The most interesting points for me about this week’s material were the dictatorship and the movement called “Mothers of the Disappeared” that was discussed in the video with Rita De Grandis. As we saw in the video, the dictatorship lasted from 1976 to 1983. All dictator governments would like to eliminate anyone who they consider as threat against themselves and this was not an exception. The method that they implemented to eliminate their opponents was disappearing people and leaving no traces. The surprising thing is that anybody with a beard or jeans, who was young could be a target for disappearance, meaning they might be innocent and have not done anything wrong and they have been judged solely on their appearances. In order to fight with this cruelty, a movement got initiated by mothers and grandmothers who based on morality would be the first people who are entitled to search for their children and grandchildren. This movement was called “Mothers of the Disappeared”, essentially they took motherhood and the right to look for their children and imbued it with political content. Furthermore the 1978 world cup that was held in Argentina, had a huge impact on globalization of these issues which significantly assisted this movement.

It was very interesting to me that without denying their gender roles, these women took on political roles and fought for their right and freedom. Majority of all these women were from the middle class and got involved with politics fearlessly which is very impressing. Particularly, in a society that political issues always take precedence, the role that these women played becomes even more highlighted. Even nowadays, still the mothers continue to march and thanks to DNA analysis, up to 112 children of the disappeared have been found but there are many more, up to 500, still be found.