Historically, throughout Latin America, women have been confined to traditional gender roles that present an idealized perception of how a woman should act and which dictate the way in which it must behave. In this idealized construct, a woman is supposed to be passive and submissive. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get the original essay In 19th century Latin America, the ideologies of “machismo” and “marianismo” emerged, these ideological constructs served as a model for the genre. relationships across the continent. Both terms can be explained as heightened and exaggerated masculinity and femininity, with machismo describing idealized masculine behavior and marianismo describing the feminine. In this way, women have failed to occupy important positions in certain sectors of society. Throughout the 1800s, as in the majority of Latin American countries, Chilean women were excluded from the political sphere. Around the 1800s, legislation was passed to allow women access to higher education, which led to the emergence of professional women. Yet women still could not vote because many men in Chile opposed women's suffrage because women were seen as intrinsically linked to the Catholic Church and therefore leaned toward right-wing conservative politicians. Although Chilean women did not gain the right to vote in national elections until 1949, even before that, upper-class women were active in municipal politics. Santiago's first female mayor was appointed in 1939, 10 years before women gained the right to vote. Mayor Graciela Contreras de Schnake was appointed by President Pedro Aguirre Cerda. Contreras was not only the first female mayor, but also the first socialist appointed to the post of alcalde. This appointment was the subject of much discussion, as the Chilean population, as well as others, were surprised that a socialist held the position of mayor. The fact that she is a woman has undoubtedly caused further divisions in Chilean politics. Contreras was involved in several women's organizations campaigning for women's rights; Acción de Mujeres Socialistas et Movimiento pro Emancipación de la Mujer Chilena. It could be argued that appointing a woman mayor set the tone for the years to come and showed that women could succeed in the political sphere despite people's preconceived ideas. Throughout the 1930s, as women fought for the right to vote, a number of organizations were formed. The Movimiento pro Emancipación de Mujeres de Chile, the Federación Chilena de Instituciones Femeninas, and the Partido Femenino de Chile all aimed to resolve suffrage and other women's issues. Women gained the right to vote in 1949 and slowly began to enter politics. As women reached the upper echelons of the political scene. María Teresa del Canto became the first woman to serve as Minister of Education. Adriana Olguín de Baltra, appointed by President Gabriel González Videla Minister of State in the field of Justice in 1952. Although this seems to be a step in the right direction for Chilean women, many women entering the political sphere at this era did it. therefore because their husbands were also involved in politics. Political positions remained closed to the rest of Chilean women. While upper and middle class women voted, had.