"A feminist is a man or woman who believes that all people should be treated equally regardless of gender" wrote Gus Pueblo in his review of Julia Alvarez's "In the Time of the Butterflies." In the novel, the characters embody the ideologies of feminism and use their powerful voices to advocate for their beliefs. This is voiced when one of the characters speaks about the revolution in the Dominican Republic; “We’re all in it, if that’s what you mean. But I’m speaking for myself."

The book is based in the mid-nineteenth century when the country was under the brutal rule of dictator Rafael Trujillo. Alvarez uses fiction to introduce to the world an inside look of three women’s incredible impact on the Dominican revolution and the ending of the Trujillo regime.

The novel memorializes the lives of sisters: Patria, Minerva, and María Teresa Mirabal. Three women who became symbols of freedom for women and oppressed countries all over the world after their assassination for being involved in an underground movement to overrule Trujillo. By looking at this work from a gender/feminist viewpoint suggests that the Mirabal sisters were not only fighting against the Trujillo regime, but also against the Dominican Republic’s patriarchal culture and gender roles.

Women in the nineteenth century were generally expected to follow certain gender roles. These included listening to their husbands and many times doing as men asked without question. In the novel, all four sisters reject their stereotypical roles as women in the society by standing up for their beliefs and the revolution. Minerva started tearing herself away from the gender roles of society as a young girl when she blurts out, “’It is just what this country needs.’…’It’s about time we women had a voice in running our country’." The way that Minerva demands equal authority undermines the influence that men have over women in the Dominican culture.

Her sisters also pursue authority throughout the novel. “’But you can’t decide on your own, then tell him?’…’That’s what I did,’ Patria went on. ‘I joined and then I talked Pedrito into joining me’” (Alvarez 176).* Patria rejects the belief that she must abide by her husband’s wishes and explains to Dede how she made the decision herself, without letting Pedrito scare or overpower her.

Dede has a similar revelation when she decides to leave her dominating husband; “Something threatening in his look scared her. But Dede kept reminding herself she need not to be afraid. She was going to be leaving him” (Alvarez 183).

The final and youngest sister, María Teresa, discovers her authority over her life and shows how mature she had gotten by joining the revolution of her own free will; “I told Minerva and Manolo right out, I wanted to join” (Alvarez 142). In all four of these quotes, the Mirabel sisters reject gender roles. They show that they would not let the men in their lives dominate them. This is truly a representation of the equal authority the sisters demanded in their lives and is further showing female strength and power throughout the novel.

Julia Alvarez is another strong woman who grew up during the time of Trujillo's regime over the Dominican Republic. Although Alvarez insists that she is not trying to make a political statement through the novel, she is able to humanize the events and effectively represent cultural displacement, gender roles, and patriarchy by writing from the perspective of the sisters. Her style of writing in the novel reflects the beliefs of the Mirabal sisters and their strong feminist values by telling the story from their perspectives. The story would have changed if the author was a man because the content of the novel and the historical truths behind it bleed from the destruction of gender roles. This is because women, like Alvarez, have experienced oppression and setbacks because of their gender, but many men have not. An example of this comes from the work of Dr. Darren Broome. He believes that “there is an intimate association between women's bodies and their voices, both having for so long been repressed and controlled by male-dominated institutions."

In the Dominican Republic (and many places around the world in the 1960s) women were expected to follow their husbands and fathers' lead and do what the men in their lives say or decide for them. In this very patriarchal culture, there were many gender limitations for women. These limitations included their expectation to become a housewife, have children, and take care of the home or farm with their husbands. Through this culture, women were portrayed to have less power and authority than men. However, Alvarez shows female strength and power by describing the tension, struggles, and ultimately the equal authority between Minerva, Patria, Maria Teresa and their husbands in her novel. The Mirabal sisters also demonstrate their power by their willingness and persistence in challenging gender limitations that had been forced on them by the patriarchal culture.

Moreover, the sisters had struggles in standing up to the oppressive culture surrounding them.

“’What if I can’t’ Dede’s voice shook. ‘Jaimito thinks it’s suicide. He’s told me he’ll have to leave me if I get mixed up in this thing’” (Alvarez 180). This quote shows that Dede was the least outgoing of the sisters and was fearful that her husband, Jaimito, might leave her if she joins her sisters in the rebellion.

In a second quote, it is also obvious that Patria’s husband was not immediately in favor of her choice to join the revolution.

“’Your first responsibility is to your children, your husband, and your home!’ His face was so clouded in anger, I couldn’t see the man I loved” (Alvarez 166).

Both of these quotes show that the women’s husbands were angry at their wives not specifically for their actions but for going against their wishes. They expected their wives to give in to them and abandon their wants to join the rebellion. These examples show how Alvarez’s novel depicted the traditional ideas of how women were expected to act, but further challenges those roles by showing how the sisters stood up for their own beliefs.

It is very obvious that the Mirabal sisters, as well as Julia Alvarez, were powerful women with feminist ideals. "In the Time of the Butterflies" suggests that the Mirabal sisters not only fought against the Trujillo regime, but also against the Dominican Republic’s patriarchal culture and gender roles. They were very successful in doing so, forever becoming role models for cultures around the world but especially the Dominican Republic.