Exploring Conceptions and Discourses of Gender, Sexuality and Pregnancy Amongst Mexican Adolescents

By Miriam Weil-Behar

This book shows the importance of understanding how gender influences views on teen pregnancy amongst working and lower middle class Mexican adolescents.
It demonstrates how teenagers negotiate dominant gendered discourses related to sexuality, contraception and parenthood, considering if and when discourses of gender, sexuality, femininity and masculinity may be shifting and how.
Overall, most teenage boys in this study still refer to their active sexual practices and their role as provider in the family to define their reproductive identities, while young women seem to comply with dominant moral expectations of sexually passive femininity, defined mainly through motherhood. However, the findings also highlight how resistance to dominant gender discourses can take place, particularly with recognition of teenage girls as sexual beings with needs and desires.
Although the findings generated by this study are from 1994–1997, they remain relevant, given that in 2017, one in five pregnancies in Mexico was from a teenage mother.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Feb 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781528962803

Miriam Weil-Behar

Miriam Weil-Behar is a child and adolescent psychologist from Mexico with a BA in clinical psychology from the Anahuac University, two Master of Education degrees in special education: emotional disturbances and learning disabilities from The American University, a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in children and adolescents at risk from Harvard University and an MPhil in education from University College London. She has worked at the Mexican Children Hospital, Federico Gómez, in Mexico City, at The Psychiatric Institute of Washington, in Washington D.C., at the Child and Family Foundation with children from incarcerated mothers, at the General Hospital, Dr. Manuel Gea González, and in her private practice for over 30 years, all in Mexico City.

Book preview

Exploring Conceptions and

Discourses of Gender,

Sexuality and Pregnancy

Amongst Mexican

Adolescents

Miriam Weil-Behar

Austin Macauley Publishers

Exploring Conceptions and Discourses of Gender, Sexuality and Pregnancy Amongst Mexican Adolescents

About the Author

Dedication

Copyright Information ©

Acknowledgement

Chapter I: Introduction

1.1. – The Research

1.2. – Teenage Pregnancy in Mexico: Its Contexts

1.2.1. – Mexico’s Economy

1.2.2. – Teenage Pregnancy on the Rise

1.2.3. – Gender Differences in the Labour Market

1.2.4. – Schools and Sex Education

1.3. – Conclusion

Chapter II: Gender Discourses Masculinities and Femininities

2.1. – Introduction

2.2. – Gender Discourses Analysis and Theory

2.2.1. – Michel Foucault

2.2.2. – Judith Butler

2.3. – Construction of Masculinity and Femininity

2.3.1. – Masculinity

2.3.2. – Femininity

2.4. – Conclusion

Chapter III: Influences of Gender and Culture in Conceptions of Teenage Pregnancy

3.1. – Introduction

3.2. – Is Teenage Pregnancy the Problem

3.3. – Value of Marriage and Motherhood Within Teenagers’ Lives

3.3.1. – Value of a Child Within Men and Women’s Lives

3.4. – Influence of Cultural Expectations in Sexuality

3.4.1. – Teenage Girls’ Sexual Socialisation and Expectations

3.4.2. – Teenage Boys’ Sexual Socialisation and Expectations

3.4.3. – Gender Differences Towards Sexuality and Sexual Experience

3.4.3.1. – The Gendered Meanings of Sexual Encounters

3.4.3.2. – Sexual Experience

3.5. – Cultural Barriers to Contraception

3.5.1. – Masculinity and Use of Contraception

3.5.2. – Femininity and Use of Contraception

3.5.3. – Women’s Fears of Abandonment and Violence

3.5.4. – Fears and Misconceptions

3.6. – Conclusion

Chapter IV: Methodology

4.1. – Introduction

4.2. – Aims

4.3. – Research Questions

4.4. – Theoretically Informed Analysis

4.5. – Methodology

4.6. – Method

4.6.1. – Closed Questions

4.6.2. – Open-Semi-Structured and Open Questions

4.7. – Research Process

4.8. – Sample

4.9. – Validity and Reliability

4.10. – Analysis of the Answers

4.11. – Ethical Issues

4.12. – Critical Reflections

4.13. – Conclusion

Chapter V: Gender Discourses: Exploring Teens’ Talk About Binaries and Hierarchies of Femininity and Masculinity in Mexico

5.1. – Introduction

5.2. – Offspring Gender Preference

5.3. – Adolescent Girls’ Schooling and Professional Growth

5.4. – Definitions of Manhood and Womanhood

Chapter VI:Mexican Teens’ Conceptions of Sexuality and Contraception

6.1. – Introduction

6.2. – Dominant Discourses in the Construction of Male Sexuality

6.2.1. – Manhood and Sexual Performance

6.2.2. – Male Superiority

6.2.3. – Man as Provider of Information an Initiator

6.2.4. – Masculine Hyper Sexuality

6.2.5. – Reputation and Performance of Male Sexuality

6.2.6. – Sex as a Criterion for a Stable Relationship

6.3. – Dominant Discourses in the Construction of Female Sexuality

6.3.1. – Meaning of Sex for Young Women

6.3.2. – Discourses of Female Repression

6.3.3. – Risk of Pregnancy and/or Diseases

6.3.4. – Risk of Loss of Girls’ Reputation: Discourses About Premarital Virginity

6.4. – Equity Discourses in Sexuality

6.5. – Dominant Discourses in Contraception

6.6. – Conclusion

Chapter VII: Understandings of Gender and Parenting

7.1. – Introduction

7.2. – Womanhood Through Motherhood

7.3. – Views Concerning the Importance for a Woman to Have Children

7.4. – Motherhood as an Avenue to Gain Respect

7.5. – Motherhood as an Avenue to Gain Worth and Self-Fulfilment

7.6. – Fatherhood

7.6.1. – Meaning of Fatherhood

7.6.2. – Teenage Fatherhood

7.7. – Importance of Children Within the Couple

7.8. – Conclusion

Chapter VIII: Discussion

8.1. – Introduction

8.2. – About the Method

8.3. – My Contribution to Knowledge

8.3.1. – Binaries and Hierarchies of Femininity and Masculinity in Mexico

8.3.2. – Education and Work

8.3.3. – Sexuality

8.3.4. – Contraception

8.3.5. – Motherhood and Fatherhood

8.4. – Conclusion

Chapter IX:Conclusion

9.1. – Introduction

9.2. – Summary of My Contribution to Knowledge

9.3. – Practical Recommendations

9.4. – Critical Reflections

9.5. – Further Research Needed in Mexico

9.6. – Conclusion

References

Appendix I. – Structured Interviews: Women’s Questionnaire

Men’s Questionnaire

Appendix II. – Statistic Analysis of Both the Quantitative and Qualitative Data: Figures Chapter V. – Gender Discourses: Exploring Teens’ Talk About Binaries and Hierarchies of Femininity and Masculinity in Mexico

Figure 5.1. Baby’s Sex Choice

Figure 5.2. Preference of Same Sex Children.

Figure 5.3. Men’s Preparation vs. Women’s

Figure 5.4. Presence of Conflict Due to Woman’s Degree of Preparation

Figure 5.5. Woman’s Role

Figures Chapter VI. – Mexican Teen’s Conceptions of Sexuality and Contraception

Figure 6.1. Intercourse Just When There Is Love

Figure 6.2. Intercourse to Derive Pleasure

Figure 6.3. Sex for Pleasure = Loose Woman

Figure 6.4. From Men’s Point of View Sex for Pleasure and Not for Procreation = Loose Woman/Slut

Figure 6.5. Premarital Sex

Figure 6.6. Importance of Sex Based on Gender

Figure 6.7. Interest in Sex by Gender

Figure 6.8. Importance of Sexual Experience in Men

Figure 6.9. Benefits of Woman’s Sexual Experience Vis-À-Vis Man’s

Figure 6.10. Gender Roles in the Initiative to Have Sex

Figures Chapter VII. – Understandings of Gender and Parenting

Figure 7.1. Womanhood Through Motherhood

Figure 7.2. Difference in Treating a Mother and a Woman

Figure 7.3. Importance of Woman’s Sterility

Figure 7.4. Importance of Woman’s Sterility for Men

Figure 7.5. Value of Childless Women

Figure 7.6. Self-Fulfilment Without Motherhood

Figure 7.7. Value of Women Based on Motherhood

Figure 7.8. Woman’s Value According to Men Based on Motherhood

Figure 7.9. Manhood by Making a Woman Pregnant

Figure 7.10. Man’s Love Conditioned to Pregnancy

Figure 7.11. Man as Provider Until Baby Is Older

Tables Chapter V. – Gender Discourses: Exploring Teens’ Talk About Binaries and Hierarchies of Femininity and Masculinity in Mexico

Table 5.1. – Reasons for Gender Choice of First-Born Baby

Table 5.2. Reasons for Choosing a Specific Sex for Same Sex Children

Table 5.3. Careers for Women

Table 5.4. Woman Attractiveness Based on Schooling

Table 5.5. Importance of Men’s Degree of Preparation Vis-À-Vis Women’s

Table 5.6. Difficulties Due to Woman’s Degree of Preparation

Table 5.7. Definition of Manhood

Table 5.8. Definition of Womanhood

Table 5.9. Definition of a Responsible Woman and Man

Tables Chapter VI. – Mexican Teens’ Conceptions of Sexuality and Contraception

Table 6.1. Meaning of Manhood in Sexuality

Table 6.2. Views About Premarital Sex for Man

Table 6.3. Views About Premarital Sex for Women

Table 6.4. Reasons for the Importance of Sex by Gender

Table 6.5. Less Interest in Sex by Gender

Table 6.6. Reasons for Importance of Sexual Experience in Men

Table 6.7. Reasons for Gender Roles in the Initiation of Sex

Tables Chapter VII. – Understandings of Gender and Parenting

Table 7.1. Reasons to Believe That Womanhood Comes with Motherhood

Table 7.2. Reasons for the Importance of Motherhood for Women

Table 7.3. Differences in Treatment When a Woman Is a Mother

Table 7.4. Importance Given by Men to Pregnant Women

Table 7.5. Meaning of Fatherhood

Table 7.6. Reasons for Wanting a Pregnancy Now

Table 7.7. Reason for Men Being the Provider Until the Baby Is Older

Table 7.8. Fertility as a Condition for Marriage for Men

Table 7.9. Fertility as a Condition for Marriage for Women

Table 7.10. Relationship Based on Procreation

Table 7.11. Partner’s Reaction When Faced with Possibility of Not Having a Baby

Table 7.12. Nuclear Family’s Reaction When Faced with the Possibility of Not Having a Grandchild

About the Author

Miriam Weil-Behar is a child and adolescent psychologist from Mexico with a BA in clinical psychology from the Anahuac University, two Master of Education degrees in special education: emotional disturbances and learning disabilities from The American University, a Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) in children and adolescents at risk from Harvard University and an MPhil in education from University College London.

She has worked at the Mexican Children Hospital, Federico Gómez, in Mexico City, at The Psychiatric Institute of Washington, in Washington D.C., at the Child and Family Foundation with children from incarcerated mothers, at the General Hospital, Dr. Manuel Gea González, and in her private practice for over 30 years, all in Mexico City.

Dedication

This research is dedicated to my beloved sister, Deborah, who sadly lost her battle against cancer and did not have a chance to see my work completed and share this moment with me. However, as the following excerpt from her writing shows (taken from the introduction to the exhibition of her art work in Mexico City in 1998), she knew the struggles that a woman often has to go through to find her identity while resisting strong gendered dominant discourses.

States of Woman

I want to be all that I am capable of becoming…

– Katherine Mansfield

This series of images was made over ten years. Its explanation can only be a posterior reflection. The meaning of these images is profoundly related to my experience of being a woman and, therefore, although they may amount to no more than a diary, it is possible that the spectator will find in them something familiar that will bring back feelings of anger or reassurance.

I telephoned in London to reserve my ticket to come to Mexico, and when I gave my name, I was asked: Miss or Mrs? Although in English there now exists a neutral term ‘Ms’, almost unpronounceable, it is not commonly used, as it has connotations of rebellion or marginality. I always found it difficult to answer that question. Sometimes I answer ‘Mrs’ so that a man is implied, something which at times gives more respectability. Most of the times, I answer whatever comes first. This time I hesitated, truly confused, and said: I don’t know…whatever, to which the person said, Are you married? What does that have to do with buying an airline ticket? That’s a rather personal question, don’t you think?

Miss or Mrs, virgin or possessed, Madonna or prostitute, good mother or professional, strong or feminine… These dualities exist and it is not women who have chosen the labels. Would it be a strategy of divide and conquer? After all, what can be categorised can be dominated, and the person who allows his/herself to be labelled accepts the established system. I feel that we, as women, have lost so much of our identity that the fabricated images that surround us replaces it, offering and assigning us partial identities that are always changing.

Why do most of my figures have no heads? I suppose it is because I have always been fascinated by the beheaded Greek and Roman statues which have been rescued from centuries of abuse. The body with all as beauty and defying strength, like that of the Victory of Samothrace, has survived, and even without its head, that stolen piece of her identity, there is still the belly which gives life and the breast that perpetuate it. Even without head or a make-up, these figures appear after centuries of burial and there is no doubt of their existence or their wholeness or even of their sex.

On the other hand Virgins have been robbed of their sex, and they are idealised precisely because of this. Beautiful faces without a woman’s body. Woman as object of adoration in her perfection and impotence.

My experience of being a woman is one of divisions, of constant battles against definitions that want to limit and control. This series reflects the feeling of fragmentation of my identity as a woman, something I have not yet resolved. Who can say they have?

– Deborah Weil

Copyright Information ©

Miriam Weil-Behar (2021)

The right of Miriam Weil-Behar to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781528919715 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781528962803 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published (2021)

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Acknowledgement

There are many people who have kindly helped me in the completion of this work.

In particular, I would like to extend my heart-felt gratitude to Professor Jessica Ringrose, who was instrumental in developing my thinking and learning while continuously providing me with encouragement and motivation as I pulled this work together.

I owe special thanks to The General Hospital, Dr. Manuel Gea González, in Mexico City, with whom I was able to conduct my research. Above all, I am deeply indebted to all the adolescent girls and boys who participated in the study and were so generous with their time and sharing of their personal, often intimate, experiences. I truly hope I have done them justice in this work.

I am grateful to my parents who constantly supported me, despite the time the writing of this book took.

I would also like to acknowledge my uncle, David Bahar (sadly now deceased), who so kindly helped me with the translation of the research instrument, as well as Ricardo Amor and Teresita Miguel, who so patiently helped me with the statistical analysis.

A special thanks to my dear friend, Richard Coldwell, who was always there to help me out during rough times.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Marisa Belausteguigoitia, director of the gender studies program and Joel Estudillo, coordinator of the Rosario Castellanos Library of the gender studies program—both from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)—for their assistance with many of the references needed for this work.

Chapter I

Introduction

1.1. – The Research

This research explores teenage pregnancy and the meanings adolescents give to parenting in the cultural context of Mexico. The gender identities of these teenagers are viewed as connected to social learning and perceptions and strongly influenced by their socio-cultural context. The need to understand how sex and sexuality are discursively constructed and how individuals are positioned in and produced by discourses that describe them either as women or men within their particular culture at a specific time of their lives are important aims in this work.

As I will explain in greater depth in Chapters II and III, biological sex in this work is considered as socially/discursively constructed (Foucault, 1978, 1982; Butler, 1990, 1997; Davies, 1989). In this view, ‘maleness’ and ‘femaleness’ are produced by discourse, and it is the different actions of gendered behaviour that perpetuate the view of gender/sex.

There is also an interest in this work to comprehend the way teenagers are engaging in dominant discourses that regulate their behaviour to construct a sense of identity that fits into the norm and into the gendered expected behaviours, discourses and attitudes. My study also recognises the importance of understanding how power works and shapes these teenagers’ understanding of womanhood and manhood in the Mexican working lower and middle-class society.

Therefore, I believe that cultural factors such as gendered dominant discourses and expectations – often unwritten social expectations that regulate individual behaviour – influence adolescents’ identities, their sexuality, the couple’s relationship, the use of contraception and parenthood (especially motherhood). I have reflected on the idea that the relationship and the born-to-be child play an important role in affirming the teenagers’ adult sexual and social identities, and give them a higher status and power within their social milieu. The argument of the research engages in key debates in fields such as discrimination, gender discourses and expectations, education, work, sexuality, contraception and parenthood.

1.2. – Teenage Pregnancy in Mexico: Its Contexts

In the last decade of the 20th century and the first of the 21st century, teenage pregnancy has become a major political and social concern. With the emergence of adolescent pregnancy as a problem came a major expansion of academic research on social and economic as well as biomedical consequences of early childbearing.

One of the focuses of the literature on early motherhood is on its reportedly damaging consequences for the young women and their children (NAS, 1996 in Zabin and Kiragu, 1998; UN, 1989; Liskin et al. 1985; Chike-Obi, 1993) and on its negative impact on teenagers’ educational (Pillow, 2006: Alldred and David, 2007) and employment prospects (Valdés, 1995). There is a reality about adolescent pregnancy that cannot be questioned. However, the arguments that have been presented to explain the statistics can be a source of debate. It is fundamental to understand that when considering teenage pregnancy, antecedents and consequences cannot be separated. Therefore, it is important to give an overall view of Mexico – one of the largest countries in the world and one full of inequalities among its people – to understand the context of these adolescent mothers. The information provided next, refers mainly to the years 1994–1997 – the period when the study took place – since it is important to situate my adolescents within the context in which they were living at the time of the study. However, more current information is also provided and shows why this study is still very relevant today.

1.2.1. – Mexico’s Economy

Mexico is a vibrant and complex country. Five hundred years of European heritage have blended with rich native tradition; these elements in turn are increasingly overshadowed by the influence of its powerful neighbour, the United States. Millions of peasants, speaking indigenous tongues, are being treated as second-class citizens, compared to the Spanish-speaking majority (Chávez, 1999). In urban neighbourhoods, poverty and great wealth sit side by side.

Modernisation has meant for Mexico the deepening of inequalities between a small group of wealthy and powerful families and, a vast majority of workers and peasants that suffer increasing poverty (Pamplona et. al. 1993). Even though the main characteristics of modern societies are present in Mexico, the benefits its population is supposed to receive are far from becoming real. Between 1976 and 1997, the Mexicans experienced a decrease of 71.4% in purchasing power. While prices increased 102,770 percent during that period, the minimum wage increased only 29,369 percent (Vázquez, 1997). While 18.9% of the economically active population was earning less than the minimum wage in 1995, 65.1% did not receive any social benefits for their work (INEGI¹, 1995). In this context, labour rights such as social security, retirement pensions and medical services were increasingly absent for the work force (García Guzmán 1994).

The report’s statistics on extreme poverty issues from the World Bank noted that the crisis of 1994–1995 in Mexico, was a major setback: extreme poverty increased from 21 percent of the population in 1994 to 37 percent in 1996 (World Bank, 2004). Unemployment rates were particularly high between 1995 and 1996: on average 5.85% of the economically active population (CESOP, 2005)².

1.2.2. – Teenage Pregnancy on the Rise

Mexico has promoted family planning methods for more than 35 years. In 1973, it became the world’s second and Latin America’s first country in establishing in its Constitution (Article 4th) the right to decide in a free, responsible and informed manner about the number and timing of their children (Juárez et al. 2006). In 1974, different actions were undertaken to regulate the population growth in the General Population Law (SEGOB, 1974). It was not until the National Plan for Family Planning 1977–1979 was created, that there was a coordinated effort from all parts of the Health sector to promote contraception on its population (Mendoza et al. 2009). This brought together a fast decrease in the global pregnancy rate from 6.7 children per woman in 1970 to 3.43 in 1990 to 2.2 in 2013 (CONAPO, 2014). During the time of my research, the percentage was on average 16.5% (INEGI, 2009) and it is estimated that approximately 40% of these pregnancies were unwanted (CONAPO³, 2000b).

Specifically among teenagers, the National Survey of Demographic Dynamics⁴ (INEGUI, 2009) showed that 38.5% of young women who had intercourse for the first time, used contraception compared to previous generations. This number represents an important change in use, since only 6.5% women between 45 to 49 years of age used contraception during their first sexual encounter during their teenage years.

However, in spite of the progress made in education and health for women, the use of contraception has not reached everyone in an equal manner: there are still important shortfalls especially among the adolescent population, among people who live in highly marginalised municipalities and those in rural and indigenous areas (Mendoza et al., 2009). In 2013, the World Bank’s report⁵ highlights that Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is the region with the highest teenage fertility rate (72 births per 1000) among adolescents aged between 15 to 19, below Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (108 and 73 respectively). From the LAC region, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, Ecuador, El Salvador and Panama rank in the top 40 of the list of countries with the highest adolescent fertility numbers in the world. In this region the drop-in teenage pregnancy rate has been slower than in any other part of the world in the last ten years. The annual drop in LAC was just 1.25% between 1997 and 2010, compared with other regions such as South Asia (2.7%) and globally (1.6%). On average, 38% of women from this region get pregnant before their 20th birthday.

When talking about Mexico, statistics have showed that although from 2000 to 2013 there was a decrease of 16.2% in the fecundity rate of the general Mexican population, the fecundity rate among adolescents decreased only 7.6% during the same period. Childbearing from teenage mothers represent an increasing proportion considering that in 2000, childbirths from young women aged between 15 to 19 represented 15.7% and in 2013 this proportion increased to 16.3%. One in six deliveries in Mexico is, nowadays, from adolescent girls aged between 15 to 19 (CONAPO, 2014) and this country is at the top of the list for teenage pregnancy among the countries members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2014). However, data from the World Bank (2013) shows that Mexico City – the entity where my sample lived – is the place which has the higher percentage of teenage girls (58.9%) who used contraception the first time they had intercourse, compared to other entities such as Guerrero (20.2%), Michoacán (16.8%) and Chiapas (12.7%) in which less than one in five adolescent girls used family planning methods.

The risk factors identified with these high rates of teenage pregnancy are directly linked to poverty conditions and factors associated with inequality. The highest rates of adolescent pregnancy are concentrated in vulnerable groups burdened with inadequate health conditions and from homes with low incomes, very low educational levels and from rural areas (World Bank, 2014). The UNICEF (2010) reported that 55.2% Mexican teenagers are poor; one in five have family and personal incomes which are so low they are not even enough for their daily food and among those teenagers who leave school due to pregnancy, only 7% have an income that allows them to support their family.

An important point to consider is that in practice, the adolescents remain invisible to public policy and their needs are minimised. Most of the significant efforts have come from civil society, through lectures, workshops and other activities that have sought to bring services to this young population (Welti, 2000; Menkes and Suárez, 2003). Stern and Reartes (2001) revealed, in their study about reproductive health programs for adolescents in Mexico City, the resistance and lack of professionalism of health care providers, to give teenagers the information they need concerning their sexuality. If urban adolescents face a lack of coverage, knowledge and access to family planning methods, the problem is even greater in the rural areas. It is admitted that adolescents face a significant unmet demand for contraceptives; mainly women aged 15 to 24. Not surprisingly, the lack of access to sexual and reproductive health for adolescents has greatly contributed to unplanned pregnancies. This lack or difficulty to access contraception is one of the factors responsible for the pregnancy of 6.6% of Mexican teenagers below 17 years of age. A proportion that has increased to 19.2% among young women aged 18 and 19 (Cruz Jaimes, 2012).

Together with this relevant information, my study intends to add another important variable to the list of risk factors identified with these high rates of teenage pregnancy. A factor which is linked to cultural aspects; the strong gendered dominant discourses and expectations that shape different views of girls’ and boys’ attitudes towards sexual practices and contraception and that interfere with the negotiation and decision to use contraception.

1.2.3. – Gender Differences in the Labour Market

It is impossible to talk about Mexico’s labour force without immediately noticing the discrimination existing towards women. It is worth mentioning that although the information presented here is mainly about adults, it is relevant since they are significant models and their gender discourses are extremely important in shaping their children and adolescents’ identities and ideas about the future.

Mexican women were pushed into the labour force due to different situations. Unemployment jumped from 3.4% in 1981 to 22.9% in 1987 (Pares 1990). Structural adjustment resulted in increased lack of labour opportunities among skilled workers along with increased demand for cheap, unorganised labour. In addition to this, a notable decrease in salaries in the primary sector, pushed men to find better opportunities in other areas, leaving jobs – traditionally considered as ‘men jobs’ – to be taken over by women. On the other hand, the foreign firms, looking for cheap labour force, invested in in-bond plants (called ‘maquiladoras’) in which they preferred to hire a great majority of women, both because of their greater manual ability and of their stronger commitment to their work (Valdés, 1995).

Despite women’s rising participation in the labour force family standards of living have decreased since 1980, along with individual purchasing power. Per capita income dropped 15 per cent from 1980 to 1989 (Benitez 1990). In the 1990s – the period when this study took place – almost half the Mexican population, 40 million people, lived below the poverty line and it is estimated that some 17 million of these, lived in absolute poverty (Pamplona et al. 1993).

Unfortunately, this scenario is not just for women but for young girls too. Girls from low socioeconomic level, starting as early as age five and six years old, join their mothers in the tasks of home and field, having little or no time for themselves (Sai & Nassim, 1989, Valdés, 1995).

When considering the young population, figures show that during the first quarter of 2009, the economically active population (EAP) in Mexico aged between 15 and 29 amounted to 14.7 million people, representing 32.5% of the total workforce. This proportion is 1.1 percentage points lower than that recorded in the same quarter for 2006 (Ministry of Economy – Secretaría de Economía).

Unemployment among youth between 2006 and 2009, rose from 904 thousand to 1 million 248 thousand, which represents a growth of 344 thousand unemployed in these years. The unemployment rate during this period grew from 6.2% to 8.5%. This problem affected especially young women, whose unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2009 amounted to 9.1% while men’ stood at 8.1%. Statistics also reveal that only around 25% of women older than 15, had paid employment and they were paid considerably less than men for doing the same job.

Even more discouraging is women’s level of participation in employment and income in rural areas. In this part of the population in the year 2000, men almost triple women in the category of employees (5.4% vs. 1.9% respectively). Among the population that receives more than five minimal salaries (between 51.95 and 54.80 pesos, equivalent to approximately £2.8 for an eight-hour journey); women are less in numbers than men (7.5% vs. 11.7%). It is worth mentioning that more than five minimal salaries is a pretty good retribution in Mexico among the disadvantaged workers (National Survey of Employment, 2000).

An important aspect, which shows the gender difference in the labour market in Mexico, is the difference in opportunities and salaries. Although women are as numerous as men in Mexico and have the same legal rights to participate actively in paid employment, their actual participation in this field is very limited. Only 29% of the economically active population in Mexico are women but only 23% of them earn a wage. The other 6% are either working in ‘home-based industries’, where they are not paid for their work or in the informal sector, where they do not have a fixed salary (INEGI, 2001).

Statistics also show that on the one hand, women receive in average lower salaries in most of the occupations and the discrepancies are greater when comparing professionals, supervisors and industrial foremen, as well as, public officials and managers from the private sector. On the other hand, there are a greater percentage of women who work and do not receive an income compared to men (13.4% vs. 9.1% respectively) (Estadísticas de trabajo doméstico y extradoméstico en México, 1995–1999). In addition to this, women with a higher level of education have more economic participation while men’s economic activity is high, regardless of school level achieved (INEGI, 2009).

It is worth highlighting that the progress Mexico underwent to propel women into the labour force, did not bring significant changes in women’s degree of autonomy. As Coria (2014) found, the sole fact of having access to money did not mean that many young women have been able to modify the power models that were incorporated within their own subjectivity. The patriarchal model that has been present