The Family in Latin America: A Gender Approach

Abstract

The paper examines recent transformations in Latin American families, emphasizing commonalities between different countries. Such changes are embedded in cultural and historical processes of change that provide the broad interpretational context within which to view the observed microsocial transformations in familial relations. These changes have affected household composition as well as the existing array of family types. The main transformations observed are illustrated by drawing from a selective set of work. We argue that changes in family life and the foundational relations in the family are in need of reconceptualization capable of capturing the new dimensions that have emerged, and reexamining the main theoretical and analytical schemes underlying the sociology of the family of the past decades. Among emerging approaches, we argue that the feminist view that adopts a critical and reflexive stance on past family research opens new vistas, as it seeks to study the family not merely as an institution, but as a nexus of organized social relations of a different order, including solidarity and conflict, power and authority, and rights and obligations. An important contribution of the feminist approach is to study relational asymmetries (between gender or generations) inherent in the unfolding of family life.

Persistent marriage regimes in changing times

“…Although social stratification certainly undermines and strains the abilities of families to provide for their members, the common strategy in Latin America is to reorganize family relations, roles, and obligations to cope with these stresses rather than breaking apart into independent units (Salles & Tuirán, 1997). Family exchange and support networks have been the most important source of stability during the period when labor markets contracted and collapsed, and the small efforts made by governments to make a welfare state were withdrawn under the demands of structural adjustment.…”

Family status and later-life depression among older adults in urban Latin America and the Caribbean

“…Additional sensitivity analyses were conducted to examine gender differences in the relationship between parental status, marital status and depressive symptoms. Given family life within Latin America and the Caribbean is more central to women's social roles relative to men (Salles and Tuirán, 1997; Safa, 2005), it might be expected that childlessness may be more important to women's mental health than men's. The analyses do not support this assumption as results (available in supplementary material online) indicate that there were no statistically significant interaction effects between parental status and gender on depressive symptoms.…”

“I Am Not Just a Feminist Eight Hours a Day”

“…Women have dramatically increased their participation in the formal labor market, securing household resources and taking on political representation (Chant 2002; Lind 2012; Pribilsky 2007). Studies further find that the (male-headed) family no longer serves as the major production unit; patriarchal power in the family has declined; and norms and practices limiting sexuality to reproduction have waned, all of which may prompt families to construct more flexible and equal gender positions (Carlo et al 2007; Lavrin 1987; Salles and Tuirán 1997).…”