Cuban Women

As research on women has progressed, we have learned that there is no uniform relationship between level of economic development and women's labor force participation. We have also discovered that women have not been and are not as passive and subservient to men as cultural constructs, literature, and discourse convey. Although women in the 19th century worked, like 20th century women in most of the world, they earned less than men. The feminization of poverty is not new. It also proves to be persistent, even when women produce for the global economy and even when men's work evolves around their wives. Women's active role in the economy is not rooted in feminism. Nor is it the result or basis of "liberation." Rather, it typically is grounded in social, economic, and political necessity. By becoming more involved in the public sphere, by becoming more active in civil society and the communities where they live, women throughout Latin America are helping to bring about change. For the revolutionaries in Cuba, "the revolution accomplished many of their goals: capitalism was abolished and socialism was installed, eroding class distinctions and eliminating private property, the working conditions improved, women's rights improved, labor unions were recognized, the military became more modern and advanced, political order was restored, and the status of the country improved from dependent to independent"(Alexander, 76).