Gender Roles Ideology of Mujeres

Mexican mujer in the kitchen

Growing up as a child I was put in very specific roles of what a girl should do based on my culture.  Even though my mother said that the roles mujeres had played got a lot easier than it was before there is still no gray areas in the black and white roles on what a men and women should do. I am a Chicana but I did research on the role of women in Mêxico and use my family ‘s own personal experience to learn how these strict roles play a huge part in a Mexican mujeres life.

The Ideal Roles of Mujeres in México

Virgin of Guadalupe.

My mother was correct that a mujeres life in México had gotten better over these last hundreds of years. There was improvement in their work, their family life, their educational opportunities, their social standing, and their politic participation. Yes a lot of things have changed, but mujeres are still stuck in their gender roles. Mexican men are accepted to follow their roles in machismo, while women are accepted to follow their roles in marianismo. Marianismo is the ideal and targeted belief that mujeres should be submissive towards men as well as nurturers and dependent.  Mujeres had to be almost pure and behave like the Virgin Mary or Virgin of Guadalupe.

The ideal role for Mexican and Chicana mujeres is not an accurate representation of mujeres in Mexico. The ideology is what we are thought in order to have a “happy” life with our husbands. Women have a huge role in Mexico, but the men is el jefe de familia (chief of the family.) Mujeres are supposed to be the caretaker of the family but are also the image of morality and hence take center stage in the domain of religion.

La Malinche and the Virgin of Guadalupe

La Malinche by Diego Rivera

Through the assign roles of mujeres it influences on what they can do through economic, political, and social roles. There are two cultural icons that define the role of femininity. La Malinche and the Virgin of Gaudalupe are these popular images that every Mexican girl grew up with.  La Malinche was a Nahau mujere from Mexico, who aided Herńan Cortes in the Spanish Conquest. Popular legend plays her as the collaborator and ultimate traitor, who was also the sexually violated who gave birth to the son of Cortes. This was the creation of the first mestizo. Through la Malinche people, mostly Mexican men, are expected to not trust mujeres because they can be disloyal. The Virgin of Gaudalupe is a popular icon for Mexicans in the Catholic faith. Compare to la Malinche, the Virign of Guadalupe represents suffering and sacrifice.

Together these to images have created Mexican mujeres to be seen as submissive, self sacrificing, but virtuous mujer. These myths explain the ambiguity attached to defining females. Machismo and marianismo where developed through these images as the general culture representation have formed the basis for the ideas of “natural” male dominance and power and female suffering and motherhood. These are strong stereotypes that are very influential in the thoughts of Mexican mujeres.


Resources:

http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mexico.html

From my mother who was from Mêxico and family members in México.