Is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner a feminist? The strength and resilience that she has shown in leading such a divided society particularly in the face of much intense criticism has proven that she is truly one of the most powerful female leaders in the world, yet her public persona in many ways puts her in line with the traditional image of a Latin American woman. She has developed a very carefully constructed public persona, which demonstrates a very complex notion of femininity.
Earlier this year, audio was captured of Uruguay’s president, Jose Mujica, calling Kirchner an “old hag”. Kirchner has faced constant attacks by the press on each one of her policies; many of her tweets have criticized them of trying to do everything possible to derail her presidency. Kirchner has been referred to as “La Yegua,” or the mare, an insult portraying her as a female horse, a small step up from a female dog. (Russo Sandra – La Presidenta: Historia de Una Vida, 2011). Shortly after she was the first elected female president of Argentina (Isabel Perón was president for two years following the death of her husband, but was never elected), she was called authoritative, bi-polar, criticized for being addicted to shopping and to makeup, and seen as just following in the footsteps of her more powerful husband (Russo Sandra – La Presidenta). However, through all of these attacks, Kirchner has maintained her strong demeanor as the mother of Argentina.
Latin American cultures have always had a strong undertone of machismo and have had difficulty with powerful female figures. However, in recent years, there have been a large number of female politicians at the helm of many Latin American countries: Michelle Bachelet of Chile, Dilma Roussef of Brazil, Laura Chinchilla of Costa Rica. This seems to be a change, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that many of the machista attitudes have dissipated. Many of these countries have offered greater power to women, but still have clearly delineated gender roles and a masculine power hierarchy. This has a great effect on leaders who are trying to change the nation.
But Kirchner herself has created a very complex image with regards to her femininity. She portrays herself as a powerful leader, but is always extremely glamorous and has never allowed herself to be photographed without makeup. She is a populist and champion of the poor, but she wears designer clothing and a Louis Vuitton suit. She often is driven to emotion and cries publicly in front of audiences.
However, she has understood that her position as a woman in power is going to make her work harder. She stated that “We always have to pass a twofold test: first to prove that , though women, we are no idiots, and second, the test anybody has to pass”. One of the most important movements in Argentina was the “Madres de la Plaza de Mayo”, a protest movement against the military government (the epitome of machismo) made up of women whose children had been “disappeared”. She has tied her presidency to this movement and used it to paint a picture of an Argentina that has progressed beyond the machismo and oppression of the “Dirty War” years. By playing up traditional aspects of her femininity, she is showing how women have to work twice as hard; she must both show that she is a capable leader but also a likeable female figure in a macho society. What is interesting, however, as that she doesn’t make specific references to either feminism or her femininity in her social media. She often posts glamorous shots of herself as part of the construction of her image, but she never directly refers to either the difficulties faced by being a female politician or to the fashionable elements of her persona. This omission can be seen as another part of her image construction. She seems to want to make her role as a powerful yet feminine leader a part of her character, without having to directly acknowledge this complex notion of femininity that is required of her by society.
