Vindications and Customs: Women’s Participation in Local Festive Rituals in Spain

This article presents an overview of studies on women’s participation in festive rituals and cultural customs in Spain. Demands by women to participate in manifestations of what is today termed intangible cultural heritage began to emerge in the 1970s and 1980s. Since then, feminist anthropology has followed these processes of protest and demands for change. Events on the ground have prompted a revision of theoretical frameworks for understanding these phenomena, placing greater emphasis on the interrelationship between the social and symbolic order within the sex/gender system. In this sense, in Spain, and especially in the Basque Country, there has been an intersection between academic research, the actions of self-organised women and the public administration, bringing into dialogue the theoretical, political-activist, and institutional spheres. In this article, we focus on the strategies and practical ways in which equality is sought, materialised, and performed in festive rituals, plotting their evolution to more democratic, participatory, and egalitarian events. We conclude that the study of the fiesta from a gender perspective is crucial to rethinking the way we analyse rituals, processes of change and continuity in festive customs in relation to feminist demands. At the same time, it is a source of inspiration when plotting processes of social and symbolic transformation that question or reverse the patriarchal and hierarchical order of our societies.