The world continues to undergo different transformations as time goes by. Man has continued to look for ways which he believes are more civilized that the past ones. This has brought adjustments in the society in regard to the societal setup which has then in the long run contributed to liberalization and civilization. The perception towards both men and women is one of the issues that have continually posed as a subject of discussions among many societies across the world. Most of these societies believed that a woman was a weaker gender and therefore was generally disregarded by the society while uphold male chauvinism. As a result, she remained in seclusion when important issues in the society, both that concerned her and those that did not, were being discussed. This was the case as recent as 30 years ago. Among the society that has seen a total transformation in the way these genders are perceived in their midst is the Mexican society.
Role Women in Mexican Society
To begin with, the woman was assigned domestic roles in the Mexican societies in the 1970s and 1980s. This was facilitated by the fact that the traditions in these societies believed that a woman was a weak gender and therefore deserved to be given a lesser position in the society. As a result, domestic chores were seen as tasks that did not need a lot of thinking and the strength of men. Therefore, most women during this period stayed at home and took care of domestic issues that required their attention (Hirsch 171). This guaranteed that women remained under the subjection of their husband and men in general. This was as a result of the fact that most women did not get an opportunity to develop themselves in terms of education, business and other important issues that could strengthen their position in the society. Consequently, the men in this society took the leading roles in nearly every issue, including that which concerned women.
On the other hand, men were completely responsible for the communities in the Mexican societies. According to Stern (1997), women were perceived as properties of men and they were supposed to adhere to the rules and regulations that had been laid down by men (12). The women in Mexican societies played the roles of real slaves while their husbands and generally men played the role of masters. In this disparity in gender equation, there was no opportunity for women to prosper. Instead they remained submitted to their husbands, even when they were oppressed by being accorded or rather assigned many roles as they could be able to complete. For example, women were solely responsible for bringing up young children. Hence, men could not perform tasks such as bathing children, or changing diapers as this was viewed as the role of a woman that could not be performed by a man. In line with this, men who tried to be fair to women were degraded in the society. Therefore, to continue maintaining their status in the society and earn respect both from men and women, they found it difficult to perform those roles that were considered feminine.
Despite the submissive roles that were played by women in the Mexican societies way back in 1970s and 1980s, this has since changed. In reference to Hirsch (2003), more and more women are getting educated in the modern times, a factor that has given them an opportunity to reverse roles or rather balance roles in the Mexican communities (171). For example, more Mexican women have taken an initiative of getting education and this has resulted in most of them getting an opportunity to act in influential roles both in the Mexican society and across the world.
The need to grow strong economically is also an issue that has contributed greatly to the changing roles in the Mexican society. To begin with, there is a growing need for both men and women to earn a living in the family due to rising expenses. Therefore, most women have been forced to look for employment in the formal sector. In other words, due to a need to be employed in the formal sector, women have been forced to get education in different fields. This has rendered the Mexican woman in the modern society with the responsibility of contributing financially towards the family needs (Stern 12).
Transformation in Gender Roles
On the other hand, the Mexican males who immigrated to the United States were forced to take responsibility of everything in their lives as most of them did not have women in their lives that could help them with household chores. However, according to researches that have been carried on the lives of the Mexican males, their growing sense of responsibility did not fade away after they went back to Mexico (Ozyegin 153). For example, these men were able to perform household chores but did not change when women came into their lives. As a result, most of them are able take care of children, and perform other household chores such as cooking and washing utensils. With such high level of responsibility, there has been a growing transformation in gender roles in the Mexican society.
Therefore, whereas gender roles in the Mexican society was greatly divided in 1970s and 1980s, with women being assigned domestic roles, there is a growing overall shift in the roles of these gender, and in the recent times, there is an integration of both roles that were considered to be of men and those of women. This has been contributed by the changing society across the world which has placed a woman at a place where she is more independent on her own rather than depending on a man. Similarly, the nature of work or rather employment that has forced men to stay away from their women for longer days has forced them to learn household and other chores that were considered feminine in nature.