The Effects of Hacienda Culture on the Gendered Division of Labor within the Charro Community

• In Event: 324 - Section on Race, Gender, and Class Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 16. RGC and Theory

Abstract

This research proposes to examine how public performance and participation performance groups relate to gendered division of labor in the private sector within a particular Mexican subgroup. Literature on the gendered division of labor focuses on married couples but ignores men’s social networks such as hypermasculine performance groups. I conducted an ethnographic participatory observation and in-depth interviews with female and male members of the Charro community. This article will analyze Charro communities from various cities and towns in Mexico. Charros, in this study, are urban horsemen that incorporate a rural or hacienda culture to their public performances. Regardless of their exposure to urbanized gendered ideologies, Charro community member’s perceptions of gender coincide with those of hacienda culture which tend to be more traditional and conservative. Therefore, I analyzed the interactions between Charros, their performances, their practice sessions, and their personal lives and beliefs to consider how hacienda culture may produce particular views of gendered division of labor in the household.

Author

• Beatriz Aldana Marquez, Texas A&M University