Eugenics and the modern woman on trial in Spain: from the Primer curso eugénico (1928) to the trial of Aurora Rodríguez Carballeira (1934)

Abstract

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Spanish supporters of eugenics encountered unprecedented opportunities to propagate their ideas and influence public discourse. This article argues that, following the collapse of the dictatorship of General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1930, images of modern femininity were used to promote eugenic ideas to new audiences and the mujer moderna (modern woman) imagined as a key consumer of the modernist ideology of race regeneration. The association of Galtonian doctrine with new models of modern femininity affected an increase in the popularity of eugenics, evident in records of the extraordinary professional advancement of adolescent propagandist for eugenic reform, Hildegart (1914–33). Nevertheless, the capacity of Spanish eugenicists to propagate their ideas and shape social reform remained limited due to lingering anxieties about the dangers of popularising scientific knowledge about sex and reproduction among those who might be classified as “unprepared” on the basis of their age and gender.