A Nation Of Women: An Early Feminist Speaks Out; Mi Opinion Sobre Las Libertades, Derechos y Deberes de la Mujer (Recovering the U.s. Hispanic Literary Heritage)

by Luisa Capetillo

Book by Capetillo, Luisa

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Classics, Politics, Gender Studies, Social Justice, Womens

315 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1911

About the author

Luisa Capetillo was one of Puerto Rico's most famous labor organizers. She was also a writer and an anarchist who fought for workers and women's rights.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Luisa Capetillo was a feminist in Puerto Rico who was arrested for wearing pants, and this is a very cool thing to be. This book collects her thoughts on community, government, and gender equality, many of which feel fresh and modern even today. Capetillo was a product of her time and not a beacon of modern progressivism; she was quite homophobic, for example, saying women only sought relationships with other women because men weren't giving them what they wanted. (But she's got one up on the tradboys of today: she's at least blaming the men.)

An interesting piece of feminist history that's well worth reading, even if parts are outdated!

Note on the translation: I read the translation into English by Alan West-Duran. It was readable enough, though not always as fluid as I'd have liked (of course, the Spanish was 100 years old, so okay, he can have that one).

[Britta Böhler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penguin did a very poor job in how this is put together.

[Laura Hoffman Brauman]

Prior to seeing this on Instagram, I wasn't familiar with Luisa Capetillo. In 1915, she was arrested for being the first woman to wear man's pants publicly. While this is a fascinating fact and is a good hook, it doesn't speak to the significant contributions she made to the movement's for labor and women's rights in the early 1900's in both Puerto Rico and in the United States. While some of her ideas seem dated now, her work for legalizing divorce, embracing women's sexuality, equal rights for women, against big business in favor of the needs and rights of everyday people all are evidence of her forward thinking and willingness to speak her mind for what she believes. As always, the intros in the Penguin black classics editions add a lot of context and background, especially for someone like me who wasn't aware of her work.

[Jackie Paiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting to read a foundational Latin American feminist text, however many of the arguments are outdated.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luisa Capetillo was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 1879. Defying convention, Capetillo’s parents never married, and taught their daughter to read and write. It was her ability to read that helped her secure employment as a reader in a tobacco factory where she witnessed firsthand the exploitation of workers, and first came in contact with union organizers. She became a tireless labor leader in Puerto Rico, Cuba and the U.S., and her feminist writings were published as far away as Argentina. In 1911 she published the feminist manifesto, “Mi opinión sobre las libertades, derechos y deberes de la mujer.” It had been out of print since 1917 but has now been translated into English and will be available to all.

A Nation of Women is a collection of essays, and letters to friends and family, in which Capetillo lays out her ideas about anarchism, the institution of marriage, organized religion, free love, the role of women in society, and the end to the exploitation of women and workers. Her ideas are bold and she was accused of being utopian, but she reminds her readers of that good ‘ole Puerto Rican saying – “El que quiere, puede” (Wanting is doing).

On the criminal justice system – Capetillo is not only opposed to the death penalty, but she exposes the hypocrisy of a system that imposes draconian punishments on the poor while letting the upper class walk free, as if their crime of exploitation were less of a danger to society that stealing food out of hunger and desperation.

On the sexual liberation of women – some of her ideas were bold, and some were dated. She rejects the institution of marriage and promotes free love. Yet she believes that female masturbation and F/F sexual relations are unnatural, and that sexual relations between men and women were strictly for procreation.

On the end to the exploitation of the working classes - Capetillo believed that everything started with the liberation working class women. She worked tirelessly to improve their working conditions, their right to education, their right to self-determination. However, because Capetillo was an anarchist who rejected organized government, she was not involved with the women’s suffrage movement, which she also saw as only serving upper class women.

A Nation of Women was a fascinating historical read. So much has changed, yet so much remains the same.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appearing for the first time in English, this 1911 treatise by a remarkable Puerto Rican labor leader, activist, feminist, socialist, and anarchist weaves together letters, essays, pamphlets, articles, speeches, and memoirs in an impassioned testament of one woman’s fight for liberty. No mere suffragist, Capetillo (1897–1922) sought the nonviolent overthrow of all religious and political systems devised to oppress workers and women alike. In her view this battle is lost or won at home, through economic and educational equality for women and the replacement of the “vile and infamous comedy” of marriage with free love, albeit strictly heterosexual. Women can lead the way not only as thinkers and leaders but through their pervasive influence as mothers, literally weaning a better world into existence. A detailed introduction offers helpful background on the author’s life and work as a subversive cigar factory lector, dedicated labor organizer, and infamous wearer of trousers. Alternately universal and deeply personal, this inspiring and idiosyncratic book serves as both a valuable historical document of the women’s movement in Latin America, and fresh inspiration for all those currently engaged in dismantling the patriarchy.

[User · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ pg. 60

I really wanted to finish this, but unfortunately it just felt flat. I initially bought this because it seemed interesting, and to fill in the gaps of my knowledge of Feminism, especially in the Latin American context. And Luisa seems to have lived a very interesting life.

As other reviews have stated this felt outdated, which I can excuse as it being part of the times, but for me, the book just felt repetitive. Like I get it, it's unfair that, generally speaking and for at the time the author was writing this, and to *some* extent today, women can't do what men do socially or else they're looked down upon. I don't know, it just got boring to me and its weird to me that someone who got arrested for literally breaking gender roles is also homophobic? But then there were other parts where I was just confused.

I think at the end of the day, as a feminist myself, this was a disappointing read.

[Jean Kojali · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a treat it was to read this and love this! I am so thankful that the early Puerto Rican feminists are seeing more attention, both academically and commercially. Although there's a lot of dated arguments, it is absolutely remarkable how well this manifesto holds up, 114 years after it was first published. There was such an interesting combination of spiritual, socialist, anarchist, and feminist observations in this text - it brought me a real sense of optimism and was truly healing in several ways.

[Frances De Guzman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can see the value in this work, but its thoughts and reflections on women’s exploitation in the home and at work is very dated. Of course, its harder to judge books like these based on what I know now, better to look at it from a historical lens. Still, it’s good to know where we, as women, came from and how different our understanding of the patriarchy is.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like I struggled to access this book at all, and maybe I could have read it slower, but the time since it was written and the totally different contexts and translation I'm sure all played a part in the struggle. I'm looking forward to discussing this book and hopefully getting a better sense of it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read, surprised I’d not heard of her before.

[Heidi Diaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I’m reading this through the lens of being a feminist in 2023. I appreciate her work for what it is but I found myself cringing while reading this. 2.5

[Janet Holt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5
Read for WSGS 201

[Ronnie Yeakel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps it was the translation or the fact that this was written over a hundred years ago, but I found Capetillo hard to follow at times. I thought there were some interesting ideas in here about mutual aid, but it was tricky to get past her domesticity of women. Again, this was originally written in 1915 Puerto Rico, but I kinda had higher hopes for an feminist such as Capetillo.

[zapata · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luisa taba algaro pero janguearia con ella