This week, one of the things that stood out to me the most was the use of media, particularly the radio in promoting political messages. Though I had always known that the use of the radio played a large role in creating a shared community between the people and their leaders, I don’t think I really ever realized the full extent and the power that it wielded in Latin America up until reading the textbook this week. What I found interesting about why the use of the radio was so effective, was because of its way of promoting a message without having people express dissent to that message (with the exception of turning off the radio). In that sense, leaders had a tool that enabled them to speak publicly about their political intentions to a widespread group of people regularly without the inconvenience of constantly making public appearances and speeches – this was a more informal way of doing virtually the same thing. I also found it interesting that Dawson noted the intimacy that the radio provided between the listener and speaker, describing it by saying “to hear the voice of a leader was to see them face to face, and to somehow be connected to power in that moment” (208) which is something I had not thought of before.
Another thing I found interesting about this week’s material was the loyalty that much of the working class held towards President Péron’s wife Eva Duarte, more affectionately known as Evita. This fascinated me because within that time period it was rare to see a woman so politically involved as Evita was and so popular (overall at least, while she had her opponents it’s the general consensus that she was an extremely charismatic and well liked woman). Furthermore, it is arguable that she was even more well liked than Péron by some, to the point where her name, along with her husband’s “can stir up visceral feelings to this day” (218). For me, while Evita’s political power and charm made her an engaging leader to examine, the way in which she broke some of the gender norms of the day without necessarily setting out to do is what makes her someone to admire.
To end off, something that I took notice to within the documents was Evita’s speech in the to the people as they were clamouring for her to run as vice president alongside her husband was her description of herself as a “frail Argentine woman” (230). Frail is not the word that comes to mind when I think of Evita, so I am wondering why she would have wanted to frame herself as a frail individual, and thus I am posing this as my discussion question for the week.
Thank you for reading!
I also found Evita’s story really interesting, specially the role she played in politics given the ideas held at the time of what women’s place in society should be. I read her calling herself a “frail Argentine woman” as her reproducing sexist ideas of herself (a man in a political position that powerful would never be considered frail), but it’s interesting to consider that she might be playing into a stereotype in order to not be thought of as “aggressive”, and therefore keep being seen in a positive light and able to make political change.
Hi, in regards to the use of the radio its use definitely simplified the way that politicians were able to share their message and connect with the people. With Evita it was interesting to see how politically involved she was as it went beyond just making appearances with her husband, she made her own speeches, created a foundation that helped many people and like you mention, was urged to run for Vice President.