The Revolution Through a Feminist Lens: Fidel Castro’s Vision and Approach to Gender Equality

Abstract

The Cuban Revolution constitutes a historical, social, and cultural process in which women played a decisive role. From his earliest political reflections, Fidel Castro recognized that women’s emancipation was a strategic prerequisite for socialist transformation. This article analyzes how Fidel’s ideas about women were translated into policies, organizational structures, and social practices that made Cuban women protagonists of the revolutionary process. Three fundamental dimensions are examined: participation in the armed struggle, full incorporation into the construction of the socialist system, and the institutional legacy of the Federation of Cuban Women. The analysis demonstrates that, under Fidel’s vision, women were not an accessory but an essential pillar of the Revolution.