http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
This study explores how the shift from a rural, hacienda-based economy to an urban, market-based one has affected motherhood in San Vicente, a small Ecuadorian barrio. Based on participant observation and in-depth interviews, this study illustrates the varying influences of structure, culture, chance and choice in the lives of barrio mothers. First, I show that since the downfall of the haciendas in San Vicente, the costs of entering the mother role have increased. Given these new costs, barrio women have developed more negative feelings about entering motherhood, but often do little to prevent that entrance. Next, I demonstrate that San Vicente's urban shift helped to create more rigid categories for male and female roles, designating men more exclusively to the public sphere of work and women to the private sphere of the home. Although barrio mothers assume the reproductive duties in the home, they often must, because of economic necessity, become income producers as well. To meet the often competing demands of production and reproduction, barrio mothers have created a complex private sphere where they juggle both. Finally, I show that since the urban shift, children have become more central to family life in San Vicente and that mothers have begun to dedicate more time and resources to readying their children for entrance into the adult world. I also explain, however, that these expenditures do not always pay off and that while many mothers strive to gain upward mobility for their children, few actually achieve it.
Issued also on microfiche from University Microfilm Inc.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 135-141).