Keyword

Eighteenth-century Spanish newspapers were established under the pursuit of cultural and social reform centered upon Enlightenment views of religion, politics, science, literature, art, education, economy, and philosophy. Within this frame, women many times became the focal point of discussion and a pretext to discuss the current state of their respective nations. Race, gender, sexuality, and particularly education became some of the most prominent key topics in these discussions which ultimately contributed to the construction of diverse patriotic epistemologies. The challenge when studying these newspapers is to find publications authored by female authors. It is interesting to note, that if we look at colonial legislation since the sixteenth century, one cannot find any laws banning women from publishing or getting involved in the printing business. For example, in the case of New Spain, women particularly widows of printers were involved in the printing business (Meléndez 2016, 99). Their job involved deciding what was worth publishing and subsequently requesting official licenses for their publications. This demonstrates their active role in deciding what publications became available. This also proves that women were not disassociated from the dissemination of knowledge in colonial Spanish America even if except for religious writings, and of course, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, publications authored by women were very scarce. It is for this reason that looking at eighteenth-century newspapers and colonial litigations is a way to find other female voices not yet acknowledged.

This chapter focuses on how the role of women regarding education was discussed in articles published about women and by women in Mercurio Peruano (1791–1795) and Papel periódico de la Ciudad de Santafé de Bogotá (1791–1797). My critical intervention centers on capturing what male and female contributors had to say about the role of women in their respective countries. Particular attention is paid to how such gender constructions were in dialogue with European debates at the time about how women ought to be educated. On this topic, Mónica Bolufer reminds us that in Spain and as the rest of Europe, “Reflection over the ‘nature,’ capabilities, education, and social function of women was ever present in texts of varied content and style” with the aim to propose “new models of femininity for a modern and Enlightened society” (2018, 38). In the case of Spanish America, debating the role of women in an enlightened society was also at the heart of many of these newspapers. Although names of contributors were not openly disclosed in many of these news articles, this does not preclude us to observe how fully informed many of these authors were regarding the debates that were taking place at the time about the role of women in a society.Footnote 1 Again, these debates were not unique to the case of colonial Spanish America as they were connected also to the ones taking place in Europe at the time where the same topics were discussed from different localities. Newspapers indeed functioned as discursive platforms par excellence to exchange Enlightenment’s ideas about women’s role in society albeit grounded in very particular loci of enunciation.

Mercurio peruano: Educating Women

The prospectus that accompanied one of the most successful eighteenth-century newspapers in Peru, the Mercurio peruano (1791–1795), was authored by Jacinto Calero y Moreira.Footnote 2 In his prospectus, he made clear that newspapers functioned as discursive platforms par excellence to show the enlightened character of a nation (1791, n.p.).Footnote 3 The major goal of their newspaper was to educate the public about what made Peru such an enlightened nation. For the editors, education encompassed their social manners, poetry, cultural entertainment, the arts including painting, sculpture, architecture, and sciences such as botany, mechanic, urban policy, natural science, and astronomy in addition to religious matters. Although the newspaper was mainly geared to the educated male sector of the population, the editors also viewed Peruvian women of the upper class as important interlocutors of their publications. In the prospectus, Calero y Moreira made clear that although the stereotypical idea at the time was that women were only inclined to superfluous and “trivial matters” (“frivolidades”); the case of the Peruvian women from Lima was different. According to him, their female “Compatriots” (“Paysanas”) have always been interested in issues pertaining “to the common good and Enlightenment” so these issues indeed had always been “of great concern to the women from Lima” (1791, 170, n.p.). For this reason, Calero y Moreira urged the female sector of the population to take advantage of what the newspaper had to offer. As he added, “it would be of great Fortune to the Homeland that our kind female Compatriots take advantage of the Mercurio” so they were able to realize “that there is no subject as difficult as it is that is not within reach of their Principles and excellent Judgement” (1791, n.p.). The emphasis on the words “Homeland” (“Patria”), “Compatriots” (“Conciudadanas”), “Principles” (“Sistema”), and “Judgement” (“Criterio”) underlined the author’s beliefs that the female sectors of the population were also their compatriots, and as such, they were intellectually capable of taking advantage of the enlightened content of the newspaper by making their own judgments.

In fact, the newspaper included women in the list of their subscribers which attested that they were following the news that the newspaper had to offer. Of equal importance was the fact that the newspaper published articles authored by women. Although some critics tend to believe that as was the case with other newspapers especially in the nineteenth century, these types of articles were authored by male authors who used female pseudonyms, and I find it quite problematic to assume that this was always the case, especially when women were indeed among the subscribers of the newspapers. Financially, the Mercurio peruano’s survival depended on its subscribers and for that reason their names were published at the beginning of each volume in an effort to publicly recognize their important commitment to make the newspaper publication a reality. As Bolufer explains in the case of Spain and the rest of Europe, in the eighteenth century, women became gradually “an increasing and influential part of an ever-expanding reading audience,” figured as subscribers in many publications and “were a targeted audience for journalists, who competed to secure women’s support for their periodicals” (2009, 21). This was the case as well in late colonial Spanish America.

The subject of education served as recurrent topic of debate when talking about women in the newspaper and one of the discursive themes through which women’s role in society was discussed and debated. One of the most common arguments that appeared in the newspaper was the idea that in Peru women were challenging how education was to take place in the domestic space especially when it came to linguistic norms. For example, in a letter published under the section “Education” entitled “Carta escrita à la Sociedad sobre el abuso de que los hijos tuteen a sus padres” (Letter Written to the Society about the abuse with which children informally address their parents) (1791, 36), the father of four children complained that after a seven-month hiatus from the house because of his business trip to Cuzco, he noticed how his children were addressing him in the informal “Tú” form. After consulting with his male friends, he realized that this linguistic practice was common in Lima and fully endorsed by mothers, grandmothers, and aunts. In fact, he recounted a confrontation he had with his mother-in-law when she yelled at him after he scolded his youngest daughter because the child addressed her aunt in the “Tú” form. When the father proceeded to yell at the girl, the mother-in-law intervened and insulted him for being an abusive father and yelling about something so insignificant. In fact, she called him a tyrant and proceeded to tell him that, “If you want to teach others about educating children well, you should know first, that it is quite ill-mannered to correct a linguistic custom that is so prevalent in Peru, but even if this were not the case, it is my believe that is totally fine that children address anybody informally as they please” (1791, 37).

What this confrontation underscored was the fact that women were contesting the extent to which formal Spanish education was interfering in local linguistics matters and specifically in the domestic space, which had always been part of women’s domain. The female protagonist’s reaction made clear that local customs could certainly transform traditional educational norms and should be taken into consideration when talking about matters of education in any household in Lima. Education within the domestic space was at the hands of women and for this reason the mother-in-law argued that this was a space in which women exercised power through their own local perspectives. Her stance aligned with Spanish eighteenth-century circulating ideas based on Jean-Jacques Rousseau that “women had a unique role as mothers within the private sphere of the family” and as such they had the right to determine their own rules (Jaffe 2020, 70). What this female character argued was that education embraced more than what was learned from books and extended to everyday social interactions, that in the case of Lima, were transformed by their particular local customs.

In February 1791, the editors of the newspaper followed up this conversation with a letter entitled “Carta escrita a la Sociedad sobre los gastos excesivos de una Tapada” (Letter written to the Society about the excessive expenses of a Tapada woman).Footnote 4 The letter was accompanied also with a message encouraging those illustrious women from Lima to submit letters defending their own from accusations they received from male contributors about their propensity towards vanity, luxury consumption, and inefficiencies in their domestic roles of educating their children. The letter received a strong response from one woman who signed with the pseudonym of Antispasia.Footnote 5 The name derived from the Greek word “antispasis” which meant “to draw in the opposite direction” (Meléndez 2018, 182). The woman proceeded to accuse the male editors of not doing enough in publishing articles centered on women’s intellectual capabilities. She added that the male editors had published only three letters that overtly criticized women for their ineptitude in educating their children and for their excessive passion for luxurious clothing. She found hypocritical that in the prospectus the editors invited her female compatriots to submit publications, but they instead decided “to publish three letters panning our most esteemed female manners and habits of our country” (1791, 161). The editors failed in their intention to include and praise women and opted into an opportunity to only criticize them. It was for this reason that Antispasia stated that she agreed with old and ugly women when they said that men’s words were always guided by “false praises and deceit” (1791, 161). What the letter was pleading was for the male editors’ commitment to offer women a nondiscriminatory public forum in which they could address their true interests and concerns.

To this regard, the editors published a letter they received from someone in Cuzco who signed as a “passionate servant” and initials “M.Y.C.Y.V.” conveying a strong criticism of the first five issues of the Mercurio peruano. The author expressed his strong displeasure about the lack of news authored by women especially taking into consideration that women constituted a big sector of Lima’s population. To this regard he asked: “Is it possible that in a Capital like Lima, where keen understanding, inquiry and good taste are associated with the precious and kind gender (i.e. women), there have not been even twenty Ladies, capable of making their names appeared in the front page of the newspaper?” (1791, 152). According to the author, women in Lima were known for their acute discernment (“viveza”), their intelligence (“penetración”), their will, determination, and good judgment (“buen gusto”). Based on these attributes, there was no reason for not having more female subscribers occupying a more prominent role in the Mercurio peruano’s publications. Regarding the criticism shared with the editors, this was the only one that revolved around the much-needed presence of female contributors.Footnote 6 Important to note is the fact that the letter came from an outside resident of Lima which in the editors’ views was much praised as a unique enlightened place. Ironically, an outsider had to point to them their own oversights.

In a later issue, the editors addressed the female readers by inviting them to take advantage of the opportunities available in the capital city to enlighten themselves. In an article published in May 1791 entitled “Nuevos Establecimientos de Buen Gusto” (New Establishments of Good Taste), the editors stated that one of the places in which enlightened instruction could be achieved was the Escuela de Diseño established by a member of the Real Academia de Sevilla and professor of drawing and painting Don José del Pozo (1791, 64). They described both arts as a “useful and enjoyable study” (1791, 66). They also informed that those women who were interested in pursuing these fine arts should notify the professor directly, as he would be glad to offer courses for women between 4 and 6 pm and to men between 7 and 9 pm. The costs were eight pesos a month. They believed many women in Lima would be interested in pursuing these lessons. Another activity that the editors mentioned that was available to both women and men for three pesos a month was French dancing, taught in an academy opened by an Italian instructor named Vicente Bertarini. The editors noted that dance lessons of local and foreign dances were extremely popular in Lima as the classes offered by Black instructors were very well attended. Dance was seen as an activity that nurtured mind and body and allowed women to acquire “good taste” while also contributing to “the pursuit of their public happiness” (1791, 67). But how did women respond to what these reformers had to say regarding the education of women and their role in society?

In April 1794, the newspaper included a poem written by a woman. The poem was entitled, “CARÁCTER DE CIERTA SEÑORA ILUSTRE, PINTADO por ella misma en las siguientes Seguidillas: Inéditas.” The focus of the poem was on the female author herself as she sought to describe her character and temperament as an educated woman. The only information given about the author is that she was an “enlightened woman.” There was no hint if the woman was a subscriber or just a woman who accessed the newspaper through other means. The poem began stating how she wanted to be seen as a woman: “He who wants to love me should know/that my temperament is such/that I demand to be respected/ to the point of contempt” (Mercurio peruano 1794, 269). The woman was referring here to her “genio” (temperament) which implied at the time having the inclination, taste, disposition, and the interior capacity towards something (Diccionario de autoridades 1990, 43). The woman used the poem as a discursive vehicle to demand to be highly respected even if that prompted disdain in others. Immediately, she made clear that others must value her as she thought she deserved. Respect and admiration were to be concomitant to any act of love she received from men. She also promised no mercy to any lover who was not willing to respect her wishes. Furthermore, she warned that no lover should expect continuous praising from her as she preferred to stay away from recurrent acts of attention. In sum, she underlined that she owed nothing to any men, and they should not have any false expectations when it came to her.

The poem continued by emphasizing her exceptionality as a woman as she portrayed herself as outside the norm. She made clear that she only cared for herself and was not to be bothered by what others thought or expected from her. To this regard she stated, “The lover who doubtful/ beats himself trying to figuring me out/ because I am so rare,/ I say to him that I very much enjoy/ that he get frustrated at me/” (Mercurio peruano 1794, 270). To be considered “rara” at the time implied to be “extraordinary and very uncommon” as well as “distinguished” (Diccionario de autoridades 1990, 491). What the female voice wanted to underline was that she was indeed extraordinary and did not fit the mold of a prototypical woman as she demanded to be recognized as an illustrious woman due to her knowledge, attitude, and respect. She made clear that her goal in life was not to seek love for love’s sake because love was always blind, and blindness was in itself a dangerous condition. However, she acknowledged that she only was to choose a “fine lover” if the man was willing to accept her as she was. In fact, she concluded the poem stating that even if her character was labeled as one “with faults” (“tachas”), and she refused to succumb to the traditional female model and preferred to preserve her free will. She seemed to emphasize that for a woman to demand respect she needed to value herself first. To be valued meant to reject any compromises and to abide by her own rules, which in this case implied to be respected by her intellectual capacity and to be recognized as an independent educated woman.

This poem encapsulates the change in women’s attitudes regarding how they wanted to be seen and understood. Along these lines, one of the last issues published in the Mercurio peruano when it was clear that the publication was going to cease due to the lack of revenue in covering the costs of production, the editors published an article indicating the impact that the newspaper was having on Peruvian society, and especially women. To this respect, the article said, “Patriotic Love, public Enlightenment, promotion of literature, were all phrases that became popular in mouths of women and even in the ones of the Palangana Mulattoes” (Mercurio peruano 1794, 265). In this quote, women were grouped with a racial group that had always been marginalized in colonial society (“mulatos”) to underscore the extent to which society had circumscribed them but also emphasizing how they had transgressed social norms. The editor implied that women who traditionally were kept away from the realm of enlightened discussions as active agents, now thanks to the newspaper were able to engage in discussions about patriotic love, public Enlightenment, and love for literature which had been usually reserved to male citizens. The article acknowledged that women in the Viceroyalty of Peru were interested and versed in matters of science, arts, and erudition thanks to the circulation of the newspaper. The Mercurio peruano in this sense served as an effective public platform to educate its citizens including women.

Papel Periódico de Santafe de Bogotá: Women and Education

Papel periódico de la Ciudad de Santafé de Bogotá appeared in the capital city of the Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1791. Manuel del Socorro Rodríguez (1718–1859) served as his editor. On January 6, 1792, the newspaper published a very interesting letter entitled “Carta de un vecino de la ciudad de Panamá dirigido al Autor con fecha de 22 de Julio próximo pasado” (“Letter from a citizen of Panama addressed to the Author dated last July”) (1792, n.p.). The writer offered fascinating comments regarding the lack of attention paid by the newspaper to the role that women ought to have in educating the country’s population. For this Panamanian contributor, the Papel Periódico’s attempts to enlighten their audience had failed as they had not discussed the potential role older women (“Viejas”) in particular could have in educating young women in political, moral, and economic matters, and he warned the editor not to dismiss him by considering the argument ridiculous (1792, n.p.). Again, we find another outsider indicating to the urban intellectual elite in Santa Fe de Bogotá what they had failed to do in their newspaper. One of the reasons as to why he deemed this topic important was because women themselves read the newspapers in their tertulias and even in Panama, women carried the newspaper with them (1792, n.p.). This is another example that helps us to understand the impact of the circulation of eighteenth-century newspapers in Spanish America beyond the list of subscribers. As noted by the editors of the Mercurio Peruano, many times one person read the newspaper aloud to others or passed it to others as subscriptions were expensive. For this reason, it would not be outrageous to assume that more women read these newspapers beyond the names that were included in the list of subscribers.Footnote 7

The author built his argument by stating first, that “old ladies are teachers of virtues and vices. They are the mirrors in which Young Ladies look at themselves. They are a type of book from which Young Ladies can learn about how to conduct their lives” (1792, n.p.). According to him, older wiser women served as mirrors through which young women could reflect upon themselves. They also acted as a type of book from which they learned both virtues and vices as well as how to behave. With “Viejas” he was referring to those who as former mothers had the experience and knowledge to teach virtues to younger women. His views coincided with those in the Enlightenment that argued that the mother should have a pivotal role in raising useful citizens. The figure of the mother was read within the context of Enlightenment ideas about female education. As Elizabeth Franklin Lewis explained regarding Spain, “Virtually every important advancement of eighteenth-century Spain involved the participation of women: a renewed interest in education, the development of an industrial economy, the establishment and growth of learned societies and literary salons, university reform, and the growth of the periodic press” (2004, 2). This was also the case in eighteenth-century Spanish America. For this reason, in this particular article, motherhood was rethought within the confines of the well-being of the country. As the author indicated, “it is evident that a good Mother gives the Republic irreprehensible Priests, honorable Judges, exemplary Wives, honest Husbands, and ultimately, Citizens that make their Homeland proud” (1792, n.p.). The mother ultimately ought to contribute with raising useful and productive citizens who consequently were to become great contributors to their homeland. Education provided at home by the mother was crucial for the prosperity of any republic.

Again, as it was the case in Spain, we witness as Catherine Jaffe states, “the acknowledgement of women’s rational equality and of their importance to their children’s formation as citizens accorded women a socially significant role and authorized their education, even though the extent of that education remained undefined” (2020, 70). For this contributor from Panama, every woman in Spanish America from Santa Fe to Quito to Cartagena had the potential to play the same role. However, one aspect that the author wanted to call attention to was the fact that the Papel Periódico in their first publications were not including articles about female matters, failing in this way to positively contribute to circulate popular ideas about the role of women when it came to educating future citizens. The newspaper had the responsibility, according to him, to serve as both a type of a “philosopher” and a “doctor” ready to cure the diseases present in society; otherwise, “everything will be lost” (1792, n.p.). The newspaper had a public obligation to educate the country and to achieve that it was important to include women as interlocutors.

On July 24, 1795, the topic of educating young woman resurged again in a brief article entitled “Consejos de una Anciana a cierta Señorita” (Advice from an Old Lady to a Young Lady). The article captured the dialogue between an older woman (“Anciana”) speaking to a young lady referred to as “Señorita.” The Anciana began by conveying that when she was young, she behaved exactly as the “Señorita” especially when rejecting all men who wanted to marry her because she thought she deserved something better. She added that she found enjoyment in saying “no” to all of them. However, as time passed, and she thought she was ready to commit, she noticed that those men who used to want to marry her now were despising and ignoring her, and even worse, they proceeded to marry other women. After so much rejection she found herself old, sad, and unable to get married and consequently without children. She said her vanity (“vanidad”) cost the opportunity to have grandchildren and now she was alone and old. She advised the Señorita to do not follow the “crazy whim” that she chose to pursue in her own life because, “the girl that long waits, becomes old and desperate” (1795, 1103). The article aimed to educate young women in general about the need to see marriage as the ultimate goal. The message enforced was that women should marry young and should stay away from vanity, caprice, and arrogance or any other desire to live a free life for their own enjoyment; or else, they will end alone and old.

What is fascinating is that immediately following this brief article another very brief article entitled “Conversación de una Señorita Casada” (Conversation with a Young Married Woman) introduced the voice of a young married woman herself contesting the so-called advantages of being married in general. I see this other article as a response to what the old lady had to say about marriage. In this case, the “Señorita Casada” engaged in a heated argument with her father-in-law regarding the idea that marriage equaled happiness arguing that in her case her husband was to blame for failing to make that a reality. With a very cynical attitude, the young married woman told her father-in-law: “It is very true what your son says that we live a peaceful life; but this might be because we spend our lives with neither food or clothing, or because he does not understand what to live peacefully is” (1795, 1103–1104). What this “Señorita Casada” emphasized was that having a spouse did not guarantee happiness but could instead bring discontent as she added, “I must confess that I do not lack anything except when it comes to difficulties” (1795, 1104). She seemed to blame society’s inclination “to respect men as de facto heads of the Household” (1795, 1104). The young married woman found quite ironic such normative conception of who was to have command of the household as for her, common sense and reason should govern the house and should not be determined by traditional gender parameters. If the woman possessed the brain and the capacity to govern better, then, she should be considered the head of the household. Knowing how to govern the household was not a matter of gender expectations but rather of good judgment. The father-in-law had nothing to respond except that she should have felt fortunate that she had a husband. However, this anecdote underlined that when it came to women’s happiness, marriage did not guarantee it. Marriage then had to be rethought within a more equaled sharing of responsibilities especially when it came to decide who had the right to make informed decisions that could eventually contribute to a successful marriage.

In an effort to be more inclusive of female matters, the editor informed the readers in the following issue of the newspaper dated July 30, 1795, that he had selected a series of excerpts from different authors and members of the Royal Academy of Sciences in France that spoke about women’s role in society so readers could get acquainted with these ideas. According to him, the selection was based on “the philosophical rigor in which they are written and because they are not as obscure as others” (1795, 1107). Among these excerpts he included one entitled “Del carácter y talento de las Mugeres. Rasgo juicioso de Mr. Tomás, individuo de la Academia Francesa” (Of the character and talent of Women. Judicious outline by Mr. Tomàs, member of the French Academy, Papel Periódico, 1795, 1107; from Essai sur le caractère, les moeurs et l’esprit des femmes by Antoine-Léonard Thomas). The selection focused on determining the extent to which women despite “their passion for beauty or natural fragility,” their “restless imagination,” and their “various emotions” were able to reflect and develop profound ideas (1795, 1109). The question was, were women able to discern and to reason among various ideas to then produce a rational argument? Or would they confound all ideas into a single general one without discerning properly among them?

These questions were followed by another one asking if the fact of not finding a good number of celebrated women in history as it was for the case of men was due to “the poor education women receive or because the nature of their gender?” (1795, 1110). To answer this question, he mentioned that Descartes praised the philosophical spirit of certain women and “their clarity, order and method” with which they were able to reason (1795, 1110). However, the author also suggested that Descartes might have forgotten to question if women had the ability to execute rational thoughts without being guided by feelings or emotions. The author proceeded to argue that women lacked the ability to calm down and to patiently reach meticulous conclusions because they let themselves follow their imagination. To this he added that it was his belief that women in general should try to find easy topics that did not require ample consideration because their character was more suited to excel in the arts. On this he concluded that women were known for “giving themselves up to ephemeral thoughts” so they were not able to fully discern on philosophical matters due their inability to deliberate thoughtfully and carefully. The excerpt ended with the author underscoring that it was only in matters of passion such as love that woman were able to excel. His view coincided with the tendency at the time “that men inclined towards action, abstract reflection, and exterior activity, while women tended towards inferior life, the world of emotion, and the family” (Bolufer 2018, 42). The editor of the Papel Periódico chose to include only this section of the French author’s dissertation to inform their readers about recent findings that still viewed women as intellectually inferior to men. This dissertation clashed with the other letters previously discussed where women contested their role in society and claimed their crucial contribution in the production of useful citizens. Contesting the capacity of women to reason was still a common argument in the eighteenth century.

Both newspapers illustrate that despite enjoying a female readership most news articles included were not geared towards women and when they were, they tended to put into question the intellectual nature of women in matters of philosophy, economics, and politics. As Catherine Jaffe observes, “The defense of women’s nature, rights, and role in society in eighteenth-century Spain and Latin America invoked Enlightenment’s ideas of reason, equality, social utility, and individual improvement through education” (69).Footnote 8

On this idea of education as a utilitarian vehicle for societal improvement and women’s impact on progress, the Papel Periódico published in 1796 a critical reflection about public education but this time written by a woman. The essay was entitled, “Reflexiones de una Dama Filósofa sobre un punto importante de Educación Publica” (Reflections by a Female Philosopher about an important aspect of Public Education) (1796, 1387–1394).

In this article, the “Dama Filósofa” offered a critical interjection on the issue of public education; a topic dominated by male intellectuals. One must remember that one of the definitions of philosophy at the time implied “the manner in which one apprehends or ponders about a specific question or science” (Diccionario de autoridades 1990, 251). For this reason, the name “Dama Filósofa” alluded to a lady who felt confident in offering her opinion about a particular issue or science. The main point of contention for this woman was if poetry, eloquence, and history should occupy the most important intellectual components of what was considered literature at the time, and if it should rest at the core of the goal of public education. It is important to remember that “literatura” was understood in the eighteenth century as “the knowledge and science of letters” which included sciences, arts, and erudition (Diccionario de autoridades 1990, 417). What she wanted to discuss was if indeed “literatura” should be the most important component to provide a solid education with the aim to form useful citizens. In her opinion, it was the cardinal virtue of prudence what was most beneficial when forming good citizens. Distinguishing between what was good versus what was evil in order to make correct choices, ought to be in her view at the basis of any public education and at the formation of an enlightened citizen.

The female author proceeded to propose a thesis that prudence as a virtue was to occupy a privileged position in all catholic nations who were interested in fostering Enlightenment and culture as part of their education. Characteristic of the Enlightenment in Spain and its colonies religion was viewed as another way to enlighten a society. As Bolufer points out, “the majority of enlightened Hispanics (Spaniards and criollos, American-born descendants of Spaniards) positioned themselves within orthodoxy” and “opposed the more ritualistic showy manifestations of Catholicism in favour of a more internalized, sober spirituality, Christ-centered and devoted to the Bible” (2020, 5).Footnote 9 In the case of our female interlocutor, she believed that the main precepts of “the sacred sciences are the ones that truly guide the human spirit by making it happy in all conditions and fate” (1796, 1388). To this she added that “public happiness” could not reside only, as male philosophers argued, on the realm of sciences or non-secular literature because religion was indeed an important component of public happiness which concerned society in general. As Lewis reminds us, in the eighteenth century, “Individual and collective happiness were considered inseparable– both integral parts of our physical ‘social’ bodies” (2004, 3). In this particular newspaper’s article, happiness was associated with “the reflection of an ordered, harmonious and God-centered universe” (Lewis 2004, 3). About this issue the “Dama Filósofa” concluded that theology was to be part of the equation as a science that also formed useful citizens because it strengthened the spirit, kept the individual away from excessive passions and it guided them “to the true path of Wisdom” (1796, 1391). It was religion that was ultimately going to bring happiness to society.

Another issue that the female author denounced in her essay was the attitude of those “male intellectuals” who bragged about their “encyclopedic and omniscient erudition,” instead of focusing more on incorporating their practice and knowledge of theology in general to the formation of responsible citizens (April 6, 1796, num. 238, 1391). This encyclopedic attitude was just in her opinion, “the latest fashion” that was prone to foster vanity instead of true knowledge (1796, 1391). She claimed that true philosophers were those religious figures such as John Chrysostom (c.347–407), Jerome of Stridon (c.342- c. 420), Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) and Basilius or Saint Basil the Great (329–379), among others. The writings of these influential religious thinkers had in her view much to contribute to the education of good citizens. Alluding to Plato, who most critics believed influenced early Christianity trough his belief in the existence of absolute truth, she argued that absolute truth was to be found in the science of theology and should be achieved through the exercises of logic and reasoning. In her view, “the true and solid wisdom” could only be attainable through the practice of the cardinal virtue of prudence which consequently was to form the exemplary citizens of the nation (1796, 1392). One must remember as Lewis explained that virtue “for the intellectuals of the Enlightenment was not religious or pious” but rather “it was civic-minded, leading to the collective happiness of society through individual actions” (2004, 4). Sacred sciences, our female author added, should be the core “of the diverse study areas that we name humanities” and understood as a civic tool for the pursuit of an effective education (1796, 1392).

The essay concluded with an interesting twist in which the female author offered a harsh criticism of intellectuals’ obsession towards the “bellas letras” which she associated with France and consequently with the path to moral downfall (1796, 1394). Instead, she urged the reader to return to the study of the Classics (“estudios Clásicos”) which in her view could guide individuals to a prudent and virtuous behavior (“conducta prudente y virtuosa”). It could also prompt a desire to devote the acquired knowledge to the study of useful sciences (“ciencias útiles”), with most attention paid to the science of theology (1796, 1394). She referred to the study of theology as a form of philosophy centered on the discourse of God (Diccionario de autoridades 1990, 268). At a time when in many European countries, natural sciences were contesting religion as a prime source of discursive authority, and eighteenth-century intellectuals in Spanish America as well as Spain were advocating for its useful role in the formation of good citizens. Some might ask if the editor was trying to hide behind a female voice to defend what could have been considered at the time a traditional point of view. There is no evidence to prove that, however, even if that had been the case, what it matters here is the fact that the message was conveyed by a female voice that was advocating for what type of education was applicable to local needs of men as well as women.

Concluding Remarks: The Long Eighteenth Century

Pilar Gonzalbo Aizpuru accurately states that in the case of colonial Spanish America, the period of the Bourbon regime was one in which economic and political reforms brought a transformation in the area of education and, in particular, the rethinking of the role of women in society, even though marginalization of women in the intellectual and public spheres was still rampant (Gonzalbo 1987, 292). Education was a topic that gave women at the time a voice to express their views on the nature of it and how to acquire it. It is a discussion that continued throughout the nineteenth century. An example is the essay published in 1823 in Mexico and written by Ana Josefa Caballero de la Borda entitled Necesidad de un establecimiento de educación para las jóvenes mexicanas (The need of an educational institution for young Mexican women). Caballero de la Borda still criticized the insufficient education women were receiving and that were keeping them in a state of “barbarous ignorance” that did not allow them to effectively contribute to the nation (1823, 1). She argued, as it was popular at the time, that even in the role of a mother it was paramount for a woman to be educated to better contribute to the formation of her children and therefore to society. According to her, a big mistake made by authorities was to circumscribe women as “heads of the household” who could only educate their children morally. This type of education she added, fell short of contributing to the formation of “virtuous citizens” who could demonstrate their “love for their homeland” by devoting themselves to the science of education (1823, 2).

Caballero de la Borda was very emphatic in her denunciation that the type of education that “women of the Americas” had received had served only to foster an inclination for luxury, vanity, and other “lesser passions” that had not served well to form productive citizens (1823, 2). It was the inclination for fashion, beauty, and superfluous matters what had contributed to men’s view of women as objects, and ironically it was a strategy consciously promoted by men themselves. To this regard she stated, “one can certainly say that men have used their female partners like pieces of furniture for the sake of personal taste instead of seeing them for their useful value” (1823, 3). The author blamed men for taking advantage of the lack of education women had received as it turned women into objects of desire. In fact, she added that the education that had prevailed for years had made women in the Americas fanatics, hypocrites, libertines, presumptuous, flirtatious, and ignorant human beings and for this reason the education that had been provided to them needed to be reformed. She referred to this antiquated type of education as “indolent education” meaning an education that served no purpose as it did not foster progress (1823, 3). But what proper education looked like in her view?

Caballero de la Borda proposed what she described as “a Christian and refined education” in which religion played a crucial role in providing a more rounded instruction (1823, 3). As the “Dama Filósofa” had proposed regarding the case of the Viceroyalty of New Granada, religion and Enlightenment were not incompatible. Caballero de la Borda claimed that it was time for women “to be free” and to fulfill their role as educators of productive citizens of the nation. Referring to the case of post-independence Mexico she underlined that it was crucial for the government to engage in reforming the education system of “our young female compatriots” (1823, 4). The author offered a detailed plan for the creation of a new Mexican academy for the education of girls. I will not delve into details here for the sake of time,Footnote 10 but my intention in referring to Ana Josefa Caballero de la Borda’s work in my concluding remarks is to emphasize the connections that existed between the female voices who lent to the topic of education in eighteenth-century Spanish American newspapers and Caballero de la Borda’s plan to reform education in the nineteenth century. Their views were centered on the role of religion as a science (i.e. theology) instead of on the notion of religion as a pure practice of moral behavior. This knowledge came to represent an important factor of the understanding of religion within a broader context of a supreme science.

In a recent essay, Elizabeth Franklin Lewis argues, that in eighteenth-century Spain and Spanish America

the women who hosted tertulias; the women who subscribed and contributed their letters and poems to newspapers; the women whose paintings were shown in public exhibits in the art academies; the women who delivered official speeches; the young women whose intellect was put on public display; and the women who published their own original texts as well as those who chose foreign texts to translate and publish–also exercised to varying degrees ‘the public use of their reason’ (2020, 121)

The articles discussed in this essay are prime examples of how in late colonial Spanish America discussions pertaining to women’s role in society and their responsibility in educating the future citizens as well as themselves were part of lengthy and sometimes contradictory discussions in which gender roles were denounced, contested, and reformulated again and again. The subject of education played a major role in such debates. Male and female voices engaged in redefining the role of women in domestic and public spaces that despite its colonial locus of enunciation were also deeply connected to the debates taking place simultaneously at the other side of the Atlantic.