Hispanic Gender And Gender Inequality

Women in the Hispanic culture grow up with strong ties to their values, norms and how they were raised by their families. Parents instill a “machismo” and familism ideology into the upbringing of these women (Fuchsel, 2012). “Machismo” is a term to describe what is acceptable and expected of men (Fuschel,2012). Familism is, “the subordination of the personal interests and prerogatives of an individual to the values and demands of the family” (dictionary.com). An example of “machismo” is that it is not seen as a problem for men to be unfaithful (Fuschel, 2012). Women would continue to stay with the men, because of the strong sense of familism and not wanting to break the family apart (Fuschel,2012). Also, the strong tie to family makes it difficult to express the troubles in a marriage, because family may be unwilling to help (Fuschel,2012). Machismo and familism affect Hispanic women in their day-to-day lives and how they approach marriages and relationships (Fuschell,2012).

Men and women are treated very differently in other parts of the world; especially in a Hispanic household. In many Hispanic households, females and males are treated very differently, not only in this generation but in the previous generations. Each gender has their own role in the household, but each role that the male or female have are very dissimilar in their own ways. The roles that these people have are unfair and they are not equal. This situation has gotten better over the years, but it can still improve.

Growing up, those two words have always left my stomach in knots and caused my eyebrows to come together in confusion. At the tender age of 8, family parties were meant to be fun and enjoyable, but whenever I heard an uncle or grandfather say those two words I was left in a state of discomfort without really knowing why.

Have you ever reflected on how important your culture is to you? A culture is defined as a group of people from a particular location or within a community that shares beliefs, manners, customs and numerous habitual actions that are passed down to future generations. While cultures may share particular attributes, without a doubt, they are all special and unique. Based on the upbringings and the values a person has acquired over time, they give you the opportunity to explore new ideas and meet a diverse set of people. Growing up with a Hispanic background, has allowed me to know the world that I am accustomed to today. Although I am honored to have the opportunity to experience everything within the Hispanic culture, there are also unpleasant issues that are associated with it. Gender roles, which are defined as behaviors that are more masculine or feminine, are expected to be performed by one gender. Consequently, both men and women are limited in their independence and their individuality.

By the year 2020, the Hispanic population in Texas will outnumber the non-Hispanic White population (Petter and Hoque, 2013). However, Hispanics do not play a significant role in the STEM workforce (Robinson, 2007). The drastically low number of Hispanic students with a STEM degree only represent 5% of the total STEM workforce (Clewell, 2006; Malcolm, 2010; Arcidiacono, Aucejo, & Hotz, 2013). To further amplify the situation, 25% of jobs created over the next six years will require a bachelor’s degree (Strong American Schools, 2008).

I can also feel the rigid gender roles and norms in the Mexican American culture. In Movimientos de rebeldia y las culturas que traicionan, Anzaldua mentions that the Mexican culture barely accepts deviant behaviors. Their culture expects women to be commitment to men and if they are not, they are labeled as a selfish. Women are valued as a wife and mother, and “women are made to feel total failures if they don’t marry and have children.” Because of fear of being unaccepted and abandoned by their own culture, “some conform to the values of the culture, push the unacceptable parts into the shadows.” The Mexican women fight for women’s rights in their mother culture first, before they fight against the racism or sexism in white dominant culture.

The relationship between the gender roles reflected in telenovelas and the the role of women in Latin American countries is a matter of parallelism. This is because as Judith Butler, the author of the book Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, emphasized that it is “impossible to separate out ‘gender’ from the political and cultural intersections in which it is invariably produced and maintained”. Gender is undeniably socially constructed, and is a product of the values deemed important by that society being constantly reenacted and reinforced. In that sense, telenovelas are also another medium through which beliefs in gender can be relayed to the audience, forming what is called the “imaginable domain of gender” as they either perpetuate or go against ideal hegemony (Beard 2003).

As a part of the HBCU Alumni Alliance’s Higher Education initiative program; Alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) are concerned about the inadequate representation of minorities in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related professions. Consequently, DCHBCUAA STEM professionals have designed and organized an instructional hands-on STEM workshop for students in grades 10-12, to enlighten them on the different facets of professions available in the sciences. As a part of our community partnership with Kaiser Permanente, we have a workshop scheduled for Saturday, April 29, 2017, from 800 am-5:00 pm, at 2101 Jefferson Street in Rockville, Maryland.

Since the 1990’s however, there has been a 33% increase in the number of Hispanic Students enrolling in STEM programs. This does not mean that they necessary complete their degree, as Hispanics more likely to drop out of the program or university than their white counterparts. It used to be that one required a formal collegiate education in order to enter the STEM field, but more and more STEM students are entering the field through the completion of IT technical programs, or certificate programs. Hispanics have been taking advantage of this easier pathway into STEM careers, as 24 % of all STEM technical certificates were earned by Hispanics in the 2009-2010 school year. Unfortunately, the percentage of STEM degrees earned by Hispanics experienced

In 2013, Latinos accounted for only 4.9% of the roles in the top 100 films of the year. From the beginning, Hollywood had always been dominated by white men and women. However, as time progressed there was a very slight change in cultural and ethnic diversity. Though it is more likely now than ever to find a Latino or Latina in a Hollywood film, their roles are often small, stereotypical, and almost entirely unimportant. As if it wasn’t hard enough to get any role in any Hollywood film regardless of ethnicity, Latinos have to endure playing a harshly demeaning role. Latino men are often cast as comedic relief and play gardeners, janitors, or thugs. Latino women are often cast as maids or mistresses. Aside from this, when women are cast as mistresses they are often submissive to their white male partners, meaning that not only are these roles ethnically demeaning, but also sexist. Along with Latino female sexualisation, though, Latino men are also heavily sexualized. Both Latino women and men have to deal with the exploitation of their culture for stereotypical roles in a movie. However, these are only some of the vicious patterns that attribute to the everlasting ethnic misrepresentation in the biggest part of mass media, Hollywood.

The force of societal stereotypes is a large part of this gap. Instead of joining STEM careers, the most common careers among women are secretaries, nurses, and elementary and middle school teachers (Mandell). This truly illustrates that when well-rounded, talented women have the choice, they are inclined to delve into the field in which society expects them to belong. In this way, the stereotype of women not being involved in STEM is forcing less women to be involved in these fields. The deficiency of women in technical fields, despite their well-roundedness and ability, can be directly related to unyielding cultural stereotypes that stigmatize women in supposedly masculine fields.

First of all, I come from a Hispanic culture and gender is one of the things that separates each individual from doing certain things. For instance, as a girl in my culture it looks wrong for a girl to use offensive words in public. It’s normal to hear men always being rude and using vulgar words. Girls are taught to be polite and use proper language. Indeed, in my family I always saw my brothers or cousin talk back to their parents and they were just punished. However, for girls it worked different. There was zero tolerance for talking back to an adult. It did not matter if it was your parents or not as long as it was an adult you talked back it was unacceptable. I come from a low socioeconomic status and I don’t think that the usage

How has gender inequality affected women in Latin American countries? Gender inequality has affected the women of Latin America in a multitude of ways, but it can be argued that the division of gender equality is extremely prominent when analyzing reproductive rights and health care access. Compared to countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, Latin America is far behind in terms of civil rights and reproductive rights. The lack of rights is not in question; women’s barrier to reproductive health can be seen through anecdotes and statistics. The question thus becomes, is there a definite answer to why these rights are absent? Factors concerning the absence of reproductive rights include cultural norms and religion, but the one that plays the biggest role remains the lack of female political leaders in Latin American countries. What exactly is it that is keeping Latin America behind other countries in terms of being progressive regarding reproductive rights? Women’s political absence in Latin America has shaped reproductive rights and health care services immensely.

This report navigates the current state of STEM demographic in the country. It examines the reasons why there are less females undertaking STEM majors and gives recommendations on the problems. A brief history on STEM is outlined and the discussion follows with in depth analysis on the subject. STEM is a very critical education discipline with an importance in the economy of the country. Much as it is important, few students choose a career path in STEM. Although, there are more than 50% female students in Colleges and Universities, 12% take STEM related course. Why is this? This report is a compilation of empirical data collected in journals on the same subject explaining

Today’s college students have the opportunity and freedom to choose their major and their career path. Many factors influence the decision of a college student’s career paths including background, general interests, personal strengths, time commitment, and job outlook. Although many important decisions are made in college, one of the most important is the choice of major and career track. Out of hundreds of majors the science and engineering fields are under-represented by women. Although the numbers of women in science technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM, majors has been increasing in the past years, women still are in the minority in the STEM fields. In her study, Lona Whitmarsh