1. WOMEN, GENDER, AND EMPOWERMENT

2. RESOURCES Modern Latin America chs. 7, 11 (Colombia, Chile)
Htun, “Women and Democracy” (CR #3)
Video” “In Women’s Hands”

3. STEREOTYPES Powerless in a macho world Passivity, docility
Focus on family, children
Lack of interest in politics and public sphere
Marianismo (a controversial concept)

4. WOMEN’S INTERESTS Feminine or feminist?
Practical interests = position within gendered division of labor
Strategic interests = alternative social codes deriving from broad analysis of women’s subordination
Difference from U.S. interests in economic equality (e.g., glass ceiling) and sexual liberation; emphasis on distinctiveness of womanhood

5. WOMEN AND AUTHORITARIANISM
Compliance: courtship by dictators
Opposition: merger of practical and strategic interests
Articulation of demands:
Mothers (and Grandmothers) of Plaza de Mayo in Argentina
Arpilleristas in Chile
“militant motherhood” in Brazil
Pro-democratic, left-of-center orientation

6. WOMEN IN TRANSITIONS TOWARD DEMOCRACY
Urgency of institutional agenda > concern for gender-related issues
Backlog of impatient men
Gender identity giving way to partisan affiliation
Loss of solidarity

7. SOURCES OF EMPOWERMENT
Participation in labor force (23 % in 1970, 35% by 2000)
Education (half of university students)
Significant share of electorate
Desire for change (and attitudes about women’s superiority in selected issue-areas)
International reputation (?)

8. Women in Latin American Legislatures, 1990-2010
WOMEN (AS % TOTAL)*
Country
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Mexico
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
— = not available.

9. ON QUOTAS To be effective, must be: Most congenial electoral systems:
Obligatory
Placement mandate
Cost for non-compliance
Most congenial electoral systems:
Proportional representation
Closed party lists
Large districts (i.e., deputies per district)

10. LEGISLATURES Gain of 35 %, from 14 to 19 % (2000-2006) USA = 17 %
World average = 18.6%

11. VOTING PATTERNS Traditional “gender gap” Women’s issues
More conservative than men
Chile 1999: Right garnered 51% of women votes, Concertación 49%; Right got only 46% of male votes, Concertación 54%
Right is now appealing to traditional family values
Women’s issues
Rarely top-priority campaign platforms
Success in agenda-setting > policy implementation
“Women, in order to be important politically, can’t talk about gender issues”

12. ABORTION Central issue on feminist agenda
Still prohibited in several countries (including Uruguay and Chile)
Common: permitted “if health or life of mother at risk” (as certified by…..)
Available on demand:
Cuba
Mexico City (DF, under leftist PRD)

13. WOMEN PRESIDENTS Generation I: Widows
Isabel Martínez de Perón (Argentina)
Violeta Barrios de Chamorro (Nicaragua)
Mireya Moscoso (Panama)
Generation II: Self-Made Politicians
Michelle Bachelet (Chile)
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina)
Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica)
Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

16. Comparisons with the United States?

17. CONTRASTS WITH USA Issues: Feminism and Women’s Interests
Glass ceiling vs. household survival
Sexual liberation vs. domestic violence
Power-seeking vs. pro-human rights
Middle class vs. popular level
Social Movements and Political Parties
Stridency vs. incrementalism
Autonomous social movements or established parties
Gender gap in voting
Confrontation with authoritarian rulers
Ambiguities of democratic rule
Representation in legislatures, cabinets, executive positions?