Abstract

SEPULVEDA VASQUEZ, Carola. Formando "niñas": una mirada a la educación pública femenina, a sus maestras y alumnas. Santiago de Chile, 1894-1912. RMIE [online]. 2009, vol.14, n.43, pp.1249-1268. ISSN 1405-6666.

In this study we shall attempt to show how public education for females functioned in its beginnings as a mold that encapsulated women in the traditional social role assigned to them: mothers, spouses, and housewives. At the same time, such education attempted to ensure that women remained subject to a situation of inferiority, by conceiving of them permanently as girls in contrast with the men of the male sex. This situation is shown even by the terminology used officially and produced by the Ministry of Public Instruction. On the other hand, and in spite of these structural differences by gender, many female teachers and students were able to break out of the mold and create escapes that allowed females to prove and demonstrate that girls grow up.

Keywords : history of education; gender studies; education and the state; women's participation; female education; Chile.