Las Mujeres en la Masonería Española (1868 - 1939)

Abstract

In Spain the presence of women in Freemasonry between 1868 and 1939 is widely documented. Despite the ban on women’s initiation, they populated the Spanish lodges across different modalities, including the Rite of Adoption. The publication of Statutes of Adoption by the GOE maintained Masonic orthodoxy away from women, thus segregating female lodges. At the same time, it emerged a discourse among Masons that reflects the contradictions of an institution that defends equality as a principle but it is not applied universally. However, the Spanish Masons adopted an attitude that favoured women in Freemasonry, for the sake of an incipient Feminism that recognized the social importance of women’s roles.