Exam 3 - Gender Geographies

Question 1

 Machismo, Marianismo

Answer 1

 Machismo—fearless, authoritarian, aggressive, promiscuous
 Marianismo—submissive, self-denial, humility, gentle, kind, dependent,
quiet, devoted to family and home

Question 2

 Gender & gendering

Answer 2

Gendering—refers to the socially produced nature of
masculine/feminine categories
 Gender is not a stable or fixed identity category, but is constructed and
maintained through discourse and everyday actions
 Geographically differentiated—produced through sociospatial relations—
changes over space and time

Question 3

 Women and: formal economy, informal economy, agriculture, NTAEs, maquiladoras, “double day,” feminization of poverty, domestic workers, education, informal politics/organizations

Answer 3

 Urban/rural divide—more likely to work for wages if
in urban area, but does not account for homework
 Formal economy—predominantly an extension of
traditional roles (“caring professions”)
 Paid 20-40% less than men even if they have
better qualifications/education
 Agriculture
 Number fell between 1960-1980 (mechanization),
but resurgence with NTAEs
 Land reforms/inheritance demonstrate gender
bias that benefits men over women
 Manufacturing
 Maquiladoras—60% of workers are women—
women preferred because of perceived gendered
attributes
 “double day”—work outside home does not
guarantee any break on work inside home

 Economic Restructuring – women and
children suffer disproportionately from
neoliberal reforms – budget cuts target
“female” professions, job loss, care-giving
more expensive, stress = domestic violence,
family breakdown
 Informal economy – much of women’s work
is located in the informal economy—has
both positive and negative aspects
 Street sellers versus domestic workers
(among the most exploited and invisible;
urban migration phenomenon)

 Women’s literacy—directly linked to
decline in population growth
 Class differences in education
 Poor: families often focus scarce
resources on male children
 Middle class: ½ of higher education
students are women

 Generally, women have more representation and leadership roles in the
informal political sphere
 Idealized gender identity as mothers often entrepot for women’s action –
Mother’s of the Plaza de Mayo (but 30% of disappeared were women)
 Often serves as a consciousness-raising mechanism
 Organized spaces for women’s collective reflection outside the home

Question 4

 Feminism: relationship between women of various class levels

Answer 4

 Who set’s the agenda for “women”?
 ‘Woman’ as a category is symbolic, and does
not represent the diversity of women;
women have different positionalities, and
identities and issues are complex and
complicated by context
 (Sometimes) contentious relationship
between middle class feminism and working
class and indigenous women’s issues
 Indigenous feminism: struggles against
racism, sexism and economic exploitation
can and should be complimentary and
simultaneous struggles

Question 5

 Crisis of masculinity

Answer 5

 Like the category ‘Woman’ the category ‘Man’ obscures the diversity of
men
 Ideal vs. reality
 ‘Crisis of masculinity’ – as women’s activities and access to the labor
market widen, men are participating more in domestic labor and child
care; women as breadwinner challenges male identity

Question 6

 Gendering spaces (material & metaphorical) (Nicaragua/Cuba)

Answer 6

Spaces are gendered (as well as sexualized and racialized)
 Physical spaces (material)
 La calle/la casa
 The nation
 Abstract spaces (metaphorical)
 Public/private
 In/out of place
 Center/margins
 Inclusive/exclusive
 The nation – how are the gendered body and the nation conflated in
this description of Cuban prostitution?

 Some leaders have used idealized gender
identities to gain power
 Eva Peron (Argentina)—the shadow to the
figure
 Violeta Barrios de Chamorra (Nicaragua)—
healing mother to unite her divided
children

Question 7

 Heteronormativity (heterosexism), Hetero-space, inclusive & exclusive homo-spaces (in
Nicaragua)

Answer 7

Heteronormativity: social practices (ideas and
behaviors) which act to reinforce the belief
that heterosexual relations are the only truly
‘natural’ or ‘normal’ sexuality and that all
other types of sexuality are consequently
deviant or ‘unnatural’
 Hetero-space: in general, spaces are always
assumed to be heterosexualized
 HOW DOES THE ARTICLE BY BABB
EXEMPLIFY THIS CONCEPT?
 Creating other spaces (material &
metaphorical): classes at CAU, gay-friendly
businesses, community, parades, NGOs,
movements (local, national, transnational)
 Exclusions: lesbians in public space—marks
traditional spatial boundaries