gender roles in colombia 1950s gender roles in colombia 1950s

Bergquist, Labor in Latin America, 353. New work should not rewrite history in a new category of women, or simply add women to old histories and conceptual frameworks of mens labor, but attempt to understand sex and gender male or female as one aspect of any history. Urrutia. Eugene Sofer has said that working class history is more inclusive than a traditional labor history, one known for its preoccupation with unions, and that working class history incorporates the concept that working people should be viewed as conscious historical actors., It seems strange that much of the historical literature on labor in Colombia would focus on organized labor since the number of workers in unions is small, with only about, , and the role of unions is generally less important in comparison to the rest of Latin America.. It was safer than the street and freer than the home. I have also included some texts for their, Latin America has one of the lowest formally recognized employment rates for women in the world, due in part to the invisible work of home-based labor., Alma T. Junsay and Tim B. Heaton note worldwide increases in the number of women working since the 1950s, yet the division of labor is still based on traditional sex roles.. Using oral histories obtained from interviews, the stories and nostalgia from her subjects is a starting point for discovering the history of change within a society. Bogot: Editorial Universidad de Antioquia, 1991. Duncan, Ronald J. One individual woman does earn a special place in Colombias labor historiography: Mar, Cano, the Socialist Revolutionary Partys most celebrated public speaker., Born to an upper class family, she developed a concern for the plight of the working poor., She then became a symbol of insurgent labor, a speaker capable of electrifying the crowds of workers who flocked to hear her passionate rhetoric., She only gets two-thirds of a paragraph and a footnote with a source, should you have an interest in reading more about her. Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. Duncan, Crafts, Capitalism, and Women, 101. She received her doctorate from Florida International University, graduated cum laude with a Bachelors degree in Spanish from Harvard University, and holds a Masters Degree in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from the University of Connecticut. A man as the head of the house might maintain more than one household as the number of children affected the amount of available labor. I would argue, and to an extent Friedmann-Sanchez illustrates, that they are both right: human subjects do have agency and often surprise the observer with their ingenuity. Rosenberg, Terry Jean. The research is based on personal interviews, though whether these interviews can be considered oral histories is debatable. Squaring the Circle: Womens Factory Labor, Gender Ideology, and Necessity. In The Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers. These narratives provide a textured who and why for the what of history. This focus is especially apparent in his chapter on Colombia, which concentrates on the coffee sector., Aside from economics, Bergquist incorporates sociology and culture by addressing the ethnically and culturally homogenous agrarian society of Colombia as the basis for an analysis focused on class and politics., In the coffee growing regions the nature of life and work on these farms merits our close attention since therein lies the source of the cultural values and a certain political consciousness that deeply influenced the development of the Colombian labor movement and the modern history of the nation as a whole.. Assets in Intrahousehold Bargaining Among Women Workers in Colombias Cut-flower Industry, Feminist Economics, 12:1-2 (2006): 247-269. These themes are discussed in more detail in later works by Luz G. Arango and then by Ann Farnsworth-Alvear, with different conclusions (discussed below). If La Violencia was mainly a product of the coffee zones, then the role of women should be explored; was involvement a family affair or another incidence of manliness? History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth. This definition is an obvious contradiction to Bergquists claim that Colombia is racially and culturally homogenous. Policing womens interactions with their male co-workers had become an official part of a companys code of discipline. While pottery provides some income, it is not highly profitable. Bergquist, Charles. For purely normative reasons, I wanted to look at child labor in particular for this essay, but it soon became clear that the number of sources was abysmally small. The authors observation that religion is an important factor in the perpetuation of gender roles in Colombia is interesting compared to the other case studies from non-Catholic countries. [10] In 2008, Ley 1257 de 2008, a comprehensive law against violence against women was encted. There were few benefits to unionization since the nature of coffee production was such that producers could go for a long time without employees. Historians can also take a lesson from Duncan and not leave gender to be the work of women alone. Arango, Luz G. Mujer, Religin, e Industria: Fabricato, 1923-1982. The image of American women in the 1950s was heavily shaped by popular culture: the ideal suburban housewife who cared for the home and children appeared frequently in women's magazines, in the movies and on television. Only four other Latin American nations enacted universal suffrage later. Women make up 60% of the workers, earning equal wages and gaining a sense of self and empowerment through this employment. Bergquist, Labor in Latin America, 318. By the 1930s, the citys textile mills were defining themselves as Catholic institutions and promoters of public morality., Policing womens interactions with their male co-workers had become an official part of a companys code of discipline. The author has not explored who the escogedoras were, where they come from, or what their lives were like inside and outside of the workplace. Sowell, The Early Colombian Labor Movement, 14. Sowell, The Early Colombian Labor Movement, 15. The use of oral testimony requires caution. The way in which she frames the concept does not take gender as a simple bipolar social model of male and female, but examines the divisions within each category, the areas of overlap between them, and changing definitions over time. What Does This Mean for the Region- and for the U.S.? Women didn't receive suffrage until August 25th of 1954. Of all the texts I read for this essay, Farnsworth-Alvears were the most enjoyable. Together with Oakley Apparently, in Colombia during the 1950's, men were expected to take care of the family and protect family . The role of women in politics appears to be a prevailing problem in Colombia. The research is based on personal interviews, though whether these interviews can be considered oral histories is debatable. Her text delineates with charts the number of male and female workers over time within the industry and their participation in unions, though there is some discussion of the cultural attitudes towards the desirability of men over women as employees, and vice versa. [17] It is reported that one in five of women who were displaced due to the conflict were raped. Sibling Rivalry on the Left and Labor Struggles in Colombia During the 1940s. Latin American Research Review 35.1 (Winter 2000): 85-117. . Crdenas, Mauricio and Carlos E. Jurez. Explaining Confederation: Colombian Unions in the 1980s., Labor in Latin America: Comparative Essays on Chile, Argentina, Venezuela, and Colombia. Colombia remains only one of five South American countries that has never elected a female head of state. Your email address will not be published. The same pattern exists in the developing world though it is less well-researched. French and James. Franklin, Stephen. The authors observation that religion is an important factor in the perpetuation of gender roles in Colombia is interesting compared to the other case studies from non-Catholic countries. Womens work in cottage-industry crafts is frequently viewed within the local culture as unskilled work, simply an extension of their domestic work and not something to be remunerated at wage rates used for men.. of a group (e.g., gender, race) occupying certain roles more often than members of other groups do, the behaviors usu-ally enacted within these roles influence the traits believed to be typical of the group. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1998. The red (left) is the female Venus symbol. Upper class women in a small town in 1950s Columbia, were expected to be mothers and wives when they grew up. With the introduction of mass production techniques, some worry that the traditional handcrafted techniques and styles will eventually be lost: As the economic momentum of mens workshops in town makes good incomes possible for young menfewer young women are obligated to learn their gender-specific version of the craft. Thus, there may be a loss of cultural form in the name of progress, something that might not be visible in a non-gendered analysis. The weight of this responsibility was evidently felt by women in the 1950's, 60's and 70's, as overall political participation of women between 1958 and 1974 stood at just 6.79%. Yo recibo mi depsito cada quincena. This roughly translates to, so what if it bothers anyone? ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) March 4, 2023 On the work front, Anushka was last seen in a full-fledged role in Aanand L Rai's Zero with Shah Rukh Khan, more than four years ago. Feriva, Cali, 1997. . The supposed homogeneity within Colombian coffee society should be all the more reason to look for other differentiating factors such as gender, age, geography, or industry, and the close attention he speaks of should then include the lives of women and children within this structure, especially the details of their participation and indoctrination. Womens role in organized labor is limited though the National Coffee Strikes of the 1930s, which involved a broad range of workers including the escogedoras. In 1935, activists for both the Communist Party and the UNIR (Unin Nacional Izquierda Revolucionaria) led strikes. The efforts of the Communist Party that year were to concentrate primarily on organizing the female work force in the coffee trilladoras, where about 85% of the workforce consisted of escogedoras. Yet the women working in the coffee towns were not the same women as those in the growing areas. Oral History, Identity Formation, and Working-Class Mobilization. In The Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers. Female Industrial Employment and Protective Labor, Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs, Pedraja Tomn, Women in Colombian Organizations, 1900-1940., Keremitsis, Latin American Women Workers in Transition., Mujer, Religin, e Industria: Fabricato, 1923-1982, Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. She finds women often leave work, even if only temporarily, because the majority of caregiving one type of unpaid domestic labor still falls to women: Women have adapted to the rigidity in the gendered social norms of who provides care by leaving their jobs in the floriculture industry temporarily. Caregiving labor involves not only childcare, especially for infants and young children, but also pressures to supervise adolescent children who are susceptible to involvement in drugs and gangs, as well as caring for ill or aging family. While there are some good historical studies on the subject, this work is supplemented by texts from anthropology and sociology. Consider making a donation! In 1957 women first voted in Colombia on a plebiscite. Her analysis is not merely feminist, but humanist and personal. Latin America has one of the lowest formally recognized employment rates for women in the world, due in part to the invisible work of home-based labor.Alma T. Junsay and Tim B. Heaton note worldwide increases in the number of women working since the 1950s, yet the division of labor is still based on traditional sex roles. This phenomenon, as well as discrepancies in pay rates for men and women, has been well-documented in developed societies. In La Chamba, as in Rquira, there are few choices for young women. According to French and James, what Farnsworths work suggests for historians will require the use of different kinds of sources, tools, and questions. In Latin America, factory work is a relatively new kind of labor; the majority of women work in the home and in service or informal sectors, areas that are frequently neglected by historians, other scholars, and officials alike. Shows from the 1950s The 1950s nuclear family emerged in the post WWII era, as Americans faced the imminent threat of destruction from their Cold War enemies. The Development of the Colombian Labor Movement, 81, 97, 101. Women's infidelity seen as cardinal sin. Franklin, Stephen. Gender Roles Colombia has made significant progress towards gender equality over the past century. At the same time, others are severely constrained by socio-economic and historical/cultural contexts that limit the possibilities for creative action. This paper underscores the essentially gendered nature of both war and peace. In academia, there tends to be a separation of womens studies from labor studies. He cites the small number of Spanish women who came to the colonies and the number and influence of indigenous wives and mistresses as the reason Colombias biologically mestizo society was largely indigenous culturally. This definition is an obvious contradiction to Bergquists claim that Colombia is racially and culturally homogenous. Female Industrial Employment and Protective Labor Legislation in Bogot, Colombia. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 24.1 (February 1982): 59-80. High class protected women. This book is more science than history, and I imagine that the transcripts from the interviews tell some fascinating stories; those who did the interviews might have written a different book than the one we have from those who analyzed the numbers. A 2006 court decision that also allowed doctors to refuse to perform abortions based on personal beliefs stated that this was previously only permitted in cases of rape, if the mother's health was in danger, or if the fetus had an untreatable malformation. There is still a lot of space for future researchliterallyas even the best sources presented here tended to focus on one particular geographic area. Green, W. John. Fighting was not only a transgression of work rules, but gender boundaries separat[ed] anger, strength, and self-defense from images of femininity., Most women told their stories in a double voice,. This focus is something that Urrutia did not do and something that Farnsworth-Alvear discusses at length. Men's infidelity seen as a sign of virility and biologically driven. . In Garcia Marquez's novella Chronicle of a Death Foretold, the different roles of men and women in this 1950's Latin American society are prominently displayed by various characters.The named perpetrator of a young bride is murdered to save the honor of the woman and her family. The assumption is that there is a nuclear family where the father is the worker who supports the family and the mother cares for the children, who grow up to perpetuate their parents roles in society. As Charles Bergquist pointed out in 1993,gender has emerged as a tool for understanding history from a multiplicity of perspectives and that the inclusion of women resurrects a multitude of subjects previously ignored. For purely normative reasons, I wanted to look at child labor in particular for this essay, but it soon became clear that the number of sources was abysmally small. While he spends most of the time on the economic and political aspects, he uses these to emphasize the blending of indigenous forms with those of the Spanish. Most are not encouraged to go to school and there is little opportunity for upward mobility. Arango, Luz G. Mujer, Religin, e Industria: Fabricato, 1923-1982. It shows the crucial role that oral testimony has played in rescuing the hidden voices suppressed in other types of historical sources. The individual life stories of a smaller group of women workers show us the complicated mixture of emotions that characterizes interpersonal relations, and by doing so breaks the implied homogeneity of pre-existing categories. This approach creates texts whose substance and focus stand in marked contrast to the work of Urrutia and others. Children today on the other hand might roll out of bed, when provoked to do so . "The girls were brought up to be married. Women Working: Comparative Perspectives in Developing Areas. Labor History and its Challenges: Confessions of a Latin Americanist. American Historical Review (June 1993): 757-764. They were taught important skills from their mothers, such as embroidery, cooking, childcare, and any other skill that might be necessary to take care of a family after they left their homes. ?s most urgent problem The U.S. marriage rate was at an all-time high and couples were tying the . Not only could women move away from traditional definitions of femininity in defending themselves, but they could also enjoy a new kind of flirtation without involvement. Bogot: Editorial Universidad de Antioquia, 1991. Assets in Intrahousehold Bargaining Among Women Workers in Colombias Cut-flower Industry, Feminist Economics, 12:1-2 (2006): 247-269. andPaid Agroindustrial Work and Unpaid Caregiving for Dependents: The Gendered Dialectics between Structure and Agency in Colombia, Anthropology of Work Review, 33:1 (2012): 34-46. Raisin in the Sun: Gender Roles Defied Following the event of World War Two, America during the 1950s was an era of economic prosperity. A higher number of women lost their income as the gender unemployment gap doubled from 5% to 10%. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. In G. Most of the women who do work are related to the man who owns the shop., Womens work supports the mans, but is undervalued and often discounted. An additional 3.5 million people fell into poverty over one year, with women and young people disproportionately affected. Her text delineates with charts the number of male and female workers over time within the industry and their participation in unions, though there is some discussion of the cultural attitudes towards the desirability of men over women as employees, and vice versa. , have aided the establishment of workshops and the purchase of equipment primarily for men who are thought to be a better investment.. In the 1940s, gender roles were very clearly defined. Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men, and Women in Colombias Industrial Experiment, 1905-1960. Equally important is the limited scope for examining participation. During American involvement in WWII (1941-1947), women regularly stepped in to . A reorientation in the approach to Colombian history may, in fact, help illuminate the proclivity towards drugs and violence in Colombian history in a different and possibly clearer fashion. Bergquist, Labor History and its Challenges: Confessions of a Latin Americanist.. Conflicts between workers were defined in different ways for men and women. Women Working: Comparative Perspectives in Developing Areas. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2000. [16], The armed conflict in the country has had a very negative effect on women, especially by exposing them to gender-based violence. In academia, there tends to be a separation of womens studies from labor studies. . One individual woman does earn a special place in Colombias labor historiography: Mara Cano, the Socialist Revolutionary Partys most celebrated public speaker. Born to an upper class family, she developed a concern for the plight of the working poor. She then became a symbol of insurgent labor, a speaker capable of electrifying the crowds of workers who flocked to hear her passionate rhetoric. She only gets two-thirds of a paragraph and a footnote with a source, should you have an interest in reading more about her. Since women tend to earn less than men, these families, though independent, they are also very poor. The constant political violence, social issues, and economic problems were among the main subjects of study for women, mainly in the areas of family violence and couple relationships, and also in children abuse. Prosperity took an upswing and the traditional family unit set idealistic Americans apart from their Soviet counterparts. What has not yet shifted are industry or national policies that might provide more support. VELSQUEZ, Magdala y otros. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1992. Cohen, Paul A. The body of work done by Farnsworth-Alvear is meant to add texture and nuance to the history of labor in Latin American cities. Often the story is a reinterpretation after the fact, with events changed to suit the image the storyteller wants to remember. Cano is also mentioned only briefly in Urrutias text, one of few indicators of womens involvement in organized labor. Her name is like many others throughout the text: a name with a related significant fact or action but little other biographical or personal information. The move generated a scandal in congress. Rosenberg, Terry Jean. Farnsworth-Alvear shows how the experiences of women in the textile factories of Bogot were not so different from their counterparts elsewhere. Most cultures use a gender binary . New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. If the mass of workers is involved, then the reader must assume that all individuals within that mass participated in the same way. Latin American Women Workers in Transition: Sexual Division of, the Labor Force in Mexico and Colombia in the Textile Industry., Rosenberg, Terry Jean. Many have come to the realization that the work they do at home should also be valued by others, and thus the experience of paid labor is creating an entirely new worldview among them., This new outlook has not necessarily changed how men and others see the women who work. Like what youve read? 40 aos del voto de la mujer en Colombia. The main difference Friedmann-Sanchez has found compared to the previous generation of laborers, is the women are not bothered by these comments and feel little need to defend or protect their names or character: When asked about their reputation as being loose sexually, workers laugh and say, , Y qu, que les duela? The Rgimen de Capitulaciones Matrimoniales was once again presented in congress in 1932 and approved into Law 28 of 1932. For the people of La Chamba, the influence of capitalist expansion is one more example of power in a history of dominance by outsiders. Duncan, Ronald J. Ulandssekretariatet LO/FTF Council Analytical Unit, Labor Market Profile 2018: Colombia. Danish Trade Union Council for International Development and Cooperation (February 2018), http://www.ulandssekretariatet.dk/sites/default/files/uploads/public/PDF/LMP/LMP2018/lmp_colombia_2018_final.pdf. Anthropologist Ronald Duncan claims that the presence of ceramics throughout Colombian history makes them a good indicator of the social, political, and economic changes that have occurred in the countryas much as the history of wars and presidents., His 1998 study of pottery workers in Rquira addresses an example of male appropriation of womens work., In Rquira, pottery is traditionally associated with women, though men began making it in the 1950s when mass production equipment was introduced. It is not just an experience that defines who one is, but what one does with that experience. Most of the women who do work are related to the man who owns the shop. Womens work supports the mans, but is undervalued and often discounted. There is a shift in the view of pottery as craft to pottery as commodity, with a parallel shift from rural production to towns as centers of pottery making and a decline in the status of women from primary producers to assistants. The supposed homogeneity within Colombian coffee society should be all the more reason to look for other differentiating factors such as gender, age, geography, or industry, and the close attention he speaks of should then include the lives of women and children within this structure, especially the details of their participation and indoctrination. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1986. They knew how to do screen embroidery, sew by machine, weave bone lace, wash and iron, make artificial flowers and fancy candy, and write engagement announcements. Dr. Blumenfeld is also involved in her community through the. Some indigenous groups such as the Wayuu hold a matriarchal society in which a woman's role is central and the most important for their society. In the same way the women spoke in a double voice about workplace fights, they also distanced themselves from any damaging characterization as loose or immoral women. This analysis is one based on structural determinism: the development and dissemination of class-based identity and ideology begins in the agrarian home and is passed from one generation to the next, giving rise to a sort of uniform working-class consciousness. Divide in women. New York: Columbia University Press, 1997. In La Chamba, there are more households headed by women than in other parts of Colombia (30% versus 5% in Rquira). Most of these households depend on the sale of ceramics for their entire income. This distinction separates the work of Farnsworth-Alvear from that of Duncan, Bergquist, or Sowell. I would argue, and to an extent Friedmann-Sanchez illustrates, that they are both right: human subjects do have agency and often surprise the observer with their ingenuity. Bolvar Bolvar, Jess. R. Barranquilla: Dos Tendencias en el Movimiento Obrero, 1900-1950. Memoria y Sociedad (January 2001): 121-128. The "M.R.S." Degree. He notes the geographical separation of these communities and the physical hazards from insects and tropical diseases, as well as the social and political reality of life as mean and frightening. These living conditions have not changed in over 100 years and indeed may be frightening to a foreign observer or even to someone from the urban and modern world of the cities of Colombia. I have also included some texts for their absence of women. Keep writing. Many indigenous women were subject to slavery, rape and the loss of their cultural identity.[6]. This distinction separates the work of Farnsworth-Alvear from that of Duncan, Bergquist, or Sowell. The interviews distinguish between mutual flirtations and sexual intimidation. However, broadly speaking, men are the primary income earners for the family while women are expected to be the homemakers. While some research has been done within sociology and anthropology, historical research can contribute, too, by showing patterns over time rather than snapshots.. This reinterpretation is an example of agency versus determinism. Junsay, Alma T. and Tim B. Heaton. My own search for additional sources on her yielded few titles, none of which were written later than 1988. The only other time Cano appears is in Pedraja Tomns work. Again, the discussion is brief and the reference is the same used by Bergquist. In both cases, there is no mention of women at all. Since women tend to earn less than men, these families, though independent, they are also very poor. [18], Last edited on 23 February 2023, at 14:07, "Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%) | Data", "Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (Modeled ILO estimate) | Data", http://www.omct.org/files/2004/07/2409/eng_2003_04_colombia.pdf, "Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in Colombia: Causes and Consequences", "With advances and setbacks, a year of struggle for women's rights", "Violence and discrimination against women in the armed conflict in Colombia", Consejeria Presidencial para la Equidad de la Mujer, Human Rights Watch - Women displaced by violence in Colombia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Women_in_Colombia&oldid=1141128931. Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. R. Barranquilla: Dos Tendencias en el Movimiento Obrero, 1900-1950. Memoria y Sociedad (January 2001): 121-128. Unfortunately, they also rely on already existing categories to examine their subjects, which is exactly what French and James say historians should avoid. The Development of the Colombian Labor Movement. During this period, the Andes were occupied by a number of indigenous groups that ranged from stratified agricultural chiefdoms to tropical farm [12] Article 42 of the Constitution of Colombia provides that "Family relations are based on the equality of rights and duties of the couple and on the mutual respect of all its members. Indeed, as I searched for sources I found many about women in Colombia that had nothing to do with labor, and vice versa. Squaring the Circle: Womens Factory Labor, Gender Ideology, and Necessity. In The Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers. Given the importance of women to this industry, and in turn its importance within Colombias economy, womens newfound agency and self-worth may have profound effects on workplace structures moving forward. In the 1950s, women felt tremendous societal pressure to focus their aspirations on a wedding ring. For example, while the men and older boys did the heavy labor, the women and children of both sexes played an important role in the harvest. This role included the picking, depulping, drying, and sorting of coffee beans before their transport to the coffee towns.Women and girls made clothes, wove baskets for the harvest, made candles and soap, and did the washing. On the family farm, the division of labor for growing food crops is not specified, and much of Bergquists description of daily life in the growing region reads like an ethnography, an anthropological text rather than a history, and some of it sounds as if he were describing a primitive culture existing within a modern one.