The Cuban revolution’s gender politics brought about significant changes in the lifestyles and opportunities available to Cuban women. Women were brought into the revolutionary process through their incorporation into work, education, and a plethora of campaigns directed by the Federation of Cuban Women. Contrastingly, there were no similar state organized efforts specifically towards men that directly challenged traditional masculine postulates. On the contrary, “Ché” Guevara’s notion of the “New Man” was based on values that paralleled Christian morality—inciting men to follow the rebels’ footsteps by overlooking their personal interests to ensure the welfare of the community. Unlike the demands placed on men, the state policies towards women in the nation-building project were considered progressive; nonetheless, their primary responsibility over domestic matters was largely assumed. If traditional gender roles remained mostly unchallenged during the first two decades of the revolution, then, how was it possible for the state to recruit millions of women throughout the island to contribute to the reconstruction of Cuban society?

My dissertation contends that the Cuban revolutionary state used a patriarchal framework and traditional language that made possible the popular acceptance of its new gender discourse. Through the use of oral history and the examination of popular media, propaganda, and the Federation of Cuban Women’s programs, it examines the process through which Cubans reconfigured their identity taking into account pre-revolution ideas of gender, the state’s gender policies, and their personal experiences. In this way, my dissertation highlights how people negotiate and understand their ideas of gender in moments of socio-political transition. It also illustrates the effectiveness of socio-political movements’ use of traditional discourses to mobilize the masses and contributes to a growing historiography that examines how people use gender as a lens to understand changes in their society.