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Opinion | Active Sisterhood: Anticipating March 8th
March
By Beatriz García-Huidobro
Rescuing Matilde Ladrón de Guevara's active sorority with Gabriela Mistral is a clear example that support from discourse alone is not enough; actions leading to results are required.
In feminist times, awakened, progressives, or whatever we want to call them, the concept of sorority caught on like wildfire in society and in discussions, alluding to sisterhood and solidarity among women.
Lacking a better expression (after all, etymologically it alludes to congregations of nuns), it has been accepted and used for all types of discourse.
This ethic of support among women has been fundamental in reversing a series of normalized social behaviors, even assumed as correct or the product of a natural law.
That women are not condemned by other women by endorsing patriarchal guidelines is a great step forward. The mere act of pausing to reflect before prejudging creates progress that those who lived in other eras can appreciate even more intensely.
Therefore, reclaiming Matilde Ladrón de Guevara's active sorority with Gabriela Mistral is a clear example that discourse alone is not enough, but that actions are required to achieve results. As narrated in the recently reissued book Gabriela Mistral: Magnificent Rebel from Matilde Ladrón de Guevara, the year was 1951, and having received the Nobel Prize six years prior, Mistral was working as a consul in Italy. Matilde dared to visit her, driven by admiration for her work. During the time they shared, they traveled and subsequently corresponded, an intense and sincere friendship consolidated between them.
And it could have stayed there, enjoyed by both privately.