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| ITALICA NEWS |
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| Claudia Sheinbaum and Mexico: The Feminist Face of America? |
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[Italica] - Just over a year after Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo’s election as president of the Republic of Mexico, her approval rating is high and higher than that of her predecessor (78% versus 72% for Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Source: El País), but significant challenges and uncertainties remain for the long term.
A few days ago, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo published a post on her Facebook page in which she cited women’s contributions to the construction of contemporary Mexico, emphasising that, already a decade before the start of the Mexican Revolution, many women had advanced demands for emancipation and made their presence felt by writing, raising funds, spreading clandestine messages, and supporting political prisoners.
The post comes just days before the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution (November 20) and following the independence celebrations with the Grito de Dolores, shouted for the first time by a woman after the standard was handed over to her by other women – the cadets of the military college.
For Mexicans, the ritual is a moment of strong identity and emotional significance: it commemorates the beginning of the struggle for independence, which symbolically took form on September 16, 1810, with the Cry of Dolores, a pueblito in the state of Guanajuato, by Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Mexico is a country of strong traditions and equally strong contradictions; everyday life is steeped in symbolism, the heroes of the homeland and the revolution are known by all. And the Grito is part of the cultural heritage of every Mexican, whether child or elder.
Sheinbaum's Grito, however, differed from those of previous years, not only because it was a woman who shouted the names of independence heroes, but also because of the careful choice of the people for whom she shouted ¡Viva! and how to shout their names. One example is the case of Josefa Ortiz Téllez-Girón, a 19th-century heroine married to the corregidor of Querétaro Miguel Domínguez, and known as Josefa Ortiz de Domínguez, La corregidora: the choice to use her maiden name reflects a specific ideological message. Sheinbaum also cited anonymous heroines, migrant sisters and brothers, and indigenous women: in short, a Grito that was undoubtedly very feminine, full of meaning, even moving, and undoubtedly in tune with her own way of communicating. The first woman to lead the country, the presidenta immediately employed feminist and inclusive language. In one of her first statements, she stated:
“Por primera vez, después de 200 años de la República, llegamos a la presidencia. Y digo en plural llegamos porque siempre he dicho, no llego sola, llegamos todas.”
[For the first time, after 200 years of the Republic, we are coming to the presidency. And I say it in plural because I have always said, I am not coming alone, we are all coming.]
Words loaded with meaning, that now, just over a year later, reveal significant complexity.
Sheinbaum immediately took various actions, both symbolic – opening the government website, the image of four indigenous women immediately stands out – and concrete ones, confirming that her placing women at the centre is not just a linguistic expedient. Constitutional reforms, such as those that came into force last November and aimed at “protección y ampliación de los derechos de las mujeres” [protecting and expanding women’s rights], have incorporated key concepts into the federal legal framework, such as the right to substantive equality and a life free from violence. This formal equality is also incorporated into the law through gender-neutral and inclusive language.
Furthermore, the National Institute for Women (Inmujeres), created in 2001, has become the Secretariat for Women (SEMUJERES), a ministry for women, headed by Citlalli Hernández Mora, senator, founder of Internacional Feminista, and, in Sheinbaum’s words, “a feminist activist”, confirming that the government’s actions are not only feminine but also feminist. These reforms include the creation of the Cartilla de los Derechos de las Mujeres [Women’s Rights Charter] and other federal-level initiatives such as the Programa de Atención Integral para el Bienestar de las Mujeres (PAIBIM) [Comprehensive Attentiveness Program for the Welfare of Women].
However, a constitution that proclaims equality between men and women, emphasising the multiculturalism and indigenous origins of its population, and a policy that focusses on the importance of empowering women and minorities, including through feminist language, does not automatically translate into substantial changes.
Recommendations from intergovernmental oversight committees and civil society associations and think tanks emphasize the need to strengthen policies on multiple levels, especially with targeted actions at the local level.
In particular, last July, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) highlighted several critical issues that still persist, as well as numerous intersectional discriminations affecting refugee, migrant, indigenous, Afro-descendant, LGBTQIA+ women, human rights activists, and buscadoras, especially those in disadvantaged rural and urban areas and/or those with low levels of education. The CEDAW oversight committee, among other problematic aspects, emphasises the lack of recognition of buscadoras – mostly women, literally “searchers” [of missing persons] – as human rights activists, thus ensuring their access to protection mechanisms and safeguards against physical and psychological violence, including from state bodies.
The persistence of highly discriminatory gender stereotypes and their representations, including in the media, supports and reinforces a patriarchal vision that undermines women’s empowerment and impedes the eradication of gender inequalities. In a country where marianismo and machismo continue to represent widely shared models, their reproduction and reinforcement contribute to limiting women’s participation in public life and hamper economic autonomy, as well as promoting a distorted vision that places gender-based discrimination and violence within the realm of the tolerability and acceptability.
For a significant number of women, the presence of multiple intersectional discriminations also affects healthcare, limiting access to medical care and imposing non-consensual sterilisation and genital mutilation. Furthermore, the criminalization of abortion remains an open question. The Amparo 267/2023, issued on September 6, 2023, by the Supreme Court, for example, declared federal laws criminalising abortion unconstitutional. However, at the state level, the legal framework is uneven: in some Mexican states, abortion is still criminalised, thus creating a situation of uncertainty that particularly affects vulnerable groups of women, such as indigenous women living in rural areas and with very limited education.
Mexico’s stratified legislative system, with its federal and state levels, makes the implementation of gender policies more difficult, especially for those segments of the population requiring greater protection. Furthermore, the limited inclusion of indigenous women, women of African descent, and women with disabilities in participation and representation processes effectively limits the adequate design, implementation, supervision, and monitoring of gender policies. Additionally, organisations and associations denounce the lack of adequate funding in the Proyecto de Presupuesto de Egresos de la Federación 2026 – the proposed budget for 2026 – to support and develop inclusive policies that reduce the gender gap.
In view of the anniversary of the Mexican Revolution, therefore, one cannot help but think of the words quoted in the iconic book by Mexicanist Jean Meyer, The Cristero Rebellion: The Mexican People between Church and State, 1926-1929 (1976): “Unlike his predecessor, who had claimed that the revolution was over, President Plutarco Elías Calles said that the State and the Revolution are one, thus making the revolution eternal”.
Time will tell us whether Mexico, and its president, still know how to be revolutionary, to face the challenges of the times and overcome them, not just with words. In short, it will tell us whether the revolution is truly eternal. [S. Delmedico - November 17, 2025 -Italica]
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