An examination of gender differences in Mexican-American attitudes toward family and career roles

Sex Roles: A Journal of Research,  June, 1998  by Mary Gowan,  Melanie Trevino

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Mexican Attitudes Toward Work and Family

The traditional family in Mexico is patriarchal-authoritarian. Family is very important and the father has domination over the entire family. The female, while often placed on a pedestal by father, brother, and husband, is a lesser being. Gender roles in the Mexican culture result from a lengthy socialization process. The male's role is that of sole breadwinner and master of his household; the female's place is in the home. The female is to be first and foremost a self-sacrificing wife and mother. Working outside the home is unacceptable for a female. Outside work reduces her financial dependence on the male as well as the amount of time she can attend to his needs (Gonzalez, 1982; Marin & Marin, 1991; Penalosa, 1968). Gender roles are, therefore, well defined and rigid in the Mexican culture (Gonzalez, 1982) and within the Mexican-American culture (Kranau, Green, & Valencia-Weber, 1982).

Acculturation of immigrant groups, at least from an assimilation perspective (Rueschenberg & Buriel, 1989), should ameliorate differences across ethnic groups such that the immigrant group begins to have attitudes and beliefs similar to the dominant group. However, researchers have noted that Mexicans who immigrate to the U.S. are more likely to retain their cultural identity than are other immigrant groups. Mexican-Americans, especially those residing in the Southwest, may experience pressure to maintain their Mexican values for several reasons: (1) the Southwest was once part of Mexico, (2) the U.S. is geographically connected to Mexico, and (3) much of the immigration from Mexico is recent (Rueschenberg & Buriel, 1989). The implication of this conceptualization of the acculturation of Mexican-Americans is that both overall attitudes toward career and family as well as gender differences in these attitudes should remain similar to those of Mexican nationals.

In fact, Rueschenberg and Buriel found that the basic family system remained stable during the acculturation process for immigrant families of Mexican descent. They state that "intrafamilial relationships and interactions do not appear to differ substantially from one generation to the next despite the fact that English becomes the primary language and family members become active participants in the U.S. society" (1989, p. 241). Their results suggest that gender roles of Mexican-Americans should indeed reflect gender roles of Mexican nationals.

We found only three studies that specifically addressed Mexican-American attitudes toward traditional gender roles. In one study, Gonzalez (1982) compared Mexican-American male and female attitudes with Anglo-American (non-Hispanic) male and female attitudes toward stereotypical gender roles. The items in Gonzalez's questionnaire dealt with "the role of the ideal man/woman within the framework of the traditional Mexican family" (1982, p. 333). He found gender differences in attitudes for both the Mexican-Americans and Anglo-Americans; however, the Mexican-American males were the most closely aligned of the four groups with traditional macho gender roles. His findings suggest that gender differences will exist between Mexican-American males and females toward career and family issues, and that Mexican-American males will be more closely aligned with traditional Mexican attitudes toward those roles.