A Nation of Women, Luisa Capetillo
A Nation of Women, Luisa Capetillo
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A Nation of Women
An Early Feminist Speaks Out

Author: Luisa Capetillo, Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, Alan West-Durán

Narrator: Melanie Martinez, Félix V. Matos Rodríguez

Unabridged: 7 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 09/14/2021


Synopsis

The groundbreaking feminist and socialist writings of Puerto Rican author and activist Luisa Capetillo

A Penguin Classic

In 1915, Puerto Rican activist Luisa Capetillo was arrested and acquitted for being the first woman to wear men's trousers publicly. While this act of gender-nonconforming rebellion elevated her to feminist icon status in modern pop culture, it also overshadowed the significant contributions she made to the women's movement and anarchist labor movements of the early twentieth century--both in her native Puerto Rico and in the migrant labor belt in the eastern United States. With the volume A Nation of Women, Capetillo's socialist and feminist activism is given the spotlight it deserves with its inclusion of the first English translation of Capetillo's landmark Mi opinión sobre las libertades, derechos y deberes de la mujer. Originally published in Spanish in 1911, Mi opinión is considered by many to be the first feminist treatise in Puerto Rico and one of the first in Latin America and the Caribbean. In concise prose, Capetillo advocates a workers' revolution, forcefully demanding an end to the exploitation and subordination of workers and women. Her essays challenge big business in favor of socialism, call for legalizing divorce and the acceptance of "free love" in relationships, and cover topics such as sexuality, mental and physical health, hygiene, spirituality, and nutrition. At once a sharp critique and a celebration of the gathering fervor of world politics, A Nation of Women embraces the humanistic thinking of the early twentieth century and envisions a world in which economic and social structures can be broken down, allowing both the worker and the woman to be free.

About The Author

Luisa Capetillo was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 1879 to working class parents. She worked in cigar factories as a reader, where she first became active in labor organizing. A committed activist, Capetillo traveled throughout Puerto Rico, the United States, and Cuba to contribute to the international labor movement. She wrote extensively both for the Spanish press, notably in La Mujer, a short-lived feminist working-class magazine that she founded. She is the author of many works relating to her ideas, among them La humanidad del futuro (1910), Verdad y justicia: Cuento de Navidad para niños (1910) and Influencias de las ideas modernas (1916).Félix V. Matos Rodríguez is the Chancellor of the City University of New York (CUNY). With his appointment, Matos Rodríguez made history by becoming the first educator of color, and the first Latino, selected as CUNY's Chancellor.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Britta on August 16, 2022

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

Goodreads review by Emma on September 13, 2023

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 o......more

Goodreads review by Jackie on September 22, 2024

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

Goodreads review by Jean on February 21, 2025

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......more

Goodreads review by Frances on October 29, 2021

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 f......more