Lifestyles of Mexico

Mexico is geographically the United States' closest non-English speaking neighbor. As trade barriers fall to NAFTA, it becomes necessary to examine closely the lifestyles of this nation which promises to become a close business partner. There are many attributes of Mexican life compatible with the American lifestyle, but in one key area the two countries differ greatly: the status of women in society, in the family, and in the workplace. An examination of the lifestyles of Mexican women will reveal a status quo much lower than that enjoyed by women in the United States. It is a status resulting from an acute discrepancy in gender relations.

The root cause for this discrepancy in gender status lies in the basic social structure of Mexico. Mexico is rigidly hierarchic in social, family and organizational orientation. Moreover, this hierarchy has taken on a particularly patriarchal coloring. Mexicans, as with most Iberian-influenced cultures, pride themselves on maintaining a certain purity of "tradition," a religious and social tradition that emphasizes the compartmentalization of women into a lower strata of opportunity and being than men.

The hierarchial nature of Mexican society stems from the colonial period, when Spain conquered the Aztec civilization and then cruelly enslaved other indigenous peoples. Dominated by the patriarchal Roman Catholic Church, the conquistadors imposed a vertical structure upon the region that differentiated Mexicans along racial an

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women not to work, a tribute to their men's "machado" as protectors and providers (Arrom, 1985, pp. 157-158). For the Mexican woman, then, sex takes center stage. To work implies that the husband is not up to the task. Only a shrew, with a castrado mate, can visibly dominate a Mexican family. As for sex: the male is expected to desire, initiate and enjoy sex - the woman should simply endure, lest she be considered licentious and a immoral. The Roman Catholic Church, with its own male-dominated hierarchy, reinforces these attitudes. These attitudes begin in the home environment. From earliest years children are taught differently according to gender: girls receiving training in "domestic" skills, restricted in social movement to family activities, boys meanwhile given great liberty and instructed in "manly" activities. Until this century, accordingly, formal education was essentially denied Mexican women - or limited to Church schooling that emphasized religious reading and reinforcement of the gender hierarchy; males were restricted in their education only by the limitations of their family resources and status. A notable exception: For those European-oriented families of creole aspiration, it was often the case that b

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