Gender Roles in Latin American Societies Essay examples

Women in the Hispanic culture grow up with strong ties to their values, norms and how they were raised by their families. Parents instill a “machismo” and familism ideology into the upbringing of these women (Fuchsel, 2012). “Machismo” is a term to describe what is acceptable and expected of men (Fuschel,2012). Familism is, “the subordination of the personal interests and prerogatives of an individual to the values and demands of the family” (dictionary.com). An example of “machismo” is that it is not seen as a problem for men to be unfaithful (Fuschel, 2012). Women would continue to stay with the men, because of the strong sense of familism and not wanting to break the family apart (Fuschel,2012). Also, the strong tie to family makes it difficult to express the troubles in a marriage, because family may be unwilling to help (Fuschel,2012). Machismo and familism affect Hispanic women in their day-to-day lives and how they approach marriages and relationships (Fuschell,2012).

Masters of Choice is a wonderful publication by Iris Lopez. Iris Lopez is an urban anthropologist who currently works at the City College of New York. She is currently the director of Latin American and Latino Studies and was previously the director of Women’s Studies as well. Throughout her professional career, she has worked extensively with the Latino communities within New York City. Iris Lopez has chosen to focus her work on gender studies, immigration studies and reproductive rights. Her professional and educational background along side of her exceptional research skills helped her to create the captivating publication Masters of Choice: Puerto Rican Women’s Struggle for Reproductive Freedom. Within this publication, Lopez looks at what she believes to be the roots of evil within the United States development and influence on Puerto Rico, as well as the Birth Control Movements.

In the essay The Myth of the Latin Women, Judith Ortiz Coffer, an educated women and from Latin descent, elicits imagery of stereotyping in Hollywood movies and contrasts stereotypes to real life through diction in order to get society to feel guilty for assuming how they act, and ultimately changings society's views on Latina women. First, Coffer portrays imagery of Latina women in Hollywood movies in order to get society to feel embarrassed for judging Latina women so quickly. Take, for example, how Coffer stating "The big and little screens have presented us with the picture of the funny Hispanic maid, mispronouncing words and cooking up a spicy storm in a shiny California kitchen. " This would cause society to realize the effects of stereotyping

Latin America represents 1/10 of the world's population, and geographically can be located from the land extensions of Mexico, until the Patagonia at Argentina. Some of the most relevant elements of today's culture in Latin America are; Religion, Values, Attitudes, Social structure, Social stratification, Language and Gift-giving hospitality. The predominant religion throughout history in Latin America has been Catholicism. From big cities to small villages, churches, basilicas, and cathedrals are found. Catholicism left its mark, from customs and values to architecture and art. During many years in many countries the Catholic Church had power over all civil institutions, education, and law. Nowadays religion

In several cultures, women are seen as archetypes more than men. The proposition of women are instantly idealized and glorified and instantaneously ignore the true complexity of a woman. Countless of these superficial images can be seen across various cultures where the societies within these cultures define what it means to be a female and what type of behavior is and isn’t acceptable within those parameters. The persistent restatement of these stories throughout these generations reinforces the gender system. Women who step out of the norm in these societies are then held punishable for their actions. Alicia Gaspar de Alba pinpoints the three archetypal roles that are given to the women in the Mexican and Chicana cultures. These are,

Christianity is widely known to be the most popular religion in the world, so it’s not unreasonable to believe that it plays a major role in Latino societies. Latinos, immigrants to the United States and their descendants in particular, practice various denominations of Christianity and modify them to suit their own needs and personal morals. One practice that most Latino communities have in common is the role that women play in the religious upbringing of their children. Latina women are generally relegated to the role of child rearing, but, as they raise their children they continue to practice their faith and in turn their children imitate them and develop a mental association between their families and their faiths. Two separate Spanish

Ecuadorian children become very excited to receive another opportunity to learn and support their peers. Children in Ecuador have more freedom than those that I have grown up to know. For example, they have permission to leave school grounds whenever and they may choose to not come back. Occasionally, teachers will send children home or out from school grounds to find an object or to bring their parent or sibling back with them (“Being a Kid in Ecuador”). Though parents are fully capable, they usually send their children off to the market to bring back groceries, so that when they are older they are able to do that on their own. Another way kids show their independence is through visiting the nearby river to go for a swim, usually inviting

Have you ever reflected on how important your culture is to you? A culture is defined as a group of people from a particular location or within a community that shares beliefs, manners, customs and numerous habitual actions that are passed down to future generations. While cultures may share particular attributes, without a doubt, they are all special and unique. Based on the upbringings and the values a person has acquired over time, they give you the opportunity to explore new ideas and meet a diverse set of people. Growing up with a Hispanic background, has allowed me to know the world that I am accustomed to today. Although I am honored to have the opportunity to experience everything within the Hispanic culture, there are also unpleasant issues that are associated with it. Gender roles, which are defined as behaviors that are more masculine or feminine, are expected to be performed by one gender. Consequently, both men and women are limited in their independence and their individuality.

Coming from a diverse background, of Mexican and Central American culture, I can contribute my traditional Latin culture, and perspective of gender equality to the NC State community. I can contribute experiences varying from the tedious preparation of traditional cuisines, such as pupusas and enchiladas, to the different dialects of Spanish I've been exposed to throughout my life. The traditional gender roles within the Hispanic culture, is another aspect that I can inform the community about. The men in the family are seen as superior beings and the provider of money for the family. The women are depicted, as caretakers of the home and family, are more sheltered, and submissive to "male superiority."

The perception of inequality was evident in the colonial Spanish America, man belief that women were lacked in capacity to reason as soundly as men. A normal day for European women in the new world was generally characterized by male domination, for example marriage was arranged by the fathers, women never go out except to go church, women didn’t have the right to express their opinions about politic or society issues. Subsequent to all these bad treats European women try to find different ways to escape from man domination and demonstrate their intellectual capacities, for example women used become part of a convent, write in secret their desires and disappointments, and even dress as man to

In this article she discusses how professional puerto rican women portrayed themselves. They characterized themselves as submissive wives and self-sacrificing mothers because they stressed the importance of successfully combining professional and home lives. In their efforts of redefining their roles, women in the sample seemed to keep traditional roles, and a flexible marriage role.

The relationship between the gender roles reflected in telenovelas and the the role of women in Latin American countries is a matter of parallelism. This is because as Judith Butler, the author of the book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, emphasized that it is “impossible to separate out ‘gender’ from the political and cultural intersections in which it is invariably produced and maintained”. Gender is undeniably socially constructed, and is a product of the values deemed important by that society being constantly reenacted and reinforced. In that sense, telenovelas are also another medium through which beliefs in gender can be relayed to the audience, forming what is called the “imaginable domain of gender” as they either perpetuate or go against ideal hegemony (Beard 2003).

Obtaining a well suitable job is essential to having an enjoyable life. In Latin America, the struggle to achieve this ambitious goal is difficult especially for women. Traditional values and cultural beliefs in Latin American society often explain why women face higher unemployment rates and less job prospects. Additionally, as the global economy becomes advanced due in part to technological innovations, women are often left out as education is seen more important for men. Nonetheless, it is possible for Latin American women to find employment in either formal and informal sector jobs. The difference between working in these sectors is that the working conditions for women are greatly varied in the

Domestic work does not receive the same recognition as a “productive” occupation as most other forms of work. Several factors contribute to the devaluation of domestic work. For one, this type of work is performed in a home where work conditions are quite different from those found in other workplaces. Also, because domestic workers tend to work alone, leaving them isolated from other typical workers. More importantly, the economic value of domestic is difficult to determine because there is no commercial output. Domestic work is still viewed as “women’s work”, belonging to the private sphere and not the public sphere. The low status of domestic work in Brazil is a primary example where women make up 94.3 percent of all domestic workers; 61.8 percent of them are Afro-Brazilians and 64 percent have little to no education. Through the analysis of Brazilian policy responses to domestic work, this paper will show that Brazilian laws do not fully address the issues of domestic work, mainly because it does not address the complex makeup of domestic work and workers.

Marrying with only a high school diploma, my mother worked to put my father through 1 year of college. He never