Global Diversity by Ernest Gundling & Anita Zanchettin

Author:Ernest Gundling & Anita Zanchettin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nicholas Brealey International
Published: 2007-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

Gender

Mexican women have played important roles recorded in history since the days of the Spanish conquest. La Malinche, the indigenous translator and wife of Hernán Cortés, was an important influence in the early days of the Spanish colonization. In 1650, Poet Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, considered the first feminist in Latin America, was defending Mexican women’s right to education and to attain intellectual prowess. At the time of Mexican Independence in 1810 and in the days of the Revolution from 1910 to 1920, important women intellectuals, such as Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez, and female soldiers known as the soldaderas played significant roles in building the nation. Within indigenous communities, a number of matriarchal societies have always existed. However, in the Mexico of the twenty-first century, much work is still needed in order to formally and fully integrate women’s potential contributions into the workplace.

In Mexico, gender inequity has been discussed publicly since the 1950s, with a number of female scholars expressing their opinions in magazines and at feminist meetings. In 1953, women were finally recognized as full citizens equal to men. Since the 1960s female-related issues such as discrimination in the workplace, domestic abuse, and reproductive rights have been acknowledged and brought to a level of national dialogue but not resolved. The 1970s feminist movement in the urban centers made it more acceptable for educated women to pursue a professional life. In the 1970s, other constitutional reforms further improved female participation in public life, health, the workplace, and education. Constitutionally, the Federal Employment Law protects women’s rights, but these protections are often ignored with no consequences. The administration of President Fox established the General Directorate of Gender Equity; however, the objectives of this directorate have yet to be translated into practice in the workplace.13

The number of women in the workplace has increased significantly over the past 20 years. In 2002, women represented 34 percent of the economically active population in Mexico, an 80 percent increase from 1980.14 Mexican women face similar challenges to those faced by most women around the world with regard to gender inequality. Although they are slowly changing, gender roles are strongly influenced by Mexican traditions. Men still have more opportunities in the workplace and are paid more than women. According to the Inter-American Commission of Women, average net income for Mexican women is approximately 35 percent lower than for men, and the top 10 percent of male salaries are 50 percent higher than the top 10 percent of female salaries.15

The tough economic challenges of the last 25 years have made two-salary homes the norm, and these economic changes have presented women with new challenges. Those with education and opportunity have thrived in this environment, while others with basic education and skills have fallen victim to new exploitation and abuse by domestic and international manufacturing companies, or maquiladoras. The Inter-American Commission of Women has identified the maquila industry as a particular area of concern for working women, and recently signed an agreement with the National Council of the Maquila Exporting Industry and the Ministry of Labor.

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