Global Journal of Human-Social Science, A: Arts and Humanities, Volume 22 Issue 4

today, tomorrow everything starts all over again" (Bellucci, 2014, p. 104). From its inception, the distance from the left- wing parties was made clear in the following terms: "an inclusive women's movement, without economic- social, political-ideological or cultural or generational discrimination". Moreover, in a story of the newspaper La Opinión (1973) the objectives of the organisation were clearly stated: it was aimed to be of a federal scope, with a horizontal and non-hierarchical dynamics, for training political cadres, based on spaces dedicated to the theoretical debate on women’s oppression and the raising of awareness for their liberation. According to the testimony of its own activists, external questioning have been related to the lack of public protest made by this embryonic experience. According to Mirta Henault, "other groups questioned us for not having carried out many street actions. It's true, that's how it was. We thought more in terms of the inside of the group, the public exhibition was not wanted. Moreover, we refused it" (Bellucci, 2014, p. 111). Undoubtedly, this position also marked a clear difference with the feminist liberation movement called Movimiento de Liberación Feminista (MLF, 1972-1976), a parallel organization that has emerged in the years prior to State Terrorism. Finally, the distinctive mark of this feminist group has remained in the memory of those years as a singular experience that introduced tensions regarding the organizational modalities of the left-wing parties and that founded a specific way of training cadres in Argentina, linked to the awareness that had been tested by feminists abroad. 4 IV. T he F eminist A gora: T he N ational E ncounters of W omen (1986-2019) The repression of State Terrorism had forced many of these organisational developments in feminism into the catacombs. Through various women's networks that served as guardians of the process, awareness groups re-emerged in the experience of the ENMs when democracy returned to Argentina, in the mid-eighties. The self-awareness groups of American and European feminists spread around the world between the 1960s and 1970s, to build a specific way of gathering. In these groups, women have participated on equal terms, suppressing internal hierarchies to strengthen the exchange of personal experiences in the telling of everyday forms of oppression. Basically, their legacy has been oriented towards horizontal and first- person encounters, whose short-term objective has 4 t was a three-step method: first, to establish a theme of debate and horizontal discussion -through personal testimonies-; second, to relate these testimonies to each other to reach a common root and to make a synthesis on the internalization of gender oppression; and finally, to agree on a slogan to advocate for the necessary transformations. strengthened self-esteem, the reappropriation of decisions related to their autonomy and the sharing of political space, which is personal (Aránguez Sánchez, 2019). The ENMs have become the feminist agora insofar that they are a democratic space for participation, linking women's movements with feminism (Alma and Lorenzo, 2009; Di Marco, 2011; Viano, 2014). This strength has undoubtedly led them to become a contribution to national and international politics (Maffia, Peker, Moreno and Morroni, 2013). 5 That is why it is claimed that their antecedents can be found in the self- awareness groups, such as the aforementioned UFA, the MLF, and the Association for the Liberation of Argentinean Women (Asociación para la Liberación de las Mujeres Argentinas) until the coming of State Terrorism. The continuity of this process has been assumed by the Women's Political Nuclei (Nucleo de Mujeres Políticas) 6 and the Women’s Multi-sector Organisation (Multisectorial de la Mujer) 7 In the international context, there have been two references generally pointed out by the driving forces behind the ENMs. On the one hand, the first World Conference on Women held in Mexico in 1975, which led to a strong national interest in discussing shared parental authority and the legislation on divorce (Giordano, 2012). Seven years later, in 1981, the First Latin American and Caribbean Feminist Encuentro was (Delmonte Allasia, 2012). 5 Testimonial sources pointed out how they had been an original and consolidated political phenomenon after the return to democracy, where women from all over the country gather in a town designated in the previous Encounter and are received by the local collectives in charge of the organization (providing accommodation, workshop spaces, food, communication, and logistics) It is a political event neither partisan nor dependent on any governmental body. Finally, after the closing of that gathering where the choice of topics to be discussed is free, without imposed leadership to strengthen self- management, and without censorship on the conclusions of the workshops, there is a rally of the participating women, who march carrying their own collective signs -like the green scarves– (Maffia, Peker, Moreno, and Morroni, 2013). 6 This organizational nucleus was made up of women from different political parties who met every fortnight, during the dictatorship and then after the return to democracy, to exchange experiences of militancy and build consensus between supporters of different political parties. 7 The multi sector organisation began to function in parallel with the resumption of democracy in Argentina. Activists from trade unions, politicians, feminists, housewives and independent women came together to exchange experiences and coordinate joint actions to carry out gender-based protests. They created a way of functioning that allowed for attentive listening between different political sectors and a lack of prejudice regarding their notorious differences, as it was a matter of building bridges to achieve consensus that would lead to joint actions. They were key players in the process of reforming the parental authority regime, but they were also the advocates of the ENMs. © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue IV Version I 21 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 A 3 Rebellion of the Girls: Traces of Feminist Memory in Argentina