Blog 11: The Changing of Women's Roles

The documentary we watched last week about the changing roles of women in Latin America was very interesting to me.  I never realized how much the women of Latin America really sacrificed and dealt with in order to gain a better life for themselves and their family.  Especially the elite women of society.  To me it didn't really make sense at first that they were the ones protesting in the streets because it was the poor women who really wanted and truly needed the change, but the fact that any women at all were able to make such a difference at that time blew me away.

There was one part of the documentary that angered me a bit though.  It was when Pinochet's wife created a movement to encourage women to go back to their traditional roles in the home.  I believe myself to be a modern woman, and I don't judge anyone who becomes a stay-at-home mom, but I just believe that everyone should have a choice of what they want to do and shouldn't be pressured to be one thing or the other.  Women of the time had made so many strides toward changing their traditional roles in society and this movement threatened to push everything back to the way it was.

My real question is why did Pinochet's wife want to encourage women to go back to the traditional roles in Latin American society?  To me it would make more sense that she would encourage women to gain their own sense of power being a powerful women herself.  Does anyone have any ideas?