Luisa Capetillo By Vicki L. Ruiz Summary

Vicki L. Ruiz is a Chicano/Latino studies and History professor from UC Davis whose research focused on Latina feminists from 1900-1930. She made it a point that many only focus on the chicana feminists of the 20th century or only focus on the Latino narratives revolving around U.S. history. Ruiz decided to base her research and this talk on two Latina feminists: Luisa Capetillo and Luisa Moreno. Luisa Capetillo was born on October 28, 1879 in Puerto Rico and was raised in a modest household. She was married to a powerful patriarch and had two children with him. She worked as a reader in a cigar plantation and helped educated the planters. This job gave her to opening to start the mobilization for workers’ rights through labor unions. She is often falsely depicted and remembered as a “lady” and “damsel”, despite dressing in men’s clothing. In 1904, Capetillo began to write essays, titled "Mi Opinión" in which she discussed her radical (for the time) feminist ideas. She believed that removing men’s control over women’s bodies were most important for liberation.

This concept was invented by Ruiz herself and she explained it as the unconscious or conscious act of inventing, claiming, and reinventing themselves for a purpose. Which raised the question: Did Moreno have to throw away her privilege to become the leader of a labor union? I think not, but it definitely placed her in a better position to understand the injustice felt by the workers. These Latina feminists fought for a changed world through feminism and anarchism, so much they forgot of their children. Both Moreno and Captellio were absent parents as they were always on the move and protesting for workers’ and womens’ rights. Although it was necessary for these women to be released from the chains of marriage to evolve into the influential figures, they did not need to leave their children to reach those