Working Women in Mexico City

Working Women in Mexico City
Author: Susie S. Porter
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2003-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780816522682

The years from the Porfiriato to the post-Revolutionary regimes were a time of rising industrialism in Mexico that dramatically affected the lives of workers. Much of what we know about their experience is based on the histories of male workers; now Susie Porter takes a new look at industrialization in Mexico that focuses on women wage earners across the work force, from factory workers to street vendors. Working Women in Mexico City offers a new look at this transitional era to reveal that industrialization, in some ways more than revolution, brought about changes in the daily lives of Mexican women. Industrialization brought women into new jobs, prompting new public discussion of the moral implications of their work. Drawing on a wealth of material, from petitions of working women to government factory inspection reports, Porter shows how a shifting cultural understanding of working women informed labor relations, social legislation, government institutions, and ultimately the construction of female citizenship. At the beginning of this period, women worked primarily in the female-dominated cigarette and clothing factories, which were thought of as conducive to protecting feminine morality, but by 1930 they worked in a wide variety of industries. Yet material conditions transformed more rapidly than cultural understandings of working women, and although the nation's political climate changed, much about women's experiences as industrial workers and street vendors remained the same. As Porter shows, by the close of this period women's responsibilities and rights of citizenshipÑsuch as the right to work, organize, and participate in public debateÑwere contingent upon class-informed notions of female sexual morality and domesticity. Although much scholarship has treated Mexican women's history, little has focused on this critical phase of industrialization and even less on the circumstances of the tortilleras or market women. By tracing the ways in which material conditions and public discourse about morality affected working women, Porter's work sheds new light on their lives and poses important questions for understanding social stratification in Mexican history.

Working Women in Mexico City

Working Women in Mexico City
Author: Susie S. Porter
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Total Pages: 278
Release: 2022-09-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 0816551456

The years from the Porfiriato to the post-Revolutionary regimes were a time of rising industrialism in Mexico that dramatically affected the lives of workers. Much of what we know about their experience is based on the histories of male workers; now Susie Porter takes a new look at industrialization in Mexico that focuses on women wage earners across the work force, from factory workers to street vendors. Working Women in Mexico City offers a new look at this transitional era to reveal that industrialization, in some ways more than revolution, brought about changes in the daily lives of Mexican women. Industrialization brought women into new jobs, prompting new public discussion of the moral implications of their work. Drawing on a wealth of material, from petitions of working women to government factory inspection reports, Porter shows how a shifting cultural understanding of working women informed labor relations, social legislation, government institutions, and ultimately the construction of female citizenship. At the beginning of this period, women worked primarily in the female-dominated cigarette and clothing factories, which were thought of as conducive to protecting feminine morality, but by 1930 they worked in a wide variety of industries. Yet material conditions transformed more rapidly than cultural understandings of working women, and although the nation's political climate changed, much about women's experiences as industrial workers and street vendors remained the same. As Porter shows, by the close of this period women's responsibilities and rights of citizenship—such as the right to work, organize, and participate in public debate—were contingent upon class-informed notions of female sexual morality and domesticity. Although much scholarship has treated Mexican women's history, little has focused on this critical phase of industrialization and even less on the circumstances of the tortilleras or market women. By tracing the ways in which material conditions and public discourse about morality affected working women, Porter's work sheds new light on their lives and poses important questions for understanding social stratification in Mexican history.

Women and Survival in Mexican Cities

Women and Survival in Mexican Cities
Author: Sylvia H. Chant
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Total Pages: 296
Release: 1991
Genre: Poor women
ISBN: 9780719034435

On the basis of interviews with low-income households and local employers, this study attempts to provide an analysis of the articulations between women, employment and household survival strategies in contemporary urban Mexico.

When Work Empowers

When Work Empowers
Author: Rebecca Anne Lee
Publisher:
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2004
Genre: Labor market
ISBN:

"The sudden and steady increase in the involvement of women in the Mexican labour force beginning in the 1980s, signifies a major shift in gender roles and activities. It is a little studied outcome of Mexico's combination of economic crisis (which served to increase the supply of female labour) and subsequent adoption of neoliberal economic policies (which stimulated the demand for female labour). In fact, what is not known, are the implications of this employment for the Mexican women themselves. The dissertation moves beyond the existing literature on the gendered consequences of employment and economic development, by bringing in the citizenship literature to help define women's status. Specifically, the dissertation proposes a way of determining these consequences by examining three dimensions of women's status, two of which refer to women's roles and capabilities in the public sphere---political and economic---and one which refers to women's status in the private sphere---the household. By disaggregating the status variable, the dissertation highlights the significant improvements in women's status while identifying the remaining obstacles to gender equality. The dissertation develops a number of measures of women's multidimensional status, and assesses the differences between employed and non-employed women using data obtained from a survey of women in Mexico City. In the economic sphere, the findings indicate that employment improves women's status by enhancing women's independence. Employment provides women with the economic resources that enable them to lessen their dependence on men. At the same time, women continue to face inequality in the labour market, signifying the continuing subordination of women. In terms of women's household status, the findings show that women retain the primary responsibility for childcare, and for the maintenance of the home. This inequality is significant, and serves to limit further improvements in" --

From Angel to Office Worker

From Angel to Office Worker
Author: Susie S. Porter
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 316
Release: 2018-06
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1496206495

2019 Thomas McGann Award for best publication in Latin American Studies In late nineteenth-century Mexico a woman's presence in the home was a marker of middle-class identity. However, as economic conditions declined during the Mexican Revolution and jobs traditionally held by women disappeared, a growing number of women began to look for work outside the domestic sphere. As these "angels of the home" began to take office jobs, middle-class identity became more porous. To understand how office workers shaped middle-class identities in Mexico, From Angel to Office Worker examines the material conditions of women's work and analyzes how women themselves reconfigured public debates over their employment. At the heart of the women's movement was a labor movement led by secretaries and office workers whose demands included respect for seniority, equal pay for equal work, and resources to support working mothers, both married and unmarried. Office workers also developed a critique of gender inequality and sexual exploitation both within and outside the workplace. From Angel to Office Worker is a major contribution to modern Mexican history as historians begin to ask new questions about the relationships between labor, politics, and the cultural and public spheres.

Female Household Workers in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area

Female Household Workers in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area
Author: Mrs. Farrer (Mary)
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 1990
Genre: Electronic dissertations
ISBN:

Domestic service historically in Mexico has been a major employer of women; in 1980, approximately one of every six working women was a private household worker. Private household employment is largely an urban occupation, and the nation's capital, Mexico City, has generated much of the demand for domestic service. As elsewhere in Latin America, most private household workers are young, single female migrants women from rural areas. This study examines the history and present conditions of female domestic service in the Mexico City metropolitan area. In so doing, it focuses on various interrelated questions. First, it attempts to establish the role of domestic service in the process of Mexican development; it examines the economic, social, and political significance of this occupation. Secondly, this research addresses the relationship between domestic service and social reproduction. Thirdly, it describes and analyzes female domestic workers' socioeconomic origins and demographic characteristics, as well as their labor and general living conditions. Fourthly, the influence of these combined factors in the configuration of their consciousness and identity is a related area of research. Finally, the different policies and programs concerning domestic service that have been formulated by the government, the Church, and the feminist Left are analyzed in terms of their goals, operation, and importance. Given its objectives, this study draws upon historical and anthropological methodologies. Documentary and field research was carried out in the Mexico City area during various phases between 1977 and 1985. The findings indicate that female domestic service has declined in relative terms over the twentieth century. Concomitantly, the conditions of domestic service themselves have changed; most notably, there have been transformations in the labor process, a shift towards live-out employment, and a trend towards a more contractual relationship.

The Women of Mexico City, 1790-1857

The Women of Mexico City, 1790-1857
Author: Silvia Marina Arrom
Publisher:
Total Pages: 384
Release: 1992
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780804720953

This pioneering study poses three main questions: Were women's roles in this era as narrow and unimportant as has been assumed? To what extent were women dominated by men? Can significant differences be found betweeen younger and older women, married and single, upper class and lower class?

Dolor Y Alegría

Dolor Y Alegría
Author: Sarah LeVine
Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1993
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780299137946

In Dolor y Alegría (Sorrow and Joy), fifteen mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca speak about the dramatic effects that urbanization and rapid social change have had on their lives. Sarah LeVine deftly combines these autobiographical vignettes with ethnographic material, survey findings, and her own observations. The result is a vivid picture of contrast and continuity. While many earlier publications have focused on the poor of Latin America who live at the margins of urban life, Dolor y Alegría explores the experiences of ordinary working and lower-middle class women, most of them transplants from villages and small towns to a densely populated city neighborhood. In their early years, many experienced family disruption, emotional deprivation, and economic hardship; but steadily increasing educational opportunities, improved health care, and easily available contraception have significantly altered how the younger women relate to their families and the larger society. Today's Mexican schoolgirl, LeVine shows, is encouraged to apply herself to her studies for her own benefit, and the longer she remains in school, the greater the self-confidence she will carry with her into the world of work and later into marriage and motherhood. Hard economic times have forced many married women into the workplace where their sense of personal efficacy is enhanced; at the same time, in the domestic sphere, their earnings allow them greater negotiating power with husbands and male relatives. Changes are not confined to the younger generation. Older women are enjoying better health and living longer; but with adult children either less able or willing to accept responsibility for aged parents than they were in the past, anxiety runs high and family relations are often strained. Dolor y Alegría takes a close look at the efforts of three generations of Mexican women to redefine themselves in both family and workplace; it shows that today's young woman has very different expectations of herself and others from those that her grandmother or even her mother had.