Concepión Arenal
Concepión Arenal was a Spanish woman who changed society. She was a feminist, writer, and social reformer in the 1800s. She was an advocate for women’s rights, education, and prison reform. She graduated law school, but was only allowed to attend dressed as a man because women were not allowed to attend university at that time. She also entered an essay into a literary contest and won, but it was under her son's name. From what I have learned about her, she seems similar to other women we’ve learned about so far. She stood for what she believed in, and didn’t let people tell her otherwise! She is very inspiring and has helped me realize I can also do things I put my mind to!
I think Concepión Arenal’s contributions are so important for a number of reasons. These include: her pioneering efforts in advocating for prison reform, women’s rights, and social justice in Spain. Her ideas that were very progressive at the time, as well as her writings put a challenge on the status quo. This led to many impactful reforms in the treatment of prisoners, and the advancement of women’s education and legal rights. Her work paved a way for modern social welfare rules and policies, and inspired many generations of social reformers, not only in Spain, but all over the world.
In my opinion, I think her commemoration was so-so. There are numerous dedications for her, but they aren’t great, considering the work she did. She has a monument in Madrid, with a plaque on it recognizing her. She also has a plague at the University of Madrid as well. However, her monument, which is her largest commemoration, is on the very outskirts of the village. No one really sees it because so little people come by that part of town. I think that with the amount of effort and change she made, she deserves to be commemorated better. At the very least, a statue that’s more in the actual village, rather than on the outside where no one comes to.
Bye!
Sophie
Conceptión was a really cool woman to learn about. She faced many challenges during her life as you mentioned like not being fully accepted as a woman at the university, couldn’t publish under her own name, and more. As she advocated for education for women, she received a lot of pushback. She was strong though and kept going. Now women in Spain attend university and strive for a higher education.
ReplyDeleteLovely work! I agree that she faced some real obstacles like not being taken seriously, I feel like people saw her gender first all of her accomplishments were secondary. She even had to dress like a man for people to listen to her. I feel like this still happens today where women have to act more like men in order for people to listen to their authority. It is definitely not as bad as her time but it still exists today.
ReplyDeleteSophie, I loved what you said about Concepcion Arenal serving as an inspiration to you for doing things you "put your mind to!" As you approach tasks requiring your mental focus and alert drive, have you run into hardships equivalent to the difficulties Arenal faced? Or has the cultural shift changed enough that we now require help to combat different societal complications? I'm curious to know what you think!
ReplyDeleteHey Sophie! I think Conception really contributes to Madrid as a cultural capital because she advocated for women in unique ways. Activism or promoting change add to the cultural capital of a city because it makes the city a dynamic place to be. Culture is not static and it is consistently changing. Her advocacy helped women and changed their role within Spanish culture.
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