Spain is Different

There aren’t many places in the world where machismo is more stereotypically part of the culture than Mediterranean countries, especially Spain and Italy. Machismo can be understood as the dominance of men over women, and can be seen in domestic violence, low number of women in the workplace, unequal rights, treatment and/or pay, even, some would argue, and uneven balance in the amount of work done in the home. In the year 2009, how much of machismo is still alive in the Spanish society?

Fortunately, I would say that machismo is decreasing every day. More and more women are a part of the workforce, and even year the gap between levels of pay is closing a little. There are currently numerous female ministers in the government, including a female minister of the armed forces of Spain. Women have equal rights (although this was not achieved until after the death of Franco in 1975), although like other conservative countries, do not have the right to an abortion.

However, there are some negative points as well. Employers still hesitate, effectively, at hiring female employees. The government has passed legislature to guarantee women’s rights at the time of giving birth and the four months of maternity leave. Although protecting women with a job, it has resulted in some discrimination. Also, there is still a large disparity between the number of hours spent doing housework. Although the numbers might be reflected in many other countries, the current parenting generation seems to be doing little to educate their children differently, as would be expected.

Domestic violence exists, as it does in other countries around the world, but the government is actively fighting it. There are many resources available to abused women and a very public campaign against domestic violence.

As far as the stereotypical thought of Spain, my opinion would be that it is exaggerated.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS