http://www.temas.cult.cu
TEMAS no. 56 October-December
2008
The
revolution of Cuban women:
50 years of achievements and struggles
Mayda Álvarez Suárez
Investigator. Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).
A
CubaNews translation by Sue Greene.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
Profound transformations in the condition and position of Cuban women
have taken place in the course of the last fifty years, as a result of
the political will of the leadership of the Revolution, and the struggle
for equal rights and opportunities for women and men, led by the
Federation of Cuban Women (FMC) and its president, Vilma Espín.
Practical necessities related to their conditions of life and
reproduction (employment, equal pay for equal work, daycare centers, day
boarding schools, land ownership, and sexual and reproductive rights)
have been taken into account, and as well as others of a strategic
nature, have permitted changing their position in relation to men
(education, culture, technical training for jobs not "traditionally"
female, promotion to responsibilities of leadership, etc.). Access to
important resources and the possibility of deciding about them, in
addition to modifications to legislation, institutions and education
were among the most important measures. The participation of women
themselves taking center stage in their own development has been the key
element of all these transformative processes.
Since 1997, Cuba has relied on a state agenda for the advancement of
women: the National Action Plan to Follow-up on the Agreements from the
IV World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, in 1995. It was approved
with the force of a Decree-Law at the highest level of the state and has
established mechanisms for its systematic evaluation. [1]
Their systematic follow-up is carried out by the Secretary of the
Council of Ministers in coordination with the Federation of Cuban Women,
an organization recognized as the National Mechanism for the Advancement
of Women, which accompanies this process as a critical entity for any
difficulty in the execution of the measures.
An analysis of the implementation of the policies on behalf of women in
countries of Latin American, shows that their fundamental weakness is
that they are not state policies and, consequently, that the changes
which they produce are not stable over time nor do they count on the
active participation of women, not always taking into account the
demands of their organizations. [2] Despite this, there have been steps
forward in the manner of formulating and implementing policies with a
gender perspective.
In the Cuban case, the first measures were aimed responding to the needs
of women from the perspective of their rights and their participation as
citizens in all processes. Gradually, they have been focusing on gender
relations, without ignoring the need for specific measures and actions
arising from existing inequalities. [3] The theme of gender equality
does not belong to just an agenda, but is part of a democratic policy
and of social justice.
Transversing, with a
gender perspective, institutions, agencies, organizations, means
transforming administrative rules, codes and internal images of people
and institutions.
The experience accumulated by the National Mechanism for the Advancement
of Women in Cuba and the evaluations of the National Action Plan have
permitted identifying advances and obstacles, as well as challenges for
the future. [4] Important advances are confirmed in informational
material and the revelation of these governmental commitments to women,
and a greater awareness among policy makers at different levels and
agencies of government. Activities were increased in gender training of
those involved in designing,
executing and following through with these policies; we have achieved
coordination among different Ministries, other NGOs and the FMC; also in
the organization and interpretation of statistical data, from that
perspective, and in the application of this approach in programs of
development at the local level.
The fundamental obstacles that institutionalization has faced are
related to material difficulties and economic restrictions which the
country confronts, including the blockade by the United States. Other
obstacles are those related to the selection and stability of the
personnel who are responsible for these activities in the ministries and
institutions, as well as insufficient inter-sectoral coordination for
some measures of the Plan which are required.
In order for gender
institutionalization to fulfil its mandate, the limitations, in addition
to those which affect public administration, are also of a symbolic
character, based on beliefs, cultural codes and knowledge which sustain
institutional logic and practices. For this reason, training and
technical assistance to agencies, institutions and social organizations
are key for achieving a culture of greater gender equality and a greater
sensitivity to different manifestations of discrimination against
women. It is necessary to emphasize the links between gender equality
and economic growth, labor productivity, development, values and social
equality, and to convince that the
struggle for the achievement of the latter is not only a matter of
defending the legitimate rights of a sector of the population, but a
condition for the development of social justice. It also requires
improving the quality of the administration of the National Mechanism.
To be a massive women's organization, structured from the communities
and which includes the broadest sectors of women, the elaboration of
differentiated gender policies and a more efficient attention to
distinct groups according to age, race, social-class insertion, sexual
orientation, constitutes an on-going challenge. Likewise, it is
necessary to perfect the communications strategy of the women's
organization and to make increasing use of modern technologies and
computer networks so that messages of equality and social justice reach
all spaces and become the subject of public debates and reflection.
The economic logic of the priorities of the state should be made
compatible with that of gender, and develop strategic and administration
capabilities which permit counteracting the tendency of some agencies
and institutions to not give priority to these issues. The most complex
turns out to be, of course, changing a patriarchal culture, installed
for centuries into the consciousness and the practice. These cannot be
resolved exclusively through the enactment of laws and institutional
action, but involves the personal, family, community and historical
experience. Aspects of social and individual subjectivity, linked to
discriminatory cultural patterns, have conditioned representations,
attitudes, values and behaviors concerning the feminine and the
masculine which continue being some of the bases of the existing
inequalities, and an obstacle for major advances.
The problem of women's
autonomy: problems and limitations
The situation of Cuban women has changed appreciably: policies, programs
and concrete measures for their advancement, coupled with their active
participation in all the processes of change, have enabled achieving
their autonomy as human beings. In order to lay the foundation for this
idea, I will take as a base three axes that
transverse as much the
private as the public lives of women: economic autonomy, physical
autonomy and decision-making autonomy, essentials to guaranting the
exercise of their rights in a context of full equality. [5]
Economic autonomy
One of the essential aspects of economic autonomy, has been a greater
opportunity for women's independence in order to generate their own
income and resources, through access to paid work. The number of women
fourteen years and older who worked - with or without pay - in 1953 was
247,674, 12% of total workforce. In 1990, that figure reached more than
a million and a half, that is, six times more. [6] The year 2007 ended
with 40.04% of women in total engaged in the economy. In the state
civil sector - the greatest number - rose to 46.23% of the workforce.
The rate of female economic participation is currently 59.1%, which
indicates that more than half of working age women are employed.
The Coordinating Commission for Women's Employment, created in 1981 and
including representatives from the Ministry of Labor and Social
Security, the Cuban Workers Federation (CTC) and the FMC, have had a
central role in this achievement. They are constituted at the
municipal, provincial and national levels, and have served, since their
creation, to guarantee and protect employment priorities for women.
An analysis of which job positions women access is enlightening in this
regard. In Cuba, female employment advanced from positions of lesser
qualification, recognition and remuneration, to a process of
feminization of the technical and professional force. For many years,
women have represent more than 60% of this force (65.6% in 2007), which
positively affects science, the economy and society in general.
Sectors whose development has been prioritized by the Revolution, like
education and health, are predominantly female. It would be sufficient
to mention that before the revolutionary triumph 6.5% of physicians were
women and today the figure has risen to 56%. Of the educational
personnel in all levels of instruction, they are currently 69.6% and in
higher education 52.5%. With their financial contribution, they help to
raise household incomes and to improve the living conditions of their
homes, which have a significant repercussion on power relations within
families.
This fact has been able to be verified by investigating who is making
the most important decisions in the family. In a national survey with a
sample of 1,125, complete families (with the presence of both parents)
of intellectual workers and of socio-class participating workers, asking
both members of the couple who made the most important decisions in the
family, 63.6% of men and 66.2% of women responded that [they are made]
"conjointly". [7]
Similarly, the number of women who declare themselves as heads of
household, although being married or partnered, has notably increased.
In the 1953 census, 14% of household heads were women, for 1981 this
figure doubled (28%) and in 2002 rose to 40.6%. A large percentage have
a stable partner, indicating a true change in the recognition of women
as heads of household. This can be associated with different factors
such as the restructuring of the family by a new marriage where the
children are from the woman, home ownership, and others yet to be
investigated.
Women's access to employment, education, public life, should not be
assessed as an absolute victory because, although it an important
achievement, they can still receive manifestations of discrimination in
different institutions. These can be expressed in their limited presence
in some sectors of the economy, in decision-making bodies, and in the
effects of the double work day. So, when one analyzes women's
employment, according to the forms of ownership, it is much lower in the
non-state sector. They are only 15.8% of the employed. In particular,
in the cooperative sector, their participation still continues being
very low (17.22%).
A recent study of the situation of rural women incorporated into the
structures of cooperative production in agriculture, specifically in
Basic Units of Cooperative Production (UBPC) and in the Agricultural
Production Cooperatives (CPA), shows, among other results, that women
have been taking possession, "gradually and discreetly, of
non-traditional jobs: macheteras [one who cuts cane with a
machete], sugar cane combine operators, truck drivers, farm managers,
etc.. Nevertheless, their presence is low in these activities. [8]
Additionally, it was found that where this happens, they control
important resources, even production, but only at a basic or
intermediate level of authority. Technology continues being controlled
by men. Also their presence at senior levels of management is still
limited and restricted basically to activities not related to the
production process.
The results of this
investigation point out that the fundamental obstacles to the
empowerment of rural women continue being the overload of domestic
responsibilities and care for children, coupled with insufficient
technical preparation. These reduce their opportunities to move into
positions of greater complexity and salary remuneration. Similarly,
family responsibilities impact on their work absences and, to some
extent, affects their pay in comparison with men.
In the 90's, there was progress in the creation of stable positions for
women, who achieved the rank of permanent members of the cooperatives,
nevertheless many of them still work full days, but their labor is not
recognized nor remunerated, nor do they appear in the statistics of
members of the cooperatives. Their work is "invisible".
There are still specific branches of economic activity where women have
a low presence. Just to mention a few, they are in agriculture (17.4%),
construction (15.7%), mining (19.1%). The highest proportion (41.5%),
occupies the "non-production" activities or the services, such as shops,
restaurants and hotels. In financial establishments, cashiers and real
estate, they represent 52.4% of the workers and 51.3% in the communal,
social and personnel services.
This disproportion in some economic activities is influenced by many
factors, among which, in my judgment, the male tradition of employment
has important weight. This tradition is concerned with, and hence,
considers that there is not the "same" employment for women, derived,
without doubt, from the process of gender socialization in families and
school, which still displays sexist characteristics.
It can be observed that, although their presence has been growing among
graduates of traditionally "male" specialties, such as chemical
engineering, industry, mathematics, the economy, just to name a few,
their highest concentration is found in the educational, medical and
social and humanistic sciences. This, as is logical, is subsequently
reflected in the type of economic activity that they perform. Even,
within the medical sciences, there are specialties with low female
representation, such as surgery (12.3%) and orthopedics and traumatology
(10.7%).
In relation to their pay, as was already mentioned at the beginning, one
of the first steps taken by the Revolution was the equality of wages of
men and women for work of equal value, an achievement for which many
women in the world still struggle. Nevertheless their absences from
work, mainly caused by caring for the children and other relatives, give
rise to an unfavorable difference of 2% lower salary, compared to men in
positions of the same complexity, equal occupational category and salary
scale group.9
Even when Cuban laws and other regulations allow women and men to take
leave in order to care for a baby and to accompany relatives of either
sex in the hospital, greater family and social demands continue falling
on women to deal with such matters. This has implications not only on
their allocation of time, but on job performance and the amount of wages
they receive. In some way it is about the implementation of a policy
that specifically affects women, but in fact produces a difference in
income.
The emergence of women into the public space has taken place then,
within a profound process - full of contradictions - of transformation
of social practice and consciousness, in which women participate, as
protagonists, who reconstruct and redefine their role of mother and
wife, and others who maintain more traditional forms of life, but in the
development of such a process they do not all change, and not only women
but also men.
Equitable gender relations are advancing slowly, leaving to women a
disproportionate burden of having to divide salaried work with unpaid
domestic work. The rupture between "public" and "private" areas has not
yet been overcome. A lot of tensions are generated by trying to balance
family life and work, affecting men as much women as far as the time
available to take care of dependents and "household chores". However,
women are the most overloaded by their multiple roles: their work
outside the home, their responsibility for household tasks and their
important activism in community organizations. In particular, mothers
of children under six years old who enter paid work are especially
disadvantaged. The investigation with entire families, already
mentioned, found that 59.4% of those studied were an "unequal" model of
the distribution of domestic tasks, in which women were mainly
responsible for the obligations. In addition, it showed that in
families where a woman is the housewife, the traditional distribution of
housework model predominates, compared with salaried women workers,
which is more equitable, and more equitable still in those where women
are leaders. However, all of them, housewives, intellectuals or leaders
continue being primarily responsible for domestic tasks, and the
overload requires a lot of effort, with significant costs to their
social and family relationships, and their physical and psychic
health.10
More recent studies on the use of time found this same overload. The
survey was conducted in selected municipalities from the La Habana City,
Pinar del Río y Granma and the results are only applicable to said
municipalities, but in all of them, whether in urban or rural zones,
women devote more time to housework than men. For example, in La
Habana Vieja they devote 3.55 hours on average to this work, whereas
men, 1.17 hours. In Bayamo, an urban zone, they devote 4.39 hours,
whereas men, 1.28 hours. In rural zones, the time devoted to these
tasks by both sexes is higher, but the overload continues for women. In
Granma, for example, they devote 5.59 hours to domestic work and men
2.25 hours, on average.
In summary, when analyzing the total hours worked by men and women in
the municipalities studied (including both zones) in paid work and in
unpaid (inside or outside the home), women render 29% of total time to
the first and 71% to the second, whereas men 67% and 33%
respectively.11 While in the urban zone, unpaid work occupies 69% of
total hours worked by women and 28% by men, in the rural zone this
proportion is 80% for women and 40% for men.
Social services, which provide family workers with care for the children
and the elderly, are inadequate and do not respond to the demands. The
construction, repair and expansion of daycare centers, which had their
peak at the end of the 80's, have been hampered by the difficult
economic situation faced by the country throughout this era and also by
resistance to make them flexible, in accord with the new conditions.
The same thing occurs in other home support services which contribute to
work-family harmony.
In summary, the domestic overload of women represents an important
obstacle which limits their personal and social development, the
enjoyment of their free time, their participation in decision-making,
and it is a determinant in the occurrence of health problems.
Particular incidents of their autonomy have been the elevation of their
educational and cultural level. The average scholastic level reached in
Cuba has increased to the 9.5 grade. Women are present, in equal
standing with respect to men, at all educational levels. Data prior to
1959 showed that the net enrollment rate of girls in primary education
was only 56.1% and the female population in higher education was 0.3%.
Since 1980, they represent over 50% of university graduates and since
2000, more than 60%. In the 2006-2007 school year, 65% of graduates
were women. 74.3% of employed women have upper level schooling (55.8%)
or higher (18.5%), compared with 55.6% of men (44.4% upper and 11.2%
higher).
Correspondingly, the presence of women in science has been increasing:
they are 49% of science and technical investigators, and 51.2% in the
whole system of science and innovation technology. In the Population
and Housing Census of 1953 only thirteen women scientists were
reported. In the forthcoming years, it is predicted that these figures
will remain high, since the scientific reserve is mostly female.
However, their quantity continues being lower than that of men in the
research categories: degree holders (34.6%) and assistants (42.2%)
versus 59.8% of trainees and 54% of aggregates. The female membership
in the Academy of Sciences is still very low (26.3%). Despite being the
majority of university graduates for many years, only 31% of Doctors of
Sciences are women, and similarly, 30% of academics of Honor and Merit.
It is impossible to ignore that the stage established for obtaining
these scientific degrees, coincides, to a large extent, with women's
reproductive years and that the domestic overload conspires against the
successful outcome and timely achievement of these categories. It is
required, therefore, to consider these different conditions in order to
be able to implement affirmative measures which enable more women to
attain scientific degrees. Within the sector, there is also another
inequality: there is no correspondence between female scientific
potential and female managers of research centers. According to 2006
figures, from 195 registered centers, only 46 (23.1%) were headed by
women.
Physical autonomy
In these fifty years of Revolution, one of the fundamental successes of
achieving autonomy for Cuban women is control over their own body.
Female sexuality has been freed from the religious norms which
associated it solely with reproduction and considered it "sinful" or
condemnable outside of marriage. The laws which protect the full
exercise of women's sexual and reproductive rights have made possible
access to the information and use of contraceptions, abortion rights
and, therefore, informed and responsible decision-making on the number
and spacing of children, depending on their interests and
possibilities. From the 70's, the fertility of Cuban women has been
low, conditioned by a number of economic and social factors, among which
are the emancipation and development attained by women. The current
rate is 1.43 children per woman.
Sex education from early childhood, included as a program in all levels
of education, has contributed to gradually sweeping away the old
conceptions and prejudices.
Important changes have taken place in the social values based on
prejudices which stigmatized women and justified their discrimination,
for example, the condition of being a virgin or not at the time of
marriage, being divorced, being in a consensual union, having natural
children and others. These are not women's concerns at present, nor
those that limit their family, professional and social performance. One
of the main bastions of male power has eroded: the control of female
sexuality.
This process has not been simple, if one considers that one of the
socio-cultural elements that make up masculinity is sexuality
erroneously reduced to the concept of instinct and therefore viewed as
"natural and uncontrollable". Female sexuality, on the other hand, is
believed to be controllable, which always puts the woman as
"responsible" for the regulation of fertility and reproduction. It is
she who must "take care of herself" and avoid pregnancy. Many,
especially young women, have not learned to negotiate their
relationships on an equal plane. They accede to initiating sexual
contacts without proper preparation and protection, responding to the
cultural assignment of "being willing to please" and in the face of a
request for "proof of their love" from their partner.
It is facing an adolescent pregnancy where it is shown with greater
clarity the differences in gender socialization received by men and
women, where the responsibility for the care and education of the
children is primarily by the mother. This results in the one who has to
leave school or work is the girl, postponing her interests for excelling
and professional development, while the partner continues his life.
Male irresponsibility with regard to sexuality extends then to the
exercise of fatherhood. They continue being frequently in our midst
manifestations of irresponsible parenthood, relegated to the background,
especially in situations of divorce or separation. This social
construction of males has placed them as spectators in the procreation
and education of their children, which causes their loss of valuable
references and experiences for their own personal growth, and
psychological costs for them and their children.
Increasingly, men are gaining a place in the care and attention of their
children. Their presence is noted more in daycare centers, schools,
hospitals and in all places where children attend and connect; nineteen
men have received paternal leave, a proposal by the FMC approved in
2003. However, the responsibility for the care of others continues
being fundamentally female and, often, workplaces do not understand when
the man needs to be absent for illness of a child or any other similar
situation. To involve them in all processes associated with sexuality
and reproduction continues being a goal to achieve.
During all these years, the Revolution has continued prioritizing
important health programs directed at the protection and adequate
biological and psychological development of women, with an important
repercussion on their physical autonomy. It would be enough to mention
the programs for prevention of cervical-uterine and breast cancer and
the mother-child programs. This last one has guaranteed attention to
pregnant women and the health of mothers and children.12 A part of the
program has worked to engage men increasingly through the Program of
maternity and responsible parenthood.
Universal and free access to health services has been reflected in that
the life expectancy of women has increased from 57.89 years (in the
period 1950-1955) to 80 years (2005-2007). An analysis in relation to
this indicator shows, however, that there are conditionalities to
increasing their life expectancy, linked to the improvement of their
quality of life, reduction of excess work and the tensions arising from
the overload, as well as better prevention of diseases such as diabetes
mellitus, cerebro-vascular and other avoidable ones that currently
constitute the leading causes of death for women.
In fact, there are confirmed differences in the quality of life for men
and women as they age: more women than men report depression, arthritis,
limitations for developing activities in their daily lives and they
perceive their health as being from fair to bad.13 The aging process of
the population of Cuban women poses new challenges for the development
policies implemented since 1959 in different fields, such as the
specialized services of health, social security and community and family
life. The presence of older adults in the home impacts family
dynamics, particularly when they require care and attention, which in
fact overloads the economic function of this group, mainly women.
One aspect that deprives them of their physical autonomy is violence
against them, a manifestation of gender inequality, a direct consequence
of the persistence of a patriarchal culture, of discriminatory concepts
and practices. This type of manifestation has greater scope, variety
and gravity depending on factors such as the degree of structural
violence prevailing in each society, the development achieved by women
and their participation in the economic, political, social and cultural
life of each country, as well as the level of social and individual
consciousness in a culture with respect for and recognition of women,
their rights and their dignity.
In the Cuban case, the construction of a new society based on humanist
values such as solidarity, equality, respect for a person's rights and
dignity, are not, in essence, societal procreators of violence. Fifty
years of work for equal rights and opportunities for women, and the
promulgation and perfection of laws which protect them, have allowed
Cuban women to reach a level of development, participation and
self-esteem where they have less frequent tolerance for these
phenomenon.14 Similarly, organized community participation facilitates
with intervention with regard to these cases. However, various
investigations find that violence against women occurs in the domestic
area by close relatives, and especially on the psychological plane,
through yelling, threats, insults, humiliation, among other actions
which, generally, are not perceived as violent for not having physical
abuse; so, the majority of the times it stays in the private sphere and
solely in the family.
When violence is recognized and denounced, frequently it does not
receive adequate treatment on the part of the authorities, inasmuch as
they consider that the facts are "insignificant and a feature of
marriage". There are also women who withdraw their accusations for fear
of increased aggressions or because they hope that "things will
change". To promote harmonious and constructive relations of
coexistence in families, schools and society, to increase outreach and
training about the subject, to, in the end, increase individual and
collective consciousness on the existence of this phenomenon, and to
implement more effective measures of protection for victims and
treatment for perpetrators, continue being priority objectives of the
work which is currently carried out by various institutions and
agencies, coordinated by the FMC.
Autonomy in decision-making
The achievement of women's autonomy includes decision-making. This
topic has been the subject of several investigations by the Center for
Women's Studies and other institutions, and I have dealt with it in
several articles in this very magazine.15
The presence of women in decision-making positions has shown an upward
growth in recent years. In the agencies of the Central State
Administration, they constitute 38.3% of their leaders. Six ministries
are headed by women (Finances and Prices, Basic Industry, Justice, Audit
and Control, Education and Agriculture); the female vice-ministers have
increased to 31 and those who lead at the provincial and municipal level
in different agencies have also increased. Among directors, national
managers and presidents of institutions, there are more than one
hundred.
In particular, the evolution that has had a female presence at different
levels in the bodies of the Popular Power, shows interesting facets.16
Our country has not opted for a quota system as a way to stimulate the
advancement of women; the FMC designed an integral strategy precisely
targeted to change traditions and cultural patterns, through training,
outreach, public recognition of women's merits and successes in this
work, among other actions. The fruits of this strategy have been felt
in different election processes in which the promotion of women has
increased. Already in the VII Legislature (2006-2007) greater growth
was achieved at all levels in comparison with previous years; they were
27.03% of the constituency delegates elected, 40.63% of the provincial
Assemblies delegates and 43.39% of the deputies. With this last figure,
Cuba achieves one of the leading places in female representation among
the parliaments of the world.
However, one cannot deny that the domestic overload and care of children
and other dependent people have continued being an obstacle to the
promotion of women. One example of this was a decrease in their numbers
at different levels of the Popular Power leadership in the 1993 election
process, in the height of the Special Period, when the influence of the
economic crisis aggravated the living conditions of families and
significantly affected home support services. With everyday life
becoming more difficult , its harshness fell primarily on women.17
Moreover, the sexist cultural standards still in effect manifest
themselves in a direct manner on the opinion of not advancing women "in
order to not overload them more", and in fact, by not selecting them,
even if they have been nominated, which occurs primarily in the
constituency delegates elections. On women, without a doubt, are
imposed a high level of demands for their selection as leaders, although
the requirements are the same as for men. It would seem that they are
the only ones who have families, since husbands and children (by birth
or by design) weigh in the valuation that is made of them.
Another important issue is the attention and treatment they receive once
they are selected as leaders. The social representation of who occupies
a position is highly permeated by a male model of leadership, to whom is
assumed a structure of work time organization and a complete surrender,
which does not include family life. This model conditions a vision which
coincides very little with the representation of women dedicated to
their family life, with less mobility and possibilities than men to
solve problems. When they assume leadership responsibilities they are
obligated to perform within these rules of the game and generally, it is
forgotten that they still continue being the parent responsible for
domestic chores and children. If there is neither a consciousness nor
an understanding of the institutions, it further limits the ability of
women themselves to assume those positions.
For this last reason, the so-called "self-limitation" of women is
permeated not only by subjective factors related to self-valuation of
their capabilities, it also has, at its base, conditions which limit
them objectively. It can be observed at the municipal level -
constituency delegates - where fewer advance, which is, in some way,
paradoxical if one considers that women are primarily the leaders of
mass organizations at the community level, and their activism and
dedication are recognized by all authorities.
Another facet of the problem is that in the Popular Power as well as in
the agencies of the Central State Administration, there is less
representation by women as one ascends to the levels where the most
important decisions are made. Thus, for example, although they have
been advancing, of 169 presidents of Municipal Assemblies, 32 are women,
or 18.93%; of fourteen presidents of the Popular Power in the provinces,
there is only one woman.18 In the case of the Council of State,
notwithstanding in the last elections, two more women were promoted, of
31 members, there are currently eight women (25.81%).
The position in which women are most represented is as secretaries of
the Assemblies: 59.17% in the municipals and 50% in the provincials. Of
the leadership of the National Assembly, composed of three members, also
one is a woman.
From one election process to another, a greater awareness of the justice
in electing women is evident, and of their important role in society,
both in the general population as the leaders who integrate the steering
committees of mass organizations and in the Candidacy Commissions at all
levels.
Nevertheless, there are still not enough nominations of women to
integrate the pool of delegates to provincial assemblies and to the
National. The FMC and the Workers' Central of Cuba (CTC) are
organizations which propose a greater number of women. In the
provincial assemblies and in the Parliament, it is established by law
that up to 50% of the delegates and deputies come from the base, the
reason why there are fewer elected delegates from the constituency,
lowering their direct representation at those levels.
This succeeds in reversing itself, to a certain extent, when women
occupy management positions in the provincial and the national
leadership of the OACE and in mass organizations, because they expect
greater possibilities of being proposed and elected, of their efforts
being better known and recognized. Thus they nourish the other 50% of
the pool of provincial delegates and deputies.
In our country there exists political will and the conditions for
greater access of women to decision-making in different areas, much more
if we consider that they are among the majority of technicians and
professionals. To continue sensitizing leaders and public officials,
teachers, fathers and mothers, children and young people on gender
issues constitutes an imperative to achieve the necessary changes in
individual and social consciousness.
Subjectivity and Gender
Social representations of being a woman and being a man have been
changing over the years. Investigative observance has noted how many
qualities are considered characteristic of "being a man" or "being a
woman" - culturally established stereotypes - have been broken in our
context.
Qualities such as being intelligent, capable, hardworking, creative,
decisive, socially active, free, are now recognized and attributed by
many people to "being a woman". Tenderness, affection, responsibility
in the family, dedication, are also considered essential for "being
men".19 These same characteristics - definitely human and not sexual -
coexist with the traditional ones: dedicated, faithful, understanding,
sensitive, organized, hard-working, good mothers, good wives, for women;
strong, brave, providers economically, virile, aggressive, for men.
The same thing happens when people identify objects or spaces for women
and men. At first, brooms, necklaces, earrings, vases and flowers,
cosmetics are attributed to women, and to men, never lacking a car, a
bottle of rum, a hammer, a machete, cement. When it comes to space,
women are placed in the kitchen, hair salon, office, store, school and
day care, and men in the street, workshop, sports stadium, the field.
In summary, we are living in a world in which the new is imposing
itself, but still living together with the old. There still exists a
distance between egalitarian ideals and some unequal practices. Without
a doubt, machismo in Cuba has "eroded": a generalized masculine
hierarchical practice does not predominate, and each time there is a
greater proportion of women and men who conceive more equal
relationships and less hierarchical, as well as shared. However, in
many contexts, matrimonial as well as institutional, it is possible to
still find dynamics defined from the masculine, some of which I have
described in this article.
The socialization process of boys and girls in families and other spaces
are still marked by patterns and cultural codes essentially different.
One world of objects, spaces and words seems destined for boys and
another for girls. Gender constructions are then internalized entirely
through the action of socialization, understood as a complex and
detailed cultural process of appropriation of ways of representing
oneself, assessing and acting in the world. Intimacy continues being
central to the education of girls as key to establishing a world of
interpersonal bonds: supporting others, understanding them, helping
them, serving them, achieving consensus, protecting oneself against
intentions of staying out; but also it is evident that today women are
educated, much more than before, for independence. They "must value
themselves for themselves", "studying and working in order that they do
not depend on anyone", "deciding their lives", "so that nobody comes to
control them".
The education of males is fundamentally centered on independence: the
man must know what to do and to tell others what they must do, must be
able to evolve in the world of power and status and in order to succeed
they need, in addition to independence, determination, courage,
aggressiveness, strength, the ability to take risks, control over
themselves and not only being all that, but demonstrating it
constantly. In many families, then, boys are not assigned domestic
responsibilities, they are only "in the street" and they also spend less
time discussing intimate and personal topics.
In school, these patterns are reproduced, especially in the so-called
"hidden curriculum". Although boys and girls equally access different
levels of education, and it is established by law that they must be
treated without any distinction based on sex, teacher-student
relationships are tinted, in fact, by the inherited sexist culture,
which is sometimes observed in the distribution of females and males in
some extracurricular activities and tasks such as games and sports, and
can also be seen in images from textbooks.
In general, it has been found that the knowledge of educators about
gender is still not sufficient for the suitable treatment of boys and
girls, and adolescents, and that the educational messages that are
transmitted in the mass media and in literature do not always have a
focus on gender.20
Thus, since the recognition of the advances in social and personal
consciousness, it is necessary to identify some elements that constitute
obstacles or barriers to a greater advancement on the plane of
subjectivity. They are:
• The biologization or naturalization of many gender roles.
• Fear of inducing a non-heterosexual sexual orientation when gender
stereotypes are broken down by means of educating, especially males.
• Social pressures in some groups and communities which hinder, or do
not recognize, the changes.
• Contradictions in the educational processes among the family, school,
mass media and other formative spaces.
• Overvaluation of the changes which occurred in the position of women,
thinking that already "everything has been achieved".
• Confusion of gender with "women", which limits the participation of
men in the change and an adequate transversality of this category in
policies.
In conclusion
The results of research carried out during all these years on the topic
of women and, subsequently, on gender relations in Cuban society, allow
recognizing the contradictions in which it becomes necessary to work in
order to reverse some of the inequalities between men and women, still
in existence:
• The growth of women's participation in the labor force and the
persistent sexual division of domestic work.
• Insufficient infrastructure for public services dedicated to the
"social care" of dependents (children, elderly, etc.) in order to
guarantee the productivity of work and social and family life.
• The distance between the egalitarian ideals of many people and their
unequal practices, especially in the family and other socializing
spaces.
• The elevated role that is given to the family in society and the
limited social demands for men to get involved in a responsible manner
in the processes related to reproduction, care and attention to the
children, and shared participation in domestic chores.
• The access of women to decision-making and the demands established
from a predominantly masculine model of leadership.
• Ignorance about the topic by people in charge of designing, executing
and evaluating gender policies as a form of political administration.
Gender equality alludes to the human fullness of women and men and
therefore, part of the recognition of their diversity. The Cuban
Revolution has had as one of the fundamental pillars of its development
program the elimination of all forms of discrimination based on sex,
which obstructs or deprives women of their enjoyment of the same rights
and opportunities as men. The achievement of equality has not been
conditioned on the creation of a developed material base, but because,
throughout the revolutionary process, there has been a clear
consciousness of the necessity that the economic and social development
is accompanied with a profound educational work directed at eliminating
prejudice and sexist stereotypes, reconceptualizing the roles that men
and women carry out in society, in short, a true cultural transformation
of values and identities. The road has not been easy, nor free of
obstacles and resistance. It concerns all of us together, men and
women, to build an increasingly more just world.
Cubans feel proud of living in a country where we respect each other and
take each other into account, where we know, and therefore we defend the
value of free speech and, consequently, we are active participants in
the construction of a socialist society more just, equitable and human.
The role that women have played throughout these years was recognized by
Fidel Castro in a message on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of the
Federation of Cuban Women:
On this decisive issue, the Revolution has responded with the highest
respect for its women, with the search for increasingly broad and
promising avenues for the development of their potentials, with the
possibilities of access to professions and jobs arbitrarily prohibited
because of their sex, with the most fervent fight against the
discrimination of women, a stigmatizing residue is unacceptable in our
objective of creating a society more just and more human than has been
known [...] The great plans and human intentions which we have ahead
will be, in the first place, for the benefit of our women, heroines of
hard times and creators of the foundation times.21
Notes
1. The elaboration of the Action Plan was the result of a broad and
democratic debate in which agencies of the State and government,
academic institutions, research centers and social organizations
participated in the National Seminar on Cuban Women from Beijing to the
year 2000, where the results obtained up to that moment in the policies
directed at women, the obstacles and challenges for the future, were
evaluated.
See
Federación de Mujeres Cubanas (FMC), Las cubanas: de Beijing al 2000,
Editorial de la Mujer, La Habana, 1996 y Plan de Acción Nacional de
Seguimiento a la Conferencia de Beijing. República de Cuba, Editorial
de la Mujer, La Habana, 1998.
2. Sonia Montaño, Sostenibilidad política, técnica y financiera de los
Mecanismos para el Adelanto de las mujeres, Presentación en la 39ª
reunión de la Mesa Directiva de la Conferencia Regional sobre la Mujer
de América Latina y el Caribe, CEPAL, 11 y 12 de mayo del 2006, México,
D. F., 2006.
3. As a category of social sciences, gender is fundamental in order to
understand the forms of interaction between differently sexed beings.
It is, essentially, a fact of culture and of social relations among
groups and individuals. Gender relations are registered "not only on a
behavioral level, but in the area of cultural and symbolic ways of
social perception by sex".
See Ana
María Goldani, Reinventar políticas para familias reinventadas: entre la
realidad brasileña y la utopía, Familias y políticas públicas en América
Latina. Una historia de desencuentros, CEPAL, Santiago de Chile, 2007.
4. FMC, Algo más que palabras. El post-Beijing en Cuba: acciones y
evaluación, Editorial de la Mujer, La Habana, 1999; y II Seminario
Nacional de Evaluación del Plan de Acción Nacional de Seguimiento a la
Conferencia Mundial sobre la Mujer de Beijing, La Habana, 2001.
5. CEPAL, Antecedentes y propuestas de observatorio de género para
América Latina y el Caribe, Santiago de Chile, 2008.
6. Federación de Mujeres Cubanas y Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas,
Estudio comparativo sobre la mujer cubana 1953-2006. (En prensa).
7. Inés Reca, Mayda Álvarez et al., La familia en el ejercicio de sus
funciones, Editorial Pueblo y Educación, La Habana, 1991.
8. Instituto de Estudios e Investigaciones del Trabajo (IEIT), Estudio
sobre la situación laboral de la mujer rural incorporada a las formas de
producción cooperativa, Informe de investigación, La Habana, marzo de
2006.
9. IEIT, La presencia femenina en el mercado de trabajo, en las
diferentes categorías ocupacionales y sectores de la economía, la
segregación horizontal y vertical, los salarios e ingresos en general,
Informe de investigación, La Habana, 2007.
10. Inés Reca, Mayda Álvarez et al., ob. cit.
11. Oficina Nacional de Estadísticas (ONE), Encuesta sobre el uso del
tiempo, La Habana, 2002.
12. Infant mortality is now 5.3 per every thousand live births and the
maternal by direct causes has decreased significantly (21.3 per one
hundred thousand live births) compared to the pre-Revolutionary period
whose rate reached 136.5. Other health programs have also had important
impacts on the physical autonomy of women, like for example the
Climactic and Menopause Program, the one for the Elderly and others.
13.
Centro de Población y Desarrollo de la ONE, CITED, OPS, Esperanza de
vida. Cuba y provincias 2005-2007 (folleto), La Habana, 2003.
14. This is demonstrated by different investigations carried out in Cuba
(Clotilde Proveyer, Identidad femenina y violencia doméstica, una
aproximación desde la Sociología, tesis de Doctorado, Universidad de La
Habana, 2000, y Caridad Navarrete, citada en Silvia García Méndez et
al., Expresión en Cuba del fenómeno de la discriminación directa e
indirecta contra la mujer. Medidas adoptadas para prevenir, atender y
sancionar los casos que se presenten. Medidas especiales de carácter
temporal existentes y conveniencia de aplicar otras, Informe de
investigación, La Habana, 2007.
Also a
national investigation about family violence in the United States showed
that violence against wives had greater possibilities of occurring when
they are economically and psychologically dependent on the dominant
husband (National Family Violence Survey, 1975).
15.
Mayda Álvarez, «Mujer y poder en Cuba», Temas, n. 14, La Habana,
abril-junio de 1998, pp. 13-25, y Mayda Álvarez et al., «¿El poder tiene
género? (Un simposio)», Temas, n. 41-42, La Habana, enero-junio de 2005,
pp. 153-157.
16. Mayda Álvarez, «La familia cubana: políticas públicas y cambios
sociodemográficos, económicos y de género», en Cambio en las familias en
el marco de las transformaciones globales: necesidad de políticas
17. In 1992, only 13.5% of the constituency delegates
were women, representing a decrease of 3.5% with respect to the earlier
election process (1986), while the provincial delegates were 23.9% and
the deputies 22.8%, representing a reduction of 3.7% and 11.1%
respectively.
18. There are also 48 municipal vice-presidents (28.4%) and two
provincial (14.29%).
19. Mayda Álvarez, Inalvis Rodríguez y Ana V. Castañeda,
Capacitación en género y desarrollo humano, Editorial
Científico-Técnica, La Habana, 2004.
20. Mayda Álvarez et al., Situación de la niñez, la adolescencia, la
mujer y la familia en Cuba, Editorial de la Mujer, La Habana, 2000.
21. Fidel Castro, «Mensaje a las federadas por el 45 Aniversario de la
constitución de la Federación de Mujeres Cubanas», Mujeres, n. 3, La
Habana, 2005.
ORIGINAL URL OF THIS ARTICLE: http://tinyurl.com/d6qqrc
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