Other recent publications, such as those from W. John Green. Paid 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. Gerda Westendorp was admitted on February 1, 1935, to study medicine. If the mass of workers is involved, then the reader must assume that all individuals within that mass participated in the same way. 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. Bolvar Bolvar, Jess. Most are not encouraged to go to school and there is little opportunity for upward mobility. French, John D. and Daniel James. This distinction separates the work of Farnsworth-Alvear from that of Duncan, Bergquist, or Sowell. is considered the major work in this genre, though David Sowell, in a later book on the same topic,, faults Urrutia for his Marxist perspective and scant attention to the social and cultural experience of the workers. Women as keepers of tradition are also constrained by that tradition. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1998. Friedmann-Sanchezs work then suggests this more accurate depiction of the workforce also reflects one that will continue to affect change into the future. Womens role in organized labor is limited though the National Coffee Strikes of the 1930s, which involved a broad range of workers including the, In 1935, activists for both the Communist Party and the UNIR (Uni, n 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, where about 85% of the workforce consisted of, Yet the women working in the coffee towns were not the same women as those in the growing areas. Female Industrial Employment and Protective Labor Legislation in Bogot, Colombia. Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs 24.1 (February 1982): 59-80. Views Of Gender In The U.S. | Pew Research Center This is essentially the same argument that Bergquist made about the family coffee farm. Episodes Clips The changing role of women in the 1950s Following the Second World War, more and more women had become dissatisfied with their traditional, homemaking roles. According to Bergquists earlier work, the historiography of labor in Latin America as a whole is still underdeveloped, but open to interpretive efforts. The focus of his book is undeniably on the history of the labor movement; that is, organized labor and its link to politics as history. Junsay, Alma T. and Tim B. Heaton. 1950 to 57% in 2018 and men's falling from 82% to 69% (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017, 2018b). "[13], Abortion in Colombia has been historically severely restricted, with the laws being loosened in 2006 and 2009 (before 2006 Colombia was one of few counties in the world to have a complete ban on abortion);[14] and in 2022 abortion on request was legalized to the 24th week of pregnancy, by a ruling of the Constitutional Court on February 21, 2022. In reading it, one remembers that it is human beings who make history and experience it not as history but as life. Since women tend to earn less than men, these families, though independent, they are also very poor. The move generated a scandal in congress. Unfortunately, they also rely on already existing categories to examine their subjects, which is exactly what French and James say historians should avoid. Sowell attempts to bring other elements into his work by pointing out that the growth of economic dependency on coffee in Colombia did not affect labor evenly in all geographic areas of the country., Bogot was still favorable to artisans and industry. Gender Roles Colombia has made significant progress towards gender equality over the past century. Explaining Confederation: Colombian Unions in the 1980s.. The men went into the world to make a living and were either sought-after, eligible bachelors or they were the family breadwinner and head of the household. Women make up 60% of the workers, earning equal wages and gaining a sense of self and empowerment through this employment. From Miss . While some research has been done within sociology and anthropology, historical research can contribute, too, by showing patterns over time rather than snapshots.. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1969. Indeed, as I searched for sources I found many about women in Colombia that had nothing to do with labor, and vice versa. The press playedon the fears of male readers and the anti-Communism of the Colombian middle and ruling classes., Working women then were not only seen as a threat to traditional social order and gender roles, but to the safety and political stability of the state. 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. Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men, and Women in Colombias. Drawing from her evidence, she makes two arguments: that changing understandings of femininity and masculinity shaped the way allactors understood the industrial workplace and that working women in Medelln lived gender not as an opposition between male and female but rather as a normative field marked by proper and improper ways of being female.. . The law's main objective was to allow women to administer their properties and not their husbands, male relatives or tutors, as had been the case. However, broadly speaking, men are the primary income earners for the family while women are expected to be the homemakers. Women's right to suffrage was granted by Colombian dictator Gustavo Rojas Pinilla in 1954, but had its origins in the 1930s with the struggle of women to acquire full citizenship. Working in a factory was a different experience for men and women, something Farnsworth-Alvear is able to illuminate through her discussion of fighting in the workplace. Other recent publications, such as those from W. John Green and Jess Bolvar Bolvar fall back into the same mold as the earliest publications examined here. 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. family is considered destructive of its harmony and unity, and will be sanctioned according to law. Not only is his analysis interested in these differentiating factors, but he also notes the importance of defining artisan in the Hispanic context,. As established in the Colombian Constitution of 1991, women in Colombia have the right to bodily integrity and autonomy; to vote (see also: Elections in Colombia); to hold public office; to work; to fair wages or equal pay; to own property; to receive an education; to serve in the military in certain duties, but are excluded from combat arms units; to enter into legal contracts; and to have marital, parental and religious rights. The red (left) is the female Venus symbol. Gender includes the social, psychological, cultural and behavioral aspects of being a man, woman, or other gender identity. Lpez-Alves, Fernando. Bergquist, Charles. Gabriela Pelez, who was admitted as a student in 1936 and graduated as a lawyer, became the first female to ever graduate from a university in Colombia. Bergquist, Labor in Latin America, 318. . 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. If success was linked to this manliness, where did women and their labor fit? We welcome written and photography submissions. In the two literary pieces, In the . The value of the labor both as income and a source of self-esteem has superseded the importance of reputation. Like what youve read? 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. 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.. Latin American feminism, which in this entry includes Caribbean feminism, is rooted in the social and political context defined by colonialism, the enslavement of African peoples, and the marginalization of Native peoples. Unions were generally looked down upon by employers in early twentieth century Colombia and most strikes were repressed or worse. Conflicts between workers were defined in different ways for men and women. Sowell attempts to bring other elements into his work by pointing out that the growth of economic dependency on coffee in Colombia did not affect labor evenly in all geographic areas of the country. Bogot was still favorable to artisans and industry. . Dulcinea in the Factory: Myths, Morals, Men, and Women in Colombias Industrial Experiment, 1905-1960. At the same time, women still feel the pressures of their domestic roles, and unpaid caregiving labor in the home is a reason many do not remain employed on the flower farms for more than a few years at a time., According to Freidmann-Sanchez, when women take on paid work, they experience an elevation in status and feeling of self-worth. In the early twentieth century, the Catholic Church in Colombia was critical of industrialists that hired women to work for them. According to this decision, women may obtain an abortion up until the sixth month of pregnancy for any reason. 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. It is true that the women who entered the workforce during World War II did, for the . 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. They are not innovators in the world of new technology and markets like men who have fewer obligations to family and community. Most cultures use a gender binary . Women Working: Comparative Perspectives in, Bergquist, Charles. I specifically used the section on Disney's films from the 1950s. Oral History, Identity Formation, and Working-Class Mobilization. In The Gendered Worlds of Latin American Women Workers. Colombian Culture - Family Cultural Atlas There is still a lot of space for future researchliterallyas even the best sources presented here tended to focus on one particular geographic area. Feriva, Cali, 1997. Pablo and Pedro- must stand up for their family's honor 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. This definition is an obvious contradiction to Bergquists claim that Colombia is racially and culturally homogenous. In a meta-analysis of 17 studies of a wide variety of mental illnesses, Gove (1972) found consistently higher rates for women compared to men, which he attributed to traditional gender roles. Leah Hutton Blumenfeld, PhD, is a professor of Political Science, International Relations, and Womens Studies at Barry University. If, 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? 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. Policing womens interactions with their male co-workers had become an official part of a companys code of discipline. 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 body of work done by Farnsworth-Alvear is meant to add texture and nuance to the history of labor in Latin American cities. 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. In academia, there tends to be a separation of womens studies from labor studies. It is not just an experience that defines who one is, but what one does with that experience. Only four other Latin American nations enacted universal suffrage later. Most are not encouraged to go to school and there is little opportunity for upward mobility. Bogot: Editorial Universidad de Antioquia, 1991. French, John D. and Daniel James. 950 Words | 4 Pages. It is possible that most of Urrutias sources did not specify such facts; this was, after all, 19th century Bogot. 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. They were interesting and engaging compared to the dry texts like Urrutias, which were full of names, dates, and acronyms that meant little to me once I closed the cover. 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.. 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.. Colombian women from the colonial period onwards have faced difficulties in political representation. This understanding can be more enlightening within the context of Colombian history than are accounts of names and events. Eventhoug now a days there is sead to be that we have more liberty there are still some duties that certain genders have to make. 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. Farnsworths subjects are part of an event of history, the industrialization of Colombia, but their histories are oral testimonies to the experience. Since then, men have established workshops, sold their wares to wider markets in a more commercial fashion, and thus have been the primary beneficiaries of the economic development of crafts in Colombia. 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. Double standard of infidelity. Employment in the flower industry is a way out of the isolation of the home and into a larger community as equal individuals. Their work is valued and their worth is reinforced by others. As did Farnsworth-Alvear, French and James are careful to remind the reader that subjects are not just informants but story tellers.. The same pattern exists in the developing world though it is less well-researched. Among women who say they have faced gender-based discrimination or unfair treatment, a solid majority (71%) say the country hasn't gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men. This page was last edited on 23 February 2023, at 14:07. 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. Women in 1950s Colombia by Megan Sutcliffe - Prezi Figuras de santidad y virtuosidad en el virreinato del Per: sujetos queer y alteridades coloniales. 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. 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. There were few benefits to unionization since the nature of coffee production was such that producers could go for a long time without employees. Upper class women in a small town in 1950s Columbia, were expected to be mothers and wives when they grew up. Franklin, Stephen. The book goes through the Disney movies released in the 1950s and how they reinforced the social norms at the time, including gender norms. Bergquist, Labor in Latin America, 364. In both cases, there is no mention of women at all. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1998. Most union members were fired and few unions survived., According to Steiner Saether, the economic and social history of Colombia had only begun to be studied with seriousness and professionalism in the 1960s and 1970s., Add to that John D. French and Daniel Jamess assessment that there has been a collective blindness among historians of Latin American labor, that fails to see women and tends to ignore differences amongst the members of the working class in general, and we begin to see that perhaps the historiography of Colombian labor is a late bloomer. At the same time, others are severely constrained by socio-economic and historical/cultural contexts that limit the possibilities for creative action. Duncan thoroughly discusses Colombias history from the colonial era to the present. 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. This classification then justifies low pay, if any, for their work. According to the National Statistics Department DANE the pandemic increased the poverty rate from 35.7% to 42.5%. 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. Soldiers returning home the end of World War II in 1945 helped usher in a new era in American history. Farnsworth-Alvear, Ann. French, John D. and Daniel James, Oral History, Identity Formation, and Working-Class Mobilization. In. Colombia remains only one of five South American countries that has never elected a female head of state. Even by focusing on women instead, I have had to be creative in my approach. Really appreciate you sharing this blog post.Really thank you! Women filled the roles of housewife, mother and homemaker, or they were single but always on the lookout for a good husband. 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. Duncan, Ronald J. Crafts, Capitalism, and Women: The potters of La Chamba, Colombia. Women's experiences in Colombia have historically been marked by patterns of social and political exclusion, which impact gender roles and relations. The value of the labor both as income and a source of self-esteem has superseded the importance of reputation. Junsay, Alma T. and Tim B. Heaton. Crdenas, Mauricio and Carlos E. Jurez. Buy from bookshop.org (affiliate link) Juliet Gardiner is a historian and broadcaster and a former editor of History Today. While there are some good historical studies on the subject, this work is supplemented by texts from anthropology and sociology. I get my direct deposit every two weeks. This seems a departure from Farnsworth-Alvears finding of the double-voice among factory workers earlier. At the end of the 1950's the Catholic Church tried to remove itself from the politics of Colombia. 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. They explore various gender-based theories on changing numbers of women participating in the workforce that, while drawn from specific urban case studies, could also apply to rural phenomena. [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.