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Women's Contribution to Equality in Latin America and the Caribbean

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women and politics

Following is an exerpt from an article about women in politics throughout the world, particularly South America. This shows that the potential is really here, this day and age, to have more women influencing American politics.

By Jack Chang, McClatchy Newspapers Mon Oct 22, 1:23 PM ET

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Defying Latin America's longtime reputation as a bastion of machismo, women in South America are winning political power at an unprecedented rate and taking top positions in higher education and even, albeit more slowly, in business.

The election last year of Michelle Bachelet to Chile's presidency and the all-but-certain victory of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner in Argentina's presidential balloting next Sunday are the most visible examples of the trend.

South American women also are leading important social movements and are earning, studying and speaking out more than ever. For the first time, women are forcing their traditionally male-dominated societies to confront such issues as domestic violence and reproductive health.

"I think there's been a general change," said Elena Highton , who in 2004 became Argentina's first female Supreme Court judge appointed by a democratically elected government. She promptly headed a commission on domestic violence.

"This is the time of the woman, and people want to try something new," Highton said. "Women are seen as more believable, more honest, more direct. And in this world dominated by men, we've seen lots of failures."

It's a fundamental shift in a region long ruled almost exclusively by men, where the influence of women was relegated to the home or, in public life, to supporting roles for powerful spouses.

Such perceptions changed for good, many say, with Bachelet's election last year in one of the most socially conservative countries in the hemisphere. A single mother and an atheist with no family member already in power, Bachelet, 56, won support from male and female Chileans in her historic election.

Public opinion polls in neighboring Argentina show similar widespread support for Kirchner, a longtime politician and current senator who's expected to win the contest to succeed her husband, Nestor, in this country's top job. Kirchner has frequently cited U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton as an inspiration.

Women are considered possible successors to the top spot elsewhere in South America .

In Paraguay , former education minister Blanca Ovelar is a top candidate to represent the long-ruling Colorado Party in next April's presidential race. In Brazil , presidential chief of staff Dilma Rousseff has emerged as a possible front-runner for the presidency in 2010. They follow women who were elected president in Central America in the 1990s, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro in Nicaragua and Mireya Moscoso Rodriguez in Panama .

The emergence of what's been called a "feminine bloc" in the Western Hemisphere's Southern Cone is yet more evidence of the historic changes that have opened doors for millions of women.

Latin American women also have taken charge in more humble circumstances. Soledad Puebla , 54, runs a bustling day care center in the slums of Santiago, Chile's capital. She's also the activist heart of her neighborhood and a confidante of legislators in Bachelet's government.

Puebla grew up desperately poor on the city's periphery and worked for years as a nanny before she joined a local Lutheran church and became a community organizer. She eventually was appointed the church's regional coordinator, which sent her around the world.

Speaking tearfully in her cramped office, she seemed astonished by her latest accomplishment— earning a college degree in social work, something that was unimaginable to the poorly educated grandparents who raised her.

"When I grew up, we didn't even have a mattress to sleep on," Puebla said. "So this is what I tell people now: When you want to rise as a woman and value your life, you can. But you have to be true to what you think and fulfill the agreement you make with yourself."

Latin American women still trail men in key measures of social well-being, according to the World Economic Forum , which ranks gender equality in 116 countries based on education, health and economic and political participation. Of Latin American countries, Costa Rica ranked the highest, 31st of 116 countries, and Bolivia , the lowest, at 88th.

But women are steadily catching up, United Nations statistics show. In many instances, the gaps are closing much faster than they are in the United States .

For example, the average wage of urban Latin American women has grown from 70 percent of men's in 1990 to 90 percent this year, and they're expected to reach parity by 2015, U.N. figures show. For comparison, U.S. women earned 77 percent of what men earned working full-time, year-round jobs in 2006.

In the business world, women make up as much as 35 percent of the managers in private companies, also a dramatic increase from just a decade ago, according to the International Labor Organization . However, they still account for only 10 percent of company presidents and vice presidents, according to a seven-country survey by the U.S.-based think tank the Inter-American Dialogue.

Women have made some of their biggest advances in politics, where thousands of women are reaching public office, many for the first time.

About a quarter of all Latin American local council members are women, more than double the percentage from a decade ago.

Women also make up more than a quarter of the Cabinet ministers in the region and more than a fifth of lower-chamber national legislators in Costa Rica , Cuba , Argentina , Peru , Guyana , Suriname, Ecuador , Honduras and Mexico , double the regional rate in 1990. By comparison, only 16 percent of the U.S. Congress is female.

In the eyes of Ana Maria Romero de Campero , who was Bolivia's top human rights official, women are riding the same democratic wave that's empowered other marginalized groups, such as indigenous people and the poor working class.

It's no coincidence, she said, that women are making gains at the same time that her country elected its first indigenous president, Evo Morales , or neighboring Brazil chose Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , a former factory worker, as its president. Both leaders were the first presidents in their countries not to come from white, privileged backgrounds.

"This democratic process is raising the question of the rights of different people," Romero de Campero said. "And people are asking, 'Do women have the rights of equality along with human rights?'"

Fourteen countries in Latin America have passed quota laws requiring that as many as 40 percent of the candidates for political posts be women. Similar laws require that women fill a minimum number of union leadership posts and even executive-branch positions.

That's produced dramatic results in countries such as Argentina , the first in the region to implement quotas. Women now make up 35 percent of the lower house and 43 percent of the Senate. Only nine countries claim higher percentages of female lower-house legislators, and two of those are in Latin America — Costa Rica and Cuba . The other seven are Rwanda , Sweden , Finland , Norway , Denmark , the Netherlands and Spain .

"We women in the Congress have managed to be respected, but the road here was a long road, and there were many acts of discrimination along the way," said Argentine Sen. Silvia Ester Gallego , who helped lead the push in 1991 to pass the quota laws.

But the shift isn't just a political one, said Lidia Casas Becerra , a law professor and women's rights activist in Chile . Traditional notions about gender roles are changing, and women, as well as men, are taking on new responsibilities.

"This is still a very machista country, and it's hard to make that cultural transformation, but Bachelet was a beginning," Casas Becerra said. "Chileans are, in fact, much more liberal now than their political elite."

"Things have changed a lot since our parents' generation," said Rodrigo Delgado , 31, who was picking up his son from a Santiago, Chile , day care center while his wife worked. "There are more women working now because that's what we need to do to survive. And at home, we share the responsibilities."

Not everybody sees the changes as a step in the right direction.

Argentine community leader Monica Carranza said the breakdown of the traditional, male-headed household is to blame for the abandonment of thousands of women and children on the poor outskirts of Buenos Aires , where she runs a network of shelters and a soup kitchen.

"For me, the man had his home, his family, his children, and the man was the strong machine, and the woman took care of her children and her man, and now everything has been turned around," Carranza said. "I think the changes have been lamentable."

Other women, such as Brazilian legislator Marina Maggessi, complain that women are still denied real power. Brazilian women, for example, make up only 9 percent of federal legislators, although quota laws require that women comprise a quarter of each party's candidate list. Like several other countries with quota laws, Brazil's government has dragged its feet on enforcing them.

"What we need is women to wake up," said Maggessi, who was the chief of Rio de Janeiro state's anti-narcotics police before being elected last year. "The majority of the electorate are women, but they still elect men."

Many women find their path to power in extraordinary circumstances. Roxana Argandona Vargas was a poor farmer with four children in Bolivia's Chapare region when she began protesting a U.S.-backed campaign to eradicate coca plants, the primary ingredient of cocaine, but an economic mainstay for growers. Eventually she was elected president of the women's branch of the local coca growers union and then the president of the city council of Villa Tunari.

"Before, we women were totally excluded from the union meetings and were just asked to serve food to the men," Argandona Vargas said. "There's still machismo here. Some men will die as machistas. But now we women know what our rights are."

busy bees are we...

My sis is on a roll! Here are her latest 3 creations!







this baby bag is impressive :D and just plain adorable!!

We're going on a bear hunt...

Ok, not really...lol, that's one of my son's favorite books though! What we're really doing is going camping! A trip just for the adults (who will end up acting like kids before this weekend is over lol) ! Our friends have a boat & have taken care of all the food, my job was to take care of the margarita supply...so, off I went today to the liquor store & $110 later I think I may have enough to take care of the whole brood for the weekend! My hubby went and got us a new tent & he can't wait to get out there, I just hope that it's not this muggy all weekend *fingers crossed*...if so, at least maybe the margaritas will make us all forget about that :)

I have been tagged am now tagging my new friends here:

7 Things I'd like to do before I die.
1. Travel abroad.
2. Start drawing again.
3. Start my own business.
4. Take piano lessons.
5. Get this eBay carp organized!
6. Learn to speak another language.
7. Visit all 50 states.

7 things I cannot do (or do well?)
1. Whistle
2. Listen to a book on tape
3. Sing
4. Understand narrowminded people.
5. Crochet the zig-zag stitch
6. Knit
7. Play the guitar

7 things I can do
1. Garage sale
2. Cook
3. Curl my toes (which freaks out my hubby, cause my sis can too)
4. Learn the words to songs
5. Crochet
6. Make a heck of a good margarita!
7. Crossword puzzles


7 things that attracted me to my Husband
1. His friendship.
2. Sense of humor.
3. His love of children.
4. Communication
5. Work ethic.
6. Height
7. Eyes

7 things I say often
1. Actually
2. A whole nother thing...
3. Pick up your toys! start listening
4. Clean your room! lol
5. I have to move these boxes (off the bed so my sis can have a place to sleep)
6. I have no idea what we're having for lunch (or dinner)
7. I'll be in the garage

7 Books I Love
1. Angels & Demons
2. Davinci Code
3. Poisonwood Bible
4. Memoirs of a Geisha
5. Drowning Ruth
6. The Color of Water
7. Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

7 Movies I Love
1. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Reality Bites
4. Charlie's Angels
5. Save the Last Dance
6. All 4 Lethal Weapon
7. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

only 20% dixie?

I just had to take the "linguistic profile"... here are the results:

Your Linguistic Profile:

65% General American English

20% Dixie

5% Midwestern

5% Upper Midwestern

0% Yankee

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

...looks like there are lots of other interesting links on this site, even if you don't want to know how much dixie y'all got in ya ;)

We had a great visit and family celebration last weekend. We celebrated mine and sis's birthday (we're twins), as well as Dads. My brother Joey came to town & I was even able to give him the gift I had tucked away for when he graduated law school...lol, only 2 years ago! And of course, Memorial Day! May is such a great month!!

As usual, Janice made lots of great food and Dad put together his special fruit salad...after we all got all full and a little tipsy happy the cameras came out hahaha, so I got a bunch of great pics...some posed, some taken for fun & some taken from my sons perspective...here's the one that was posed that i made fun :)

on this day...

Jakob would have been 9 years old today.

Blessed Be.

Back in the old days...

Today my son and I sat down and looked at pictures. He wanted to see pictures of himself "back in the old days" haha, he's five. So, that's what we did. We sat down in the hallway, next to the bookshelf that has all of the photo albums and boxes of pictures, and looked at what we all looked like back then...all of 5 years ago ;)

He kept telling me how much he misses his brother, a subject that has been tough on all of us, and how he wants this picture when he's 6 and that photo album when he's 16... even after he was over looking, I sat there and flipped through the hundreds of pics I have of both of my boys. Chase has a hard time understanding why him and Jakob are not in any pictures together...it's been a tough morning.

I have decided, though, that it is time to get some of these photos scanned onto my puter...I would hate to lose any of them, because like Chase said we were "all beautiful back in the old days".

Handmade Purse Sale! Woohoo!

I want to thank Alyson for being our first purse buyer!! Watch her adoption story at her blog!

The pictures just don't do them justice, I hope you'll love it more once you receive it :) (here's the one she is getting, there are 2 more, made with this fabric, left):






My sister has been working her butt off, here are some of the other really adorable purses she's made:







AND she told me tonight she has bigger ones cut out and on the way! (I'm already carrying my new kitty cat purse - it is sooo cute, it looks like it has my cat, Bailey, all over it! sorry everyone, but i had to have it! there was only enough fabric to do one purse....i'll post a picture of mine tomorrow (if i remember lol)....

good night

Baby Niece Update

Well we're still waiting patiently to find out when we will be able to travel and pick up my Sis's baby girl! She is adopting and until she started this I had absolutely no idea the paperwork and red tape one has to go through in order to adopt a child. Over on the right I have a link to her blog TripToChina. She has broken it all down & boy is that interesting too...I can see how easy it is to just assume that all the money involved goes straight to one place, but that isn't the case at all.

So, we are working together to try and earn enough money to cover the travel costs. She is making purses to sell and I am in charge of selling them. Well thank goodness they are adorable! (wink, wink, that really goes without saying) And can be seen at hobbyhungry or if you want to you can help by

Toward Adoption! No Amount is to small! Thanks for Helping! It would be great if she could relax a little bit about this adoption :) ...it will also be great if I can go on the trip with her :D

I CAN'T WAIT! (auntie minnie is going to spoil her rotten ;) ok, maybe not rotten - but it should be close to it) and maybe when she gets here my son will leave me alone about a baby brother or sister for a little while :D

www.hobbyhungry.com

WOOHOO -- There is no longer a "coming soon" page on my site

HobbyHungry

it looks a LOT like this page actually ;)

A big Thank You to my sister for showing me which file needs modified & for plopping some of my stuff on there really quick!

Now I just need to figure out exactly what I want to do with it now hahaha....ttfn

Some great 50's - 70's Music

I finally got out of my listing slump...I asked my friend Susan to help me pick between these (1950's) records or audiobooks I have. She said I should do the records first & then she helped me determine what I should lot together. (she knows more about musics' Artists and Songs than the "average bear")

There are some really great vintage records here produced by DECCA, Mercury, Capital, Dot, RCA Victor and Columbia. I'm so glad I don't have a record player, haha, you know I'd have to keep these ;)

Here are some of them:

must find inspiration!

Well I haven't completed my website goal, yet. Although I did find some good sites to get me started. I added a couple on the right of this page for anyone else who needs help too...

This afternoon I plan to get some basic code uploaded - I have to at least get the basic "This site is coming soon" stuff off of there & put my own "This site is coming soon" blurb on there :)

I have added a few things to my eBay store & have cropped a few pics...will hopefully add 3 or more listings today....must find inspiration! I'll go have a Frappuccino first ;) that'll help...ttfn

HTML & Email Signatures

I'm learning more and more about linking and html, it's just the beginning though. I'd like to get my site up and running by the end of this week. I need to find some time to go over this book that I have (I have 2 of them on html, but I'll never get to both of them this week). I also found a good PHP tutorial link: PHP.net - hopefully, this will help me, too.

What I really need is a Webpage Angel to walk me through this!!

I did learn how to do these today:

BidSlammer Snipes eBay

PayPal
plus, a fancy one that I've added to the bottom of this page.

Baby Steps....

I even went in and tried this as an email signature:

Smile & Be Happy!! Mindy


Check this out!

A little to much, maybe, for an email signature - but a good place to practice... ooh, speaking of practice pages, maybe i'll practice on the hobbyhungrytest blog.... ;) bbl

Handmade purses and bags

So, my sister quilts these purses. She's made me 4! :) (she's a good sister, or am I spoiled, who knows! lol) Anyway, she also sells these from time to time and I list them on my eBay site... I thought I'd post some pics here, too, so y'all can see them! If you want one made especially for you, email me and I'll get her to make you one (or you can check out her blog babyheaton.blogspot.com). She usually charges from $30-45 for a purse and a little more for a bigger bag (like baby bags or craft bags).

Here is an example of the purses:

Technology... what the?!

I got a new PDA... a very cool one, in fact. It is a Palm TX.... sweet. The problem, you ask? WiFi! I can't seem to get it to use the T-Mobile software to go WiFi (or the other 3 things I've tried)! Argh.

Now, I'm pretty savvy when it comes to computer techno-geek stuff (as is my sis, lol), but this has me stumped. I hope to have it figured out later today, though. Wish me luck.

But first, gotta run to my son's indoor soccer game! (shameless kid plug) My son is 5 years old and this is his first year playing soccer. Actually, he played in the summer, outdoor, for the first time, and now he's playing indoor soccer. He's having a lot of fun with it and they are cute to watch.... so, I shall be back!

Oh, one more thing, I promised purse a couple purse pics. I'll post those later today, too.

My sister's adopting a baby!

My sister, Melissa, is adopting a little girl from China! We are all very excited! She has sent in all her documentation to China and is now waiting for a referral (who the baby will be). I am planning to go to China with her to meet my new niece! I can't wait! It should happen this year, but we aren't sure when, yet. She said the timeline right now is 8-9 months before she gets her referral and then a couple months to travel. So, we are hoping it'll happen this fall! :) She isn't sure about the baby's name yet, but I'm trying to convince her to name her after her Auntie Mindy! (hehe, that would be me!) :) She's considering using my middle name as the baby's name and I'm VERY excited about that!

So, my sister is making handmade quilted purses to help raise a little money toward the trip to China. I will definitely post pictures here and you can check out my ebay store (HobbyHungry) to buy them! They are gorgeous! These are high quality purses with pockets and velcro closures. She has made me 4 purses, and love every one! If you want her to make you something special, she can do that too, please send me an email or submit a comment with your contact info. The purses range from $30-45 plus shipping/handling.

I am also trying to raise a little money so I can go with her. (I have to be there!) So, please check out my other auctions, too!

I will definitely keep you posted on the adventure!

First Post!

Gotta start sometime! :)