Ilegitimidades de origen y vulnerabilidad en la Argentina de mediados del siglo XX

This article analyses the conditions of vulnerability that affected people who lived outside the ideal family norms, especially regarding illegitimacy, in Argentina in the mid-twentieth century. This involved many families: in 1940 one out of three newborns was classified as “illegitimate”. The analysis shows that illegitimate birth was a juridical condition that implied significant loss of rights. It was aggravated by social, economic and cultural conditions of inferiority and by the moral stigmatization. These multiple handicaps represented a considerable barrier to social integration and to conditions of equality. Finally, this article examines the special attention the first Peronism showed having for people whose lives did not follow traditional norms. It also explains the changes introduced by Peronism on the different conditions of vulnerability.