At the heart of populism is an opposition between “the people” and the political and economic elite. Within the populist framework, the people are the authentic nation. Elites, in contrast, are “others,” parasites who feed off the labor of ordinary citizens. In this context, the populist politician presents himself or herself as a champion of the people, as someone who will fight for the people’s legitimate interests against entrenched, implicitly illegitimate, elite power. Juan and Eva Perón understood this dynamic and were masters at framing their policies to fit this narrative. Each reform they made, each law they enacted, was no mere bureaucratic maneuver. It was a mighty blow against the enemies of the people. They also understood that their political power depended on making a convincing case that they, themselves, were of the people, that they genuinely felt their hardships and shared their dreams. Eva Perón’s special magic was to successfully combine all of this with a movie star’s glamour, to make herself a symbol of feminine perfection without setting herself apart from the people she claimed to embody.

The images included in this activity offer an opportunity to further explore Eva Perón’s carefully crafted image. As you examine the photographs, think about the political implications of Evita’s public presentation of herself. How did she use her femininity to the Peróns’ political advantage? How did she fend off criticism that, as a woman, she had no place in Argentina’s almost exclusively male political world?