Descamisado
Descamisado (Spanish pronunciation: [deskamiˈsaðo]) is a Spanish word that literally means "without shirt" or "shirtless".
History
The term was originally used by the narrator in
In the 20th century, it was also used as an insult by the elite of Argentina to describe the followers of Juan Perón, who served as president of Argentina from 1946 until 1955, and then again briefly from 1973 to 1974. The term was later reclaimed as a term of pride, with Juan Perón and his wife Eva Perón affectionately referring to their followers as "descamisados". During his 1945 campaign for president, Juan Perón toured the country on a train that he named El Descamisado.
However, the first usage of the term in the history of Argentina dates back to the 19th century.
El Descamisado was also the name of an anarchist newspaper in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
By most accounts, the term has its modern origins on October 17, 1945, when thousands of supporters of Juan Perón gathered in front of the Casa Rosada making a demonstration to demand Perón's release from prison. While waiting for Perón on this hot day, many men in the crowd removed their shirts—hence the term "shirtless". However, there is much debate among scholars with regard to the origins of the label. Some claim that the word was coined to describe the working poor, the social class from which Perón drew the greatest amount of his political backing. The descamisados of Peronism have occasionally been compared to the sans-culottes of the French Revolution. This segment of the population was able to join the ranks of the middle class thanks to mass access to healthcare and education opportunities and the process of industrialisation that took place in Argentina during the first two terms of Juan Perón's presidency (1946-1955).
In 1989,
See also
References
- ISBN 978-987-545-555-9.
- ISBN 9780534621582.