Dominican Mariposas: The Civil Liberties Struggle Research Paper

Introduction

The Mirabal sisters, who founded the underground resistance movement in the Dominican Republic against the Rafael Trujillo regime, still inspire thousands and millions of human rights activists. Minerva, Patria, and Maria Teresa Mirabal, who became leaders of the 14th June Movement, championed the rights of Dominicans to live in a state free from ideological and physical violence, including gender inequality and related violence against women (“In the time of the butterflies,” 2018). There is plenty of historical, literary, and artistic evidence of the sisters’ struggle. The film “In the Time of the Butterflies,” based on the novel by Julia Alvarez, draws attention to the most critical historical facts related to the Mirabal sisters’ life paths. This paper aims to assert that the Mirabal sisters became symbols of the civil struggle and inspired thousands and millions of followers globally.

Historical and Artistic Evidence

If the author could ask only one question about the Mirabal sisters’ struggle and how it influenced their contemporaries and followers, then this question would sound as follows. How was violence against women integrated and linked to the general situation of dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, and in what way was the fight against the dictatorship at the same time a fight for equal rights for women? The answer to this question, within the framework of the Socratic model, will also allow the implementation of a theoretical approach called Bloom’s taxonomy. This approach assumes that a proper understanding of the issue includes the stages of its evaluation, synthesis, analysis, application, comprehension, and knowledge.

Returning to the essence of the question, to give an exhaustive answer to it, one needs to make a small excursion into history. This excursion will allow the rhetorical element of logos to be realized, as the reader must be convinced of the validity of the claim that the Mirabal sisters have inspired thousands of followers of today’s struggling women. The sisters’ struggle against the Trujillo regime began in the 1940s, immediately after they entered a private school, where many of the students were relatives of oppositionists, who were imprisoned or killed by the regime. The sisters later took on the pseudonym Mariposas and led an underground activity against the regime known as the 14th June Movement. They and their followers, including their husbands, posed a threat to the regime. Therefore, the sisters were brutally murdered on November 25, 1960, on their way out of prison, where they were visiting their husbands serving sentences for participation in the resistance movement.

The Mirabal sisters and their driver were strangled and then beaten with sticks by the men of Rafael Trujillo, and the car with their bodies was thrown off a cliff to simulate an accident. Notably, the United States and the international community recognized the murder of the sisters as a fact and severely condemned the dictator’s regime, which fell in 1961, marking the victory of the Mirabal sisters and their supporters. Today, November 25, is the International Day for the elimination of violence against women, this date was introduced by the UNN in 1990, on the anniversary of the sisters’ deaths (“In the time of the butterflies,” 2018). In addition, there is currently an organization called Mariposa DR Foundation, founded by the fourth sister, Adele or Dede Mirabal, who, at the insistence of her husband, did not participate in the fight against the regime and devoted her life to preserving the heritage.

Interestingly, “In the Time of the Butterflies,” while not fully historically accurate, captures some of the historical facts concerning the violations of women’s civil and human rights in the Dominican Republic in 1930-1961, the years of the Trujillo regime. A striking example is the participation of Minerva in a ball organized by the dictator. The purpose of this event was to hunt young girls whom Trujillo solicited privately. Refusal to attend such balls was impossible for girls even from the highest estates. Moreover, according to historically reliable testimonies, after the three Mirabal sisters, invited to the ball, left it earlier because Trujillo harassed Minerva, a few days later the dictator’s men arrested their father, who spent a long time in prison for demonstrating such disrespect.

Unfortunately, such stories were the lesser of evils that happened to women and were the unspoken norm of life during the dictatorship. Many supporters of the movement were imprisoned and persecuted for participating in rallies for gender equality and the respect of the party and employers for women’s rights. Finally, due to their political stance and intransigence in upholding their ideals, the Mirabal sisters were brutally murdered by the mercenaries of the dictator Trujillo. The news of the murder became sensational, leading to an international outcry and the subsequent overthrow of the dictator, but at the cost of the sisters’ lives. Therefore, in terms of ethos, this sacrifice could not have been in vain, and thousands of followers saw a symbol of freedom and faith in the victory of democratic and liberal civil liberties in the struggle of the Mirabal sisters.

Scholarly Discourse

In the academic world, there is a discourse related to the Mirabal sisters’ heritage and the situation with civil, gender, and human rights in Latin America. Borras (2019) notes the relevance of the problem of violence against women in Latin America. Notably, Hiner (2019) identifies domestic and public violence against women, while discussing the issue of violence against women and the LGBTQIA + community in Chile in 1964-2018. The author provides ample evidence that violence against women continues, and its forms have not changed since the 1960s. The scientist also emphasizes that the fight against gender inequality continues, implying that this fight has its origins in a movement that began even before 1964. Likely, the struggle for gender equality in Chile and the Dominican Republic has many historical intersections.

Mar Gámez García (2019) emphasizes that the problems of gender inequality and subordination of women against men are inherent in the literary and artistic works, including the theatrical works of Gabriel Garcia Lorca. Then, Nieto and Rubinstein (2020) examine the continuity between the earlier movement to stop violence against women in Mexico and more recent ways of struggle, such as participating in the #MeToo movement. Interestingly, Motta (2021) discusses the feminist movements in South Columbia that have common historical roots and found similar contemporary expressions and demonstrations. The mentioned examples prove connection and continuity in the fight for civil liberties. Moreover, the Mirabal sisters’ struggle is often referred to by scholars as an example of the struggle for women’s rights.

Conclusion

Thus, these arguments prove the connection between the struggle of the Mirabal sisters and the subsequent development of civil rights and gender equality movements in Latin America. The cited evidence also proves that the struggle of the Mirabal sisters was not in vain and became a symbol of victory over dictatorship, violence, and violation of human rights. Historical, scholarly, and artistic evidence prove the importance of sisters’ contributions to stop violence against women.

References

Borras, S. (2019). A minor field study on primary prevention of violence against women and girls in a local Argentinian context. Lund University, (1), 1-14. Web.

García, M. D. M. G. (2019). Violence against women in the theatre of Federico García Lorca. Cuestiones de Género: De la Igualdad y la Diferencia, (14), 333-352.

Hiner, H. (2019). A feminist history of violence against women and the LGBTQIA+ community in Chile, 1964–2018. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History.

In the time of the butterflies(2018). [Video]. Chve.

Motta, S. C. (2021). Decolonizing our feminist revolutions: Enfleshed praxis from Southwest Colombia. Latin American Perspectives, 48(4), 124-142.

Nieto, L. N. H., & Rubinstein, I. F. (2020). The power of butterflies: The legacy of the Mirabal sisters in an exhibition by the Mexican cartoonist Cintia Bolio. Feminist Encounters: A Journal of Critical Studies in Culture and Politics, 4(1), 1-14.