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WOMEN IN MEXICO.
Term Paper ID:22308
Essay Subject:
Historical & cultural causes of female oppression & inequality in work, home, Church, society.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Historical & cultural causes of female oppression & inequality in work, home, Church, society.
Paper Introduction:
Mexico is geographically the United States' closest non-English speaking neighbor. As trade barriers fall to NAFTA, it becomes necessary to examine closely the lifestyles of this nation which promises to become a close business partner. There are many attributes of Mexican life compatible with the American lifestyle, but in one key area the two countries differ greatly: the status of women in society, in the family, and in the workplace. An examination of the lifestyles of Mexican women will reveal a status quo much lower than that enjoyed by women in the United States. It is a status resulting from an acute discrepancy in gender relations.
The root cause for this discrepancy in gender status lies in the basic social structure of Mexico. Mexico is rigidly hierarchic in social, family and organizational orientation.
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The traditional Mexican woman,instructed by the Church, accepts it (Wieser, 198 , p. Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey.Spicer, E. Moreover, this hierarchy has takenon a particularly patriarchal coloring. A. Mexican peasants, primarily Indians, havealways been the stalwarts of the more sexually-egalitarian indigenousreligious traditions, even while adopting the rituals of the newer RomanCatholic religion imposed from above. To a large degree, the female worker in the new "bordertown" factories built up to service U.S.-Mexican industrial partnershipsfits into this same categorization. ReferencesArrom, S. An educated worker pool is necessary for thatambition to be fulfilled - and middle-class, urban women make up a sizableportion of that resource. The women of Mexico City, 179 -1857. Traditionally, it is a sign of status for Mexican women notto work, a tribute to their men's "machado" as protectors and providers(Arrom, 1985, pp. It remains to be seen whether Mexican women will ever achieve anequality of status with their male counterparts in the workplace.Certainly their male/female dialogues on the matter approach the issue froma different starting point than that of U.S. The Mexican success storyhas yet to happen. In J. Ewing (Ed.), Six faces of Mexico (pp. H. Until this century, accordingly, formal education wasessentially denied Mexican women - or limited to Church schooling thatemphasized religious reading and reinforcement of the gender hierarchy;males were restricted in their education only by the limitations of theirfamily resources and status. The root cause for this discrepancy in gender status lies in thebasic social structure of Mexico. M. There are many attributes of Mexican lifecompatible with the American lifestyle, but in one key area the twocountries differ greatly: the status of women in society, in the family,and in the workplace. The Mexican working woman would probably envy her Americancounterpart's legal protections for, basically, Mexico has no socialwelfare net for the employee of either sex to fall back upon. As for sex: the male isexpected to desire, initiate and enjoy sex - the woman should simplyendure, lest she be considered licentious and a immoral. Safa (Ed.), Women and change in Latin America. Dominated by the patriarchal RomanCatholic Church, the conquistadors imposed a vertical structure upon theregion that differentiated Mexicans along racial and national lines: atthe bottom, Indians, then the mixed-blood mestizos, ruled over by Mexican-born creoles of pure European stock - all topped by Spanish-born overlords. 179-197). New York: Praeger.Guillermoprieto, A. the pelado, a universally familiar social type in Mexico, and the distrust so predominant in the Mexican psyche... La chicana: Guadalupe or Malinche. C. 2 8-228). While the agricultural and domestic service sectors of the Mexicaneconomy have been traditionally filled as much by women as by men, thesehave always been lower-class activities - looked down upon by the middleand upper classes. J. These parts of the country are largelypopulated by indigenous Mayans, Mixtecs and other Indian cultures.Observing the role women play in the peasant villages of Oaxaca province,for example, one reporter recently noted this combination of thecontemporary with the past: Though Catholics they have never abandoned their traditional beliefs. (1973). Lindsay (Ed.), Comparative perspectives of third world women: the impact of race, sex, and class (pp. there have been no murders linked to alcohol since 1981 (Dibble, 1994, pp. (198 ). (1994, August 15). Stanford: Stanford U.Dibble, S. "Historicity" in this contextis used as a combination of historical fact and contemporary mythologizingof those facts for the purpose of shaping a future identity (Gonzales,198 , p. In A. Phoenix: U of Arizona Press.Stevens, E. (The PartidoRevolucionario Institucional, or PRI, has ruled Mexico for the last sixty-six years.) It is, obviously, a tenuous extension of liberty and equalityto females. The song of Oaxaca. 141-15 ). As with all contemporary cultures, the separation of peasant from non-peasant has developed a large grey "mixing" area as rural populations moveto urban centers - and as modern communications bring urban ideals into thecountryside; particularly, in Mexico, via television. Ways of Life. 234-5). For Americans interacting with Mexico, it is important to keep aneye on how the progress of women in the social and work equations willaffect our evolving economic and political relationship. women - and from each other.Theirs being a tradition-bound culture, Mexicans have a psychologicalbarrier to overcome when addressing gender differences and inequalities. The Mexican "male animal" takes a schizophrenic view of woman: asvirgin or prostitute, mother or mistress (Gonzales, 198 , p. To the malecult of machismo, then, there arose the corresponding female marianismo: Marianismo is just as prevalent as machismo but is less understood by Latin Americans and almost unknown to foreigners. (1985). ... Against the reality of eking out a barely-subsistence agrarian existence as a daily challenge, Church ideals rarelyseeped down to the campesinos with the same impact they had on the upperand (emerging) middle classes. Malinche, renamed Doņa Marina by Cortes,both advised him on how to defeat the Aztec Empire - and was his mistress.It is a classic "Eve" tale: Knowledge (= Sex) leading to The Fall. The Mexican woman employed here is afaceless peasant, employed instead of robotics because her cost-per-unitoutput requires a cheaper capital investment (Wieser, 198 , pp. (1994, November). As trade barriers fall to NAFTA, it becomes necessaryto examine closely the lifestyles of this nation which promises to become aclose business partner. They are the absolute and unquestionable supremacy of the father and the necessary and absolute self-sacrifice of the mother. The upper and middleclasses of creoles and mestizos set the standard for the general Mexicanpopulation. It is the cult of feminine moral superiority, which teaches that women are semi-divine, morally superior to and spiritually stronger than men (Stevens, 1973, p. The RomanCatholic Church, with its own male-dominated hierarchy, reinforces theseattitudes. 2 8-228). As can be imagined, this social stratification of society and themachismo/marianismo gender split leads to immense pressure upon Mexicanwomen. 36). Modern communications, films and television from outside Mexico havesomewhat tempered the male-dominated orientation of the middle classes.Aping the European/U.S.-educated upper classes, for the past severaldecades they have been developing a "pride" in having their women educatedand (to a degree) independent. 65-1 2). When a Mexican compares his void with the character of a civilized foreigner, he consoles himself in the following way: "but... Mexicans, as with most Iberian-influenced cultures, pride themselves on maintaining a certain purity of"tradition," a religious and social tradition that emphasizes thecompartmentalization of women into a lower strata of opportunity and beingthan men. From earliest yearschildren are taught differently according to gender: girls receivingtraining in "domestic" skills, restricted in social movement to familyactivities, boys meanwhile given great liberty and instructed in "manly"activities. I. New York: Praeger. P. In J. Women in farming systems in Latin America. Marianismo: the other face of machismo. In re-examining the past, Mexicans may well decided tojettison their sexist attitudes in favor of a more contemporary equationthat can bring them international success and, by extension, a higherstatus. 231). ... Pescatello (Ed.), Female and male in Latin America (pp. 89-1 2). But Mexicans have been overthrowing traditions for the past 15 yearssince gaining independence from Spain. Mexico is rigidly hierarchic in social,family and organizational orientation. Letter from Mexico: the only way to win? Unlike in the United States, the rush of World War II did not bringMexican women large-scale into the industrial workplace - it has only beenin the past decade or so that U.S.-originated industries have created arush into Mexico of worker-urgent activity. For the Mexican woman, then, sex takes center stage. 91). The Mexican family ... (1966). farmers plant bread and chocolate in their cornfields as offerings...through ritual rooster sacrifices they ask the gods to grant fertility. the pelado (is) a result of Mexican history, which gives the Mexican a feeling of insignificance. 184-188).As noted earlier, this type of woman worker is subjected to maleharassment: she is undermining her male (husband, brother, father) byearning a (relatively) important income, flirting with promiscuity byleaving the protective household to do so. [This is manifest as] the inferiority complex of the Mexican... Nash & H. Our Lady of Guadalupe was a vision/ miracle involving thematernal Virgin Mary, who appeared to an Indian believer during the earlycolonial period (sometimes fudged into a mestizo). On Mexico City subways, for instance, male and female workers are herdedinto separate cars - to protect the women from harassment (Guillermoprieto,1994, p. is founded upon two fundamental propositions. Atthe same time, pelado distortions insist upon a man imposing more dutiesthan rights upon the women in his life. Lindsay (Ed.), Comparative perspectives of third world women: the impact of race, sex, and class (pp. (1986). In B. That urgency has precludeddiscrimination: women factory workers are sought as often as men. 45). It is the charge that wastraditionally flung at domestics (Arrom, 1985, pp. In a twist upon the traditional male ideal,a man who can display an intelligent, independent woman as his woman mustbe "muy macho" indeed. The New Yorker, pp. (pp. we are very manly" (Gonzales, 198 , p. 18 ). With Mexicans obsessing on - and fascinated by - their historicalrecord of oppression and collaboration, the effect this has had on theirattitudes toward the family has been extreme: The Mexican psychiatrist Rogelio Diaz-Guerrero, in describing the Mexican family, contends that the wife is not viewed as a sexual object because she may become too interested in sex and, thus, may become a prostitute. Pittsburgh: U of Pittsburgh Press. That, forall practical purposes, is the biggest "official" difference betweenconditions for women in the two countries - more a matter of economicdevelopment than intentional discrimination. Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey.Gonzales, S. To work impliesthat the husband is not up to the task. The hierarchial nature of Mexican society stems from the colonialperiod, when Spain conquered the Aztec civilization and then cruellyenslaved other indigenous peoples. Ancient song, new melody in Latin America: women and film. 38-89.Flora, C. A notable exception: For those European-oriented families of creole aspiration, it was often the case that bothmale and female family members might be educated abroad. 241). 56-57). Consequently, the "traditional" gender attitudes of the eliteare copied by the lower classes as they attempt to raise their socialstatus (Spicer, 1966, p. Women must be "protected" by constant vigilance. They have reason to believe in miracles - once plagued by an [alcohol-fuelled] murder rate ten times Mexico's average - led by women ... For the urban Mexican, then, Spanish-cloned "traditional" attitudestoward women carry over into the modern workplace. In the Mexican context, then, female suppression is a reflection of anational sense of powerlessness, where the world is seen as uncontrollableand strictly divided between the manly and unmanly, the pure and impure(Rothstein, 1986, p. This "pelado" form of subjugation results in the Mexican man grantinghimself more rights than duties in both family and social situations. 37-52). 32-37.Rothstein, F. 96). 242). (1986). The anti-clerical attitudes of the post-191 "Revolution" era havealso mitigated the stifling Church traditions on this matter. Nash & H. Capitalist industrialization and the increasing cost of children. For women,however, this was always something of a "luxury." Thus, while the 2 thCentury has seen the emergence of educated women among the Mexican elite,until the 196 s this was viewed more as an artistic accomplishment than asocial necessity. Particularly in terms of immediate needs. The ideal of the 191 -eraRevolution was the creation of a nation based upon equality and pride. There was a repeated "defeat" of anyone of Mexican origin - from which apeculiar form of sexism emerged: It seems that the greater the need to recapture masculine dignity because of social, economic and political defeat, the greater the curse on the female members of the group (Gonzales, 198 , p. National Geographic, pp. Until fairly recently, peasant conditionswere extremely harsh. The'7 s and '8 s saw Mexican leaders strive to build a solid economicfoundation that would secure it a place of pride alongside its strong,dominant northern neighbor, the United States. I. As middle-class Mexicans are discovering, though, it is a developmentthat fits in well with their ambitions to become participants in theinternational marketplace. 235). It is not a coincidence that thecurrent armed disturbances in Mexico center in the hinterlands whereSpanish influence was never strong. Thisrecent development has not been accompanied by an equally nondiscriminatorychange in gender attitudes. Yet,following The Fall there is also a historicity of "redemption." After theConquest, the symbol of an independent Mexico was idealized in Our Lady ofGuadalupe. Only a shrew, with a castradomate, can visibly dominate a Mexican family. (198 ). 229-249). It is a status resulting from an acute discrepancy ingender relations. Mexico is geographically the United States' closest non-Englishspeaking neighbor. An examination of the lifestyles of Mexican womenwill reveal a status quo much lower than that enjoyed by women in theUnited States. Wieser, N. Because of this feeling, the Mexican seeks power in the only suggestive force assessable to him - that of the male animal. ... Other differences inconditions are more profound. ----------------------- 1 According to Mexican historicity, then, the Spanish conquistadorswere successful only because of the traitorous aid of Malinche, a Nahuaprincess who despised the Aztecs. Safa (Ed.), Women and change in Latin America (pp. It is important to notethat, for the purposes of Mexican historicity, the Blessed Virgin did notextend her grace to Mexican's Spanish overlords. Nor did the campesinos have theluxury of considering home-bound female domesticity as a sole career:traditional peasant life was a communal endeavor that generally acceptedwork, responsibility and sexual activity as nonjudgemental aspects of life(Flora & Santos, 1986, pp. Through these characterizations by male-controlled social customs, women are allowed no divergence from their acceptable definitions as either Eves or Virgins (Gonzales, 198 , pp. Notedin discussion of the pelado complex earlier, this point of view can betraced back to the history of oppression suffered by the Mexican nation -and in the "historicity" of modern Mexico. B., & Santos, B. An important caveat to these and future observations must be made atthis point: the attitudes described are not necessarily so extreme at thepeasant (or campesino) level. In R. 157-158). These attitudes begin in the home environment. In B.
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