Capital Socio-Femenino: Latina Adolescent Street Vendors Protecting the Men in their Lives.

• In Event: Informality and Markets

Abstract

This article demonstrates that the work that girls and boys do as street vendors in Los Angeles, California, both perpetuates and challenges gendered expectations among Latino families. The girls in this study are performing a type of work that has been gendered as feminine (food preparation) and they are doing this gendered work on the street, a space that has been gendered as masculine and inappropriate for señoritas (virginal women). While the street is more appropriate for males, in this context, men report more instances of violence from gang members and their peers. Thus an unintended opportunity is created for street vending women, young and old, to exercise what I call capital socio-femenino. The social, political, economic and cultural context in which street vending takes place creates a paradigm shift where the presence of women in street vending markets of L.A. serves as a protective mechanism for male street vendors of all ages.

Author

• Emir Estrada