Women & Change at the US Mexico Border

Chapter 1
Women at the US-Mexico border are portayed as active agents in influencing the world around them as apposed to passive participants. This book explores womens experiences and their stories in order to unpack the multitude of cultures, traditions and beliefs of communities on both the American and Mexican side. The political border has many implications in the lives of these communities after the NAFTA agreement was signed and the border became highly important to both nations. It is important to note that those living north of the border are among the lowest-income American's and those living south of the border are at the top of the income scale for Mexicans. Reduced spending on social programs from both countries placed more stress on the impoverished families and created a higher demand for womens unpaid labour.

Chapter 2
Immigration is a stable of globalization and indigenous communities in Mexico are no different from the rest of the world. Maier discusses the positive and negative implications that immigration has had on the lives on Mexican women. Indigenous Mexican women now have higher access to education and greater political rights however the periodic or continuous absence of men in the family structure has resulted in higher responsibilities for women and long, labourous days reducing their ability for political movement.

Chapter 3
As more women are articipating in the work force mobility to and from work has had positive and negative implications. Many women still maintain traditional domestic roles while working in or outside of the home which adds to their physical and emotional stress. Some women give up the benefits of working outside the home as it does notoutweight the negatives for dealing with arranging childcare and ride shares with family and friends. Women who do have access to a vehicle often take on my responsibilities to drive friends and family around and face more time constraints added on to their daily routines.

Chapter 4
Until abortions were legalized in the United States the pattern of migration for abortion was North-South across the border where women were administered abortions in illegal, “clandenstine” establishments. Since then American women has stopped travelling south, however the only Mexican women who are able to take advantage of legalized, safe abortions are women that have the money, information and means to cross the border. This study showed the differences in values between women assimilated in each culture. Those hispanic women on the American side have the highest number of abortions early in life, and less after the age of 30. Women south of the border have the lowest number of young abortions, the number rises after the age of 30.

Chapter 5
The “feminization” of labour can relate to the increasing number of women in the workforce relative to men, but also to the degradation of labour conditions and economy. When introduced, the maquiadora program was intended to creat opportunities for women to enter the workforce but recent trends have shown a shift to hiring women, to the point where omen made up only 48% of the work force. This shift has been attributed to continuing the subortination of women by excluding them from economic opportunities and training.

Chapter 6
“Autonomy and power go hand in hand” and the exclusion of women in the maquiadora trade is one way the state continues to remove womens autonomy. The systems currently in place repress low-income hispanic women through cultural and religious norms that maintain the women's role in housekeeping and child-bearing yet still require them to earn an income. Through interviews with women Bergareche discusses the importance of womens autonomy in resisting violence and how emplyment can offer women support by social and economic means.

Chapter 7
Migration and womens representation in the labour force come together in this chapter where we explore the double standard of women in the workforce with children. The gender division of labour which requires women to work for the socia reproduction of their families does not allow for much support from the state and therefor must look to other sources for help within the household. Higher-income families may be able to hire help, the low-income women must rely on the help of family and friends.