ABSTRACT
A high point in women's organizing was the struggle for female suffrage in the 1930s and 1940s; another one came in the 1980s with the combined struggle against the military regime and for women's rights during the dictatorship and the transition to democracy. Putting gender issues on the political agenda and struggling for empowerment and equal opportunity within the political establishment have made the movement more prone to being absorbed by the dynamics of the political process. The chapter explores the women's movement in this democratic context, drawing on a number of indicators (institutionalization, policy proposals, and articulation) in order to compare this with previous stages. Chile has traditionally been a country very open to ideas and influence from abroad, and the women's movement was no exception. "Democracy in the country and in the home" became the rallying cry first of feminist women and then of the entire women's movement, combining gender issues and the struggle against the dictatorship.
