Patti McGill Peterson Center for International and Intercultural Studies
Generational Clashes: Spanish Women after the Franco Era
I decided to focus my research on the relationships of mothers and their daughters in Spain and how Francisco Franco's dictatorship shaped that relationship. During Franco's regime, women were given a very strict Catholic upbringing, which instilled in them certain conservative beliefs. On the other hand, their daughters who have grown up in a mostly democratic government have had a much more liberal upbringing. This different kind of atmosphere shape the way in which both women think and view not only the world but most importantly their role as women in the world.
In interviewing these women I came across many different standpoints, which surprised me. As a scholar, I made the mistake of going into the field with a certain expectation; for example, I thought that all the mothers would have Catholicism very internalized to the point that it would cause conflict with their daughters that are not as religious. However, that was not always the case; one of the mothers in particular expressed how much she not only hated the regime, for her family always believed in democracy which was the system of government in Spain before Franco, but she hated religion studies as well. She, like I expected the daughters to be, hated the norms that women needed to follow to be "good citizens", which was being a good wife under any circumstance, being religious and being nationalistic. Those where the three characteristics Spanish women needed to conform to, wifehood/ motherhood, Catholicism and patriotism. So I learned that as a researcher, the most important aspect and perhaps the hardest thing to do, is to go into the field without any expectations, that is the smart way of conducting research.
Another aspect of the research that should be noted is that there is no doubt that Franco's regime and all it inscribed shaped the relationship of mothers and daughters, it helped define what these women believe to be womanhood. Whether the mothers and daughters agree that religion and what that signified during the Franco regime was just one more way for women to be controlled or if the mother believed that religion was an important aspect of her life and tried to force it on the daughter. The obvious point is that conflict resulted from both standpoints. The conflict go beyond what we believe to be normal due to the generational differences, these conflicts were deeply rooted in the Franco regime, because it doesn't matter how hard women tried not no internalize what the regime intended, it was impossible to avoid at least some of it. Franco's regime was totalizing and controlled perhaps every aspect of women's lives.