海角大神

When Michelle Bachelet won Chile鈥檚 presidential election in 2006, she not only became the first woman to hold her country鈥檚 highest office; she ushered in a wave of female presidential victories that shattered glass ceilings across Latin America.

At one point, in 2014, more than 40 percent of the region鈥檚 citizens lived under female rule.

But as Chileans head to the polls Sunday to elect their next leader, and President Bachelet prepares to step down, an era is ending: For the first time in over a decade there will be no women presidents, or聽Presidentas, in the region.

It鈥檚 an important shift. In a part of the world known for its rampant machismo, the recent Presidenta period marked a hopeful turning point for Latin America. There have been signs of progress in gender equality in many nations, but some women are disappointed that Bachelet and her fellow women leaders did not do more.

And they are wondering whether the gains since 2006 will outlast the women who fought for them from their presidential offices, as the continent returns to all-male leadership.聽

鈥淎t one point Latin America had four women presidents at the same time,鈥� in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, and Costa Rica, says Farida Jalalzai, who teaches politics at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. 鈥淚t鈥檚 spectacular,鈥� she adds, 鈥渂ut it doesn鈥檛 mean something will be built on that.鈥�

Other observers are more optimistic.

鈥淭he symbolic weight of having a woman president can鈥檛 be underestimated,鈥� argues Gwynn Thomas, who studies gender and politics in Latin America at The State University of New York at Buffalo. The Presidentas 鈥渞eally changed the perception of women鈥檚 leadership. It may be the end of an era, [but] it鈥檚 not The End.鈥�

Progress, of a sort

Latin America had known female presidents before Bachelet, but half of them had taken over from their dead husbands and another, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro was the widow of a martyred Nicaraguan journalist.

Bachelet and other female leaders, however, benefited from the greater role in politics that women carved for themselves in the pro-democracy movements that emerged from dictatorships that collapsed in the 1980s and 1990s.

They also profited from voters鈥� hopes they would be less corrupt than their male counterparts, and from the blessings they received from their popular male predecessors, such as Luiz In谩cio da Silva in Brazil, or Nobel peace prize winner 脫scar Arias in Costa Rica.

But once they took office, distracted by other issues, the new leaders did not always make gender equality and women鈥檚 rights a priority.

Even Bachelet, who ran on a strongly feminist platform and who did more than any of her sister Presidentas to change policies affecting women, gets only a passing grade from Chilean feminists.

"The presence of a woman in the highest office in the country extended the symbolic limits in a very conservative society,鈥� acknowledges Perla Wilson, former director of the feminist radio station Radio Tierra.

But, Ms. Wilson says, progress in Chile over the course of Bachelet鈥檚 two presidential terms, from 2006 to 2010, and again starting in 2014, was mixed.

Bachelet worked hard to loosen a strict abortion law, provide pension bonuses for women who leave the workforce temporarily to care for their families, legalize the 鈥渕orning after pill,鈥� and create a Ministry for Women and Gender Equality. She also won approval for gender quotas in parliament, which will be implemented in Chile for the first time during this weekend鈥檚 election.

But on other important issues, such as violence against women, she failed to pass any significant legislation, and the rates of such violence have not dropped as a result of her presidency.

鈥淚 think she could have done more,鈥� says Maria Elena Soto, a member of the Resueltas, or Determined, feminist collective in Santiago. 鈥淥f course there have been improvements made in terms of gender equality, but she really didn鈥檛 commit herself.鈥�

In Argentina, Kirchner was more 鈥渞eactionary, not necessarily promoting womens鈥� empowerment herself, but not obstructing others鈥� efforts,鈥� says Dr. Jalalzai, author of the book 鈥淲omen Presidents of Latin America: Beyond Family Ties.鈥�

Machismo still rules

Brazil鈥檚 Dilma Rousseff was seen as 聽inconsistent, though she did appoint more women to her cabinet, including her chief of staff. She appointed more women justices, and expanded poverty-alleviation policies, framing them as 鈥渟pecific to women,鈥� Jalalzai says.

But her impeachment last year underscored some of the gendered stereotypes 鈥� and perhaps higher expectations 鈥� that women leaders face in the region.

鈥淲e have hopes that women will lead differently, maybe be more inclusive or democratic,鈥� suggests Jalalzai. But, she adds, if they don鈥檛 lead strongly, their failures are blamed on their gender.

President Rousseff was impeached for tinkering with the federal budget in an attempt to conceal the country鈥檚 economic woes ahead of her 2014 reelection. The practice is illegal, although it is widespread at all levels of government.

The impeachment proceedings put Brazilian sexism on full display. Congressmen, for example, held up signs reading 鈥淏ye, dear鈥� when voting to initiate impeachment in the lower house.

鈥淚鈥檝e always been described as a hard-charging woman in the midst of delicate men,鈥� Rousseff said during her impeachment trial, putting her gender front-and-center after years of avoiding the topic. 鈥淚 never saw a man accused of being hard-charging.鈥�

A clearer path

As Bachelet leaves office, some fear the end of this chapter could also herald a setback for womens鈥� rights. The expected victor in Chile鈥檚 election, Sebastian Pi帽era, for example, has said he will 鈥渞eview鈥� legislative amendments that legalized abortion.

鈥淲ith Michelle [Bachelet] leaving power, there won鈥檛 be a single woman leader in Latin America,鈥� Jalalzai laments. 鈥淚t shows that there isn鈥檛 a direct positive effect of women鈥� occupying the presidency. 鈥淎nd maybe there鈥檚 even evidence that there will be a backsliding or backlash. The work isn鈥檛 done.鈥�

But Magda Hinojosa, a politics professor at Arizona State University in Phoenix who specializes in womens鈥� role in Latin American politics, is more hopeful.

Every country in Latin America except Guatemala now has a law on its books that sets quotas for female members of local and national assemblies, she points out, and the number of female lawmakers has more than doubled over the past two decades.

Bachelet and her fellow Presidentas may not have done everything their feminist supporters might have liked, but at least they have opened a path for the next generation of female politicians.

鈥淪eeing a woman in power, say in the presidency, makes a real difference to women as they consider running,鈥� Dr. Hinojosa says. And such women are credible candidates. 聽鈥淟atin Americans are absolutely willing to vote for women,鈥� she adds. 鈥淚f parties nominate women, men and women will vote for them.鈥�

鈥� Piotr Kozak contributed to this article from Santiago.