The important men of the Mexican Revolution have been well documented. Pancho Villa, Venustiano Carranza, Alvaro Obregon, and Emiliano Zapata, are all generally recognized as the Big Four male generals and presidents of the time, and they all had a lasting impact on Mexican history. The early 1900's were a time when women weren't sharing equally in the duties and rights of their men, so it's hardly surprising that the majority of the politics and fighting during the revolution was carried out by men. There were women however, that were just as adamant in their need for change to occur in Mexico as the men, and they joined in the cause and took up arms in the fight. These women were called soldaderas.
It's not the first time that women took roles in warfare; history tends to forget about them, but modern views toward gender equality have caused a revival in the stories about these brave ladies. The word 'soldadera' originally referred to a payment that was made to those who cared for soldiers. These women were ordinary citizens, much like their male counterparts, who joined the independent guerrilla armies of Villa and Zapata. The modern term for them is 'la Adelita', in reference to a folk ballad written during the Revolution about a fictional female warrior.
A one time schoolteacher in Aguascalientes, and one of the most beloved soldaderas of the country, was Dolores Jimenez y Muro. She was a contributor to the Plan of Tacubaya in 1910, which outlined the deposition of Porfirio Diaz and sparked the Revolution. Women were less than 10% of the labor force when she worked on a magazine called 'Mexican Women', but she was one of the only revolutionaries to advocate equal pay for female workers.
Emiliano Zapata, the general of the southern army, had a few female soldiers serving with him and Jimenez y Muro was one of them. His followers were called Zapatistas, and he promoted several women to the rank of officer or higher. A commander in his army, Margarita Neri, was another well-known soldadera. Dolores herself became a colonel, and stayed with the revolutionary's forces until he was murdered in 1919; she died at the age of 77 in 1925.
Hermila Galindo was another soldadera, a feminist who was a supporter of Venustiano Carranza, a Revolution ringleader and eventual President of Mexico. She served as his secretary after he heard her speak at a ceremony. She founded a magazine called 'The Modern Woman', through which she voiced her disapproval of the Catholic Church and opined on the need for liberal, equal sex education for women. Incredibly, she never backed down, even though she faced attacks her whole life, and was considered by many to be a dangerous, radical individual.
'Soldadera' was also used to denote the wives and children of soldiers who acted as camp followers. This vital service was a part of the army's support system, providing cooking, laundry, nursing, and other favors to the men in combat. Having family members nearby, that also worked as a backup that helped to keep the fighters supplied, made it less likely that a soldier would leave the unit. Despite their struggles against a predominantly male system, women managed to make their mark on the history of the Mexican Revolution.
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