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The COVID-19 pandemic and particularly, mitigation measures taken by government institutions in Mexico, such as the closure of all schools at all levels of education, have brought strong regressive consequences in terms of both education and gender equality. In this paper, we start from a theoretical framework of gender and family to analyze, along with the negative repercussions of this measure (especially for women and children), an embodied experience of upbringing and community education in Mexico. This experience seeks to preserve educational and labor rights violated by school closures such as sociability, guardianship and custody of minors, the right to a life free of violence, work-life balance, among others. Our aim is to suggest some keys for an ecofeminist and community solution to the education crisis in this country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reflects on the gender perspective, historicization and decolonization as part of a theoretical-methodological proposal, to understand the gender systems that support masculinities and models of being a man, linked to reproduction and contemporary indigenous survival in Mexico. It constitutes a first effort of reflective analysis, on how to approach these ethnicized and gendered realities, specifically on masculinities and being a man. To do this, we start by discussing the contributions of some gender studies of men and masculinities, which do not constitute an exhaustive and updated review, but only an approximation to the growing knowledge base, to support the methodological proposal with which it seeks to understand the patriarchal, heterosexist and colonizing constraints on men and women of indigenous peoples. In this work, it is argued that re-readings of these realities are required through theoretical-methodological proposals that are sensitive to these realities, in order to stop the homogenizing views of the indigenous gendered subject, specifically the masculinized one from westernized gender systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies factors that influence the decisions to take credits from formal and from informal sources in Mexico. Employing data from the Mexican National Survey of Financial Inclusion, the econometric results reveal a set of factors that have a positive effect on the choices of formal credit, but negative in the choice of informal sources (income, education, marital status, gender, and access to insurance), another set that statistically explains only the choice of formal sources (ownership of collateral, size of the household, financial savings, and ownership of cellphones), and a variable that only influences the use of informal sources (age). The study helps to improve our understanding of why participation in the formal sector in Mexico remains low relative to its informal counterpart. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores a form of digital communication among young people that arises with the cheapening of digital technologies and the emergence of the Internet: sexting. Based on a qualitative methodology and a gender theoretical approach, it explores the forms of experience and significance of this practice in young people aged 15 to 19, from two Mexican cities. It is concluded that sexting should be understood as a collective practice, not individual, inserted in a framework of gender relations and, therefore, of power. It seeks to contribute to the understanding of a new and hardly studied communicative phenomenon in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes, from a theoretical point of view, the development of an explanation of Mexican youth social vulnerability through some statistical evidence, which showed the weakness of institutions, which have been favorable to the reproduction of gender inequality that is linked at the same time to the context of poverty and social inequality. It is concluded that in Mexico City precarious youth plays in various ways despite the institutionalization of the different social assistance programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on gender violence has been conducted since the sixties. The problem has been conceptualized and documented, although not necessarily looked after. Oaxaca stands out as one of the states where women are more likely to be attacked. This paper analyzes gender violence in Ayutla, a Mixe community of Oaxaca. Data were gathered through quantitative and qualitative methods. The main results are: psychological violence is the most common one; numerous cases of incest and ravishment occur; economic violence generally involves men totally abandoning women; local and State authorities exercise institutional violence by neglecting women s charges. The paper analyzes women's discursive strategies to re-signify their rights, and a successful case of rape within marriage which strengthened the struggle for such rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a theoretical framework that links gender perspective-public budgets with the modernization of the public administration, taking as the starting point its parallelism with the result-oriented management and public finances. Also, it focuses in the advances in the implementation of budgets for gender in the world and it discussed its scope and limitations in the case of Mexico, based on the review of international agreements and their results in the institutionalization of the category of gender in public policies and plans in the federal and local government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the results of the evaluation of an instrument on gender institutional culture are analyzed using the principal components method. The structure and parameters of its validity and reliability, as well as the differences obtained by sex, are described. The sample consisted of 1,144 individuals from the educational, health, and research sectors in northwestern Mexico. The results showed four components: administrative processes, employment equity, benefits, working environment, and authoritarianism, which explain 40.90 of variance with a Cronbachs alpha of .88. With these obtained values, the instrument is considered valid and reliable to evaluate institutional culture and identify gender bias. Methodology can be replicated to adapt the instrument to other regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from an empirical study undertaken by the author at two National Museums in Mexico, this paper examines the interactions of the museums' visitors, as agents that use their capacity and resources to interact with one another as well as with the knowledges and narratives displayed at the museums. Grounded in contemporary debates in the social sciences, the analysis aims at elucidating the dynamics and the experience of power relations as social processes; it presents the different forms in which history and other knowledge, as well skills and abilities, interplay in such processes. The study reveals the social nature of the construction of historical knowledge and its usage —or lack thereof — in the teaching of history and in the formation of national and cultural identities in state institutions such as museums. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender mainstreaming has become the major tool for governments to promote gender equality since 1995 Beijing Conference. This paper reviews the achievements of GM in Mexican environmental policy through the analysis of two programs operated by SEMARNAT, Equidad de Género, Medio Ambiente y Sustentabilidad program (2002-2006), Hacia la Igualdad de Género y la Sustentabilidad Ambiental program (2007-2012), and Programa Nacional Hídrico (2007-2012). Drawing on this analysis, the paper makes some recommendations to mainstream gender in the design and implementation of the country's water policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the characteristics of migration process in Baja California Sur, on the Pacific Ocean coast of northwest Mexico, where immigration has impacted the local economy through the development of tourism and intensive agriculture that target foreign markets. This has encouraged an annual rate of population growth of 10% during the last decade, feeding into employment in both formal and informal sectors. Referring to the cases of women who develop beach vending activities and agricultural workers, this paper seeks to contribute to the understanding of how migration and the informal labor market intertwine [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between economic development and the entrance of women into the labor market. In particular, it reviews the links between female labor force participation [FLFP] and several variables associated with development —economic structure, income level, poverty, inequality, marginalization, human development and other specific gender indicators. This essay analyses the case of municipalities in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua. Based on empirical study, a causal relationship framework between FLFP and the development of regions is proposed. This paper concludes that women's participation in the economy has a significant impact on development; therefore, regions must formulate public policies that create more opportunities for the incorporation of women into the labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas (CDI) supports indigenous women through productive projects; training activities; and by strengthening their organizations. This paper analyzes the role of this institution in promoting the empowerment of Chontal women living in Tabasco. Research was conducted with seven groups that belong to the Fondo Regional de Mujeres Chontales (FRMCh), an organization that has been acknowledged for its financial solvency. Data were obtained through participant observation; eight focal groups and 32 interviews with women; and six semi-structured interviews with male and female fund operators. The results are discussed along three axis: the relationships within women's groups; the opportunities for personal development that the CDI offers to women, and the way it operates. The paper concludes that, in spite of some deficiencies in such operation, some women have developed self-management abilities and have taken control of their projects. Some have also benefited from training activities in project management and women's rights. However these actions must reach a larger number of women and must clearly incorporate a gender perspective in order to empower them more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper reflects on utilization of the gender category in food and nutrition studies in Mexico. It highlights women's important role as caretakers of family health and nutrition. Briefly the authors review how women have been analysed in the different food an nutrition surveys; how gender has been effaced in the "mean per capita", and how women have been taken into account only as far as their reproductive role. This paper also outlines the importance of including the gender category and gender approach in food and nutrition studies; in order to clearly visualize the feeding inequities among men and women throughout the stages of the feeding process, i.e. decision, provision, preparation, distribution and intake. Moreover, improved understanding of women's nutrition practices and meanings that foods convey to women is advocated. In the conclusion the absolute need to articulate the gender issue in nutrition, nursing and medical academic curricula is stated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gender, environment, and development approach proposes the study of women's fights and obligations toward natural resources, as well as institutions and property relations that govern the access to such resources within specific socio-environmental contexts. From this viewpoint, this paper studies the fishing activities of native women and men from Veracruz, Mexico, focusing on two processes: the gender construction of the fishing arts and the gender socialization in fishing activities. This paper shows that both processes make women specialize in certain water resources, which are important to securing feeding to their communities. An environmental policy with a gender perspective will be able to visualize woman roles in food provisioning, and to strengthen their control over the resources they currently manage, based on the environmental knowledge women have about them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines different approaches to nutrition and food consumption practices in Mexico in terms of conceptual focus, analytical tools and major debates. Four approaches are analyzed: research that examines Mexican public policy vis-à-vis food production and distribution; economic studies focusing on the analysis of the national food pattern; anthropological investigation based on cultural feeding habits and research from a nutritional perspective, studying food consumption and its relation to population nutritional status. This paper points out that the above approaches do not consider a gender perspective, and reviewing some studies based on a gender category as their central analysis tool, the paper underlines the need to conduct further research on gender differences between men and women and their access to productive resources, income management and food distribution and consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with sexual behavior from a gender perspective in women from a town located at the south of Veracruz State, Mexico. I point out how the female sexual behavior is a result from that particular male society and how it imposes moral codes to women, due to their male hegemony which needs to control female sexual behavior. I analyze that sexuality is a social construction and a changing historical product, therefore sexual moral codes are present as changing elements that show in advance the social picture and the female fantasies over their moral obligations. Also, transgressions from the "ruling" perspective are explained in accordance with the idea that accepted sexuality is genderized from a moral point of view but not relevant with the actual activities of the collectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I present some of the findings of my doctoral research "Parental Arrangements of gay men in Mexico City: destabilization or continuity?" While identifying the similarities and differences in the arrangements of people of the sexual diversity, I analyze and criticize the terms homoparentality and homoparental family, and I point out some of the implications of using such terms without identifying the legacy of its creation and I propose some other options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The new labor environment is characterized by the insecurity of the workforce; a problem that particularly affects young people. Under this preamble, the objective of the paper is to analyze the working conditions of the working population in the city of Toluca from a gender perspective. Precisely, this is to estimate different levels of insecurity as older age groups, as well as men and women between 14 and 29 years of age. This was accomplished by estimating the rate of job insecurity on data from the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) of the first quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2010. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically society has placed more attention on the unmarried woman as opposed to the unmarried male, which is reflected in the lack of research on male bachelorhood. This paper presents an analysis of the reason that gives professional men of medium socioeconomic level of Mexico about his singleness. We conducted a qualitative research, with semistructured interviews in seven participants between 32 and 49 years old. The data show that among the reasons to continue bachelor identifies three central arguments: the defense of freedom, the refusal to be economical provider, and the impact of loving rejections. Continued discussion if they are building new ways of being a man, if they can generate changes for the benefit of both genders, or his singleness be based on traditional stereotypes with modern dyes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyze the gender wage discrimination in manufacturing of Saltillo and Hermosillo. The source of information is derived from the National Survey of Occupation and Employment (ENOE) 2005-2011. The results show the existence of gender wage gap, which averaged 25.0 percent exceeded the favor of men and where decomposition of it allows for more than 80.0 percent of the disparity is associated with discrimination against women, and not seen a reduction in the time and if an extension of the wage gap in the crisis years. For urban areas, there are significant differences in terms of the wage gap, but on average, Hermosillo has a higher level of wage discrimination, despite the increased participation of women in manufacturing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emotional distress is the subjective sensation of diminishment in wellbeing which manifests itself in a number of unspecific symptoms. It might be a risk factor for the development of mental illness, especially among individuals with psychosocial or biological vulnerability. Recent studies show that primary health care services receive a growing number of patients who suffer distress, but do not fulfill the diagnostic criteria of a mental or physical illness. This phenomenon is more frequent among women. The objective of this paper is to analyze the emotional distress experienced by a group of women who attended primary health care institutions in Mexico City, as well as their perceptions and experiences around the attention received, in order to identify their treatment needs. Data was gathered through techniques and instruments pertaining qualitative methodology. The information was coded and analyzed according to the meaning categorization method developed by Kvale. The results show that the main triggers of emotional distress are associated to daily life worries (lack of money, problems with children, domestic violence, among others). In some cases, it is associated as well with traumatic events, such as violence and sexual abuse in the past or at present. Data also suggest that women do not talk about emotional distress directly during medical consultations and that health care professionals do not identify distress or minimize its importance. These aspects are related to the current characteristics of the service, which lacks a comprehensive approach and a psychosocial point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP) contribute to the food security of forest communities. Around 1000 of those are used in Mexico, but little information is available on local knowledge and women's roles in NTFP management. This paper pursues three objectives: to describe the distribution, light and soil conditions of a NTFP called "poleo" Satureja macrostema (Benth.) Briq.; to document local knowledge on this plant; to analyze gender differences in terms of access, use and trade. Research was conducted in San Miguel Mixtepec, a Zapotec community of the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. Methods include soil and canopy analysis, participant observation, interviews and workshops. Poleo grows under a closed canopy, in slightly acid, organically rich soils. Local knowledge on the plant's reproductive process contributes to its permanence. The plant is used for community rituals, as ornament, food and medicine. Men predominate in the first two uses and women in the remaining ones. Trading activities are female-dominated, mostly by 'widows' (adult women with children and no partner). The plant is informally traded in regional markets at very low prices. However, its barter or sale contributes to diversify local diets and is a good example of women's subsistence activities in the forest communities of Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we analyze the results of an assessment of the current situation of gender violence in different scenarios, in Sonora, Mexico, based on data from the National Survey on the Dynamics of Household Relation-ships (2006). Violence more frequently reported by women was that of community. Mobbing and bullying occur in smaller proportions. The results suggest the need of expanding areas of analysis in Endireh to enhance its ability to identify violence in different settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this paper were to describe the prevalence of self-defined sexual orientation, and to predict its presence or absence with the second National Survey of the Youth (ENJUVE, 2005) data. In a probability sample of 25,630 Mexicans of 12 to 29 year-old women and men, the prevalence of the non-heterosexual identity was 2.5% men and 1.1% women. The non-heterosexual identity was predicted by masculine gender, homosexual intercourses, falling in love with a person of the same gender and absence of religious adscription, that is, facilitating factors that imply the greater impulse of the masculine sexuality, to integrate the own homosexual behavior, to recognize their homosexual desire, and to free themselves from the moral condemnation that endures the Judeo-Christian conception of the homosexuality. The data show a reality to be listened to and respected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we assess the impact on socioeconomic conditions, quality of life and empowerment of women who were beneficiaries of credit programs aimed at women’s productive projects. These projects were developed between 2000 and 2003 by four federal agencies (Sedesol, CDI'INI, Fonaes y SRa) in the states of Tabasco, Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico. Likewise, we examine the opportunities for individual, family and community development of the women involved in these projects. We identified the operating characteristics of these programs in order to identifies deficiencies in their performance and suggest viable alternatives for a better implementation and a higher social impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses three recent trends in the business world: the presence of greater numbers of women in this activity, the formation of organizations to support their work and the construction of a new profile of women entrepreneurs. I will question about how the increase of women in business has not been reflected in a greater position of them in the direction of the traditional sector organizations. However, it detects a tendency to seek and incorporate non-governmental organizations to support their work with gender claim. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, poverty analyses and policies against poverty have incorporated women as a relevant factor. Nevertheless, some criticisms have been raised against them: first, most of the time, they have relied on an instrumental perspective which does not guarantee better conditions of gender equity; second, poverty analyses have generally become reactive tools that seek to compensate for a current situation, not to prevent it from occurring in the future. This paper therefore proposes to go beyond poverty analyses to identify distinctive features of households derived from social constructions that have an effect on vulnerability, particularly in households headed by women. We point out the importance of an analysis from a gender perspective in order to identify the features which make households more vulnerable to suffering or worsening their conditions of poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Amartya Sen's theoretical insights, this paper analyzes indigenous women's poverty in the Sierra Negra, Puebla, as well as their development capacity resulting from their participation in the "Sociedad de Productores Indígenas Ecológicos Sierra Negra Sociedad Civil" (SPIESN, S. C.). Data was collected using a quanti-qualitative approach: a survey, eight in-depth interviews, three participatory workshops and field participant observation were conducted. Results indicate that women value literacy, own-income generation, and land ownership. However, they also face structural limitations when attempting to develop capacities in these areas. Their participation in the organization has given positive results to this effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this paper were to study the ECODI27 distribution to determine a cut-point for diagnosis of the dissocial behavior problems as well to evaluate its discriminative and concurrent validity. A sample of 798 northwestern Mexican adolescent (648 students and 150 offenders) was used, and the measure instruments were ECODI27 and the EPI. The distributions of the ECODI27 and its factors were negatively skewed in the students' sample, but were normal in the sample of male offenders. A score of 85 or less was proposed for the dissocial disorder diagnosis. The scale and its factors presented discriminative and concurrent validity with the EPI 2-dimensions, especially with extroversion. Its bias with social desirability was scant. It is concluded that the ECODI is appropriate to use in Mexico. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on data on a very wide spectrum of behavior, attitudes and stereotypes through which gender discrimination manifests itself, this paper introduces and sketches in broad strokes the current situation of gender equality and gender violence in elementary and secondary schools in Mexico. The sample included 395 public elementary and secondary schools nation. wide; questionnaires were applied to 26 319 boys and girls. Among the most important findings are that: a) two thirds of the boys and the girls reported having been physically assaulted in the last two years; b) 6.3% of the boys and girls said spontaneously that the first thing they would change about their school would be to reduce violence, and c) that psychological aggression has the highest incidence and is directed towards both boys and girls, but has a greater effect on the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the gender differences in associated meanings, attitudes and behavior in a sample of 395 students, using a self-report questionnaire. The data are analyzed by cluster analysis, factor analysis, Student t, Mann-Whitney's U and chi-square. In both genders we find a positive image of sexuality, bound to a discourse typical of sexual education. Women given more value to sexuality within the couple's relationship and to sexual abstinence. With respect to the associated meaning 5 groups can be distinguished: Physical sex, with masculine bias; sex as an expression of love and sexual education messages, both with feminine bias; maturity and associated academic topics, as well as gender difference, both without gender bias. Female sexual behavior is more inhibited. It is concluded that the strongest differences appear in behavior, being congruent with the differences in attitudes and meanings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses Mexican cinema, not as a form of consumption, but as a cultural practice that produces and reproduces meaning, as well as film viewing "as an interaction, re-signification and negotiation" of this meaning, and film audiences as the construct and the subject of an interpretative community. The analysis is based on empirical materials obtained from different audience segments in Guadalajara, and on two landmarks of contemporary Mexican film: Amores Perros (2000) directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, and iY tu mamá también! (2001) directed by Alfonso Cuarón, discussing how gender as a referential and analytical category had an important effect on the audience's film viewing and film-related discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the links between divorce law, gender differences, and justice for women in a working-class neighborhood of Guadalajara, Mexico. It presents evidence from women, lawyers, and judges, that shows how the application of divorce law does not necessarily mean justice for women. The testimony presented has to do with women's experience, but also with that of lawyers and judges who are in charge of divorce cases. The article is part of ethnographic research on how men and women take decisions in the process of divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the relationship between source of income and type of expenditure through the decisions made by 92 peasant women from Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico during an entire agricultural cycle. Results show that even amongst women with little money, income generated or obtained independently by this gender is spent more on capital goods, children's education, and luxury goods than the money they obtain from their husbands and other relatives. We use these results to discusses that the empowerment of women and the source of income they represent are of mayor importance to family economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]