La soltería virtuosa: dignidad, utilidad y el discurso sobre el celibato femenino en la España contemporánea (1820-1950)

Abstract

Single women were often ridiculed in the popular culture and in the intellectual discourse in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Spain. Existing works on this subject have tended to interpret this as a sign of rejection and/or of fear concerning the subversive potential of a woman remaining single. Basing ourselves on recent research on gender in Catholic thought, we nonetheless argue that celibacy –provided it followed certain rules- was not only accepted, but held in great regard in Spanish society of that period. While the historiography has construed the notion that there were, basically, two dignified states for a woman in the Catholic political culture: the religious celibacy and marriage, we argue that a third way existed and was explicitly defended: “secular” celibacy. To analyse this issue, we explore the shifting hierarchy of prestige of the different models of femininity in the long run.