the same job.

It is interesting to note that some 35 years on,  there are still disparities to be found. The Dagenham women strikers may have won the battle, but it is debateable as to whether they won the war.  Whilst it is now illegal to pay women less than men for the same job, women are still not equal to men in the workplace, because  in the main women's work still has a lower value than  men's.  It is arguable therefore that despite the Equal Pay Act employers are still getting away with it. I guess you would have to ask the women strikers from Dagenham what they think of todays wages for women!

Whilst only the soundtrack to 'Made in Dagenham' is available at the moment, the DVD will not be far behind.