Brazilian Laws Do Not Fully Address The Issues Of Domestic Work

Social reproduction refers to the continuous intergenerational physically and emotionally exhausting household labour that is needed to maintain life (Trotz, lecture, Jan 13, 2016). This kind of labour though is considered to be a woman’s duty. Since an economic activity happens where there is a market, social reproduction is not considered as one as it doesn’t have a visible market. Even though, it doesn’t have market value, domestic work greatly contribute to the economy (Waring, 2013). Since this work is done in homes and by women who are usually marginalized, it remains invisible and thus not considered for pay. This kind of work depends on the traditional division of labour in which women are seen as housewives while men, breadwinners. Thus, the gendering of social reproduction is a result of “doing gender,” where women’s abilities to be mothers are naturalized (Coltrane, 1989); in other words, women are made to fit into the simplistic “domestic = family = heterosexual woman = care and love” equation (Manalansan & Martin, 2008, p.2), while any man who does the caring work in a family is feminized and considered a lesser man (Coltrane, 1989).Thus, a woman’s femininity depends on her motherhood while a man’s masculinity depends on “not doing mother’s work” (Coltrane, 1989, p.473).

However, “all work makes an economic contribution, but the unpaid work activities related to the home have been marginalized in economic rendering of production” According to Riane Eisler (2007:16 as cited in Lindsey, 2011, pg. 277). Meaning that for human survival, and human development to be successful women’s work needs to be valued, while women are taking on the responsibilities of caregivers to others; as well as their own. In addition to the many task these women provide such as their contribution to their household chores, managing the household income, childbearing; and caring for the elderly; these jobs are all considered unpaid work to which these women will never receive any form of income for the work they provided. In the United States alone more than 40, 000 dollars annually would be paid out yearly, if these women were being paid for services rendered in those areas; such as cooking, cleaning, ironing, care givers; and financial advisor. Meaning, “at the global level, if the unpaid work of women were added to the world’s economy, it would expand by one-third, but on the positive side, the economic reality of women’s unpaid productive work is gaining public and government attention (Lindsey, 200. Pg.

Part of the cultural aspects that is similar is the way we view women in our cultures. In Brazil as well as in the U.S., women are viewed as workers. The idea that women should stay at home taking care of the kids does not exist anymore; our capitalistic society needs every person to work in order to have a decent life.

Women are believed to have greater manual dexterity than men and they are therefore preferred by companies who want to maximize their production. Women who are hired for their supposed superiority to men when it comes to manual dexterity, a trade essential to a maquiladora worker, are ironically paid much less despite their valued trait. It is clear that the degree to which the women are devalued is far greater than the degree to which their ability and production is valued. Women's bodies are being exploited in factories where they are being paid ridiculously low wages based on a cultural belief that men superior to women, that women belong in the household and that men belong in the workplace. They are then paid significantly less partly to reinforce this ideal—to keep men as the leaders of the household--and partly in order to reinforce the stereotypes about the submissive and inferior nature of women.

Because capital grants do not address the reconceptualization of work, domestic positions would continue to exist independently of what is socially accepted as productive labour. This is not meant to suggest that by providing a BI every woman will reach the same level of education or occupation. Differentiation will still exist based on additional financial freedoms, varying preferences as well as inequalities not addressed by a BI. However, if successful a BI will ensure every woman is given greater authority in deciding where she allots time to working. This will have the benefit of protecting minorities from unfavourable conditions. Given the relaxed dependency on paid employment, a BI would provide domestic workers with greater monopoly power to negotiate terms of their work. If a woman chooses to leave the domestic sector, a BI could prove essential for ensuring she can do so without economic deprivation. In regards to mutual aid, families may be less inclined to outsource domestic labour if they find their own responsibilities lessened by a BI. As a result,

Regarding females in the workplace, the common opinion across the American continent used to be that by working outside the home, women were abandoning their primary job in life—that of a mother and wife, taking care of the house and the family. In modern times, Latinas take on multiple roles; not only are they still expected to look put together and run the family and the household—for most Latinas in the US, without any outside help—, but many are also breadwinners, some by choice and others by default. The decision made by many Latinas to work has already changed society due to growing feelings of self-empowerment. This newly discovered power is reflected in the increased use of contraceptives by Latin American women. Despite the Roman Catholic teachings, Latinas have taken matters into their own hands by using birth control to decrease the size of their families and lessen their burden, thus allowing them to fulfill their multidimensional desires and duties.

The maquiladora industry has had a major impact on the lives of its employees. A documentary from 2006 Maquilapolis, by Vicky Funario and Sergio de la Torre, show different women talking about the type of products they assemble, from filters, toys, batteries, and electrical parts to automobile parts. In 1960, when maquiladoras emerged in border cities, it changed people’s perspective for better opportunities and a better future. The majority of people working in the maquiladoras were women. The reason for that was because women were considered to have smaller hands and could assemble the parts faster and more efficiently than men. Some of the women in the interviews talked about having to work double shifts and even night shifts, leaving their children home alone without sufficient care and the attention children require. All done in order to survive

The industrialization of the 20th century brought with it a need for an evolution of the sociocultural norms of modern Brazilian society. Higher labor demands and a rise in consumerism challenged pre-established gender norms of the 19th century, and pushed Brazilian society towards more efficient and modern gender expectations (Besse 18).

Racial inequality in Brazilian society is an issue that is in urgent need to be addressed. Through interracial marriage, race in Brazil has became hard to define; instead of being based on ethnic background as in most countries, it is mainly based on distinctions in appearance such as facial features and skin color. So the discrimination is served to individuals rather than stereotyped groups, and is more ambiguous than the statistics imply.

Globally, women are restricted economically and the Bolivian Republic of Venezuela and the UN believes strongly that this is an issue. According to the 2016 World Bank report on Women, Business, and the Law, 155 countries out of the 173 studied have at least one economic restriction on women. Women are also restricted from doing certain jobs in 10 countries. Furthermore, in places where there are more legal gender inequalities, women that are less likely to attend secondary school, be employed, or run businesses. This is an issue because when women are given the opportunity to contribute to their respective economies, studies show that it can lead to 34% GDP increase thereby reducing poverty. However, due to the fact that women are typically responsible for raising children, this often forces them to choose between their careers and their home life.

The Brazilian immigration policy presents problems like the exaggerated national security idea, the lack of a specific immigration’s govern department , the bureaucracy to get documents like visa and work permits, the difficult of social inclusion to the immigrants . Include some concepts in the law immigrants goes against the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil. According (Wermuth, 2015) due the absence of more appropriate law to the changing times, the country has been dealing with immigration authoritarian and truculent manner, particularity through the work of the federal police, which is responsible for the care of immigrants for processing their Brazilian documentation.

Nowadays, in a growing number of housewives who came out of their family and became a worker, we unconsciously admitted the phenomenon that women and men are no gender differences. Under this recognition, we focused more on class equality instead of gender equality. However, in Maria Mies’s Colonization and Housewifization, she questioned about this dissertation by giving examples and facts.

The Brazilian family is a distinctive culture with a strong focus on values and family structure. In this paper we will discuss the geographical setting, birthing practices, the family structure and family functions and mate selection and marriage Practices of the Brazilian family. In addition, the paper will also emphasize the Brazilian families strengths.

Women’s unpaid labor in maintains a systems of oppression in many ways. In Susan M. Shaw and Janet Lee’s Women’s Voices Feminist Visions unpaid labor done by many women is, “undervalued as women’s formal productive paid labor in the workforce is prioritized” (Shaw & Lee, 2015, 471). Shaw and Lee are saying that women work at home is devalued because it is viewed as informal and as work that is done out of love or is natural work. Since the work being done is viewed as natural work, it further reinforces gender stereotypes by stating that women are supposed to do the household work which is deemed more as feminine. This thought process follows patriarchal thinking, where women are expected to do the

The purpose of Pais, Silva, and Teixeira’s piece is to observe the affects of the Family Allowance Program, also called the Bosla Familia Program, upon the insistence of child labor in Brazil in 2006. Pais et al. state that the “study allows [them] to verify if the program has effectiveness in reducing the child labor among the children of poor families or if it needs of bettering to fight such a reality”(p.659). The authors found that the Bosla Familia Program did the opposite of what was expected and increased the number of hours of child labor in Brazil. An explanation for the results received was that even though the program was meant to increase school attendance it lacked any restriction on work activities. The audience of Pais et al.’s