Women and Change (Chapters 1 & 2)

The women at the U.S. Mexican border are facing many issues; employment, long-term mobility, and political activism are all concerns. This chapter talked about changing lives of indigenous immigrant women from Mexico’s poorer southern states. There is an ongoing problem with women who live and work on different sides of the U.S. Mexican border. Immigration is growing massively and migration from Mexico to the United States has become more dangerous.
Indigenous women who work in Baja California often have double and triple work days and are still expected to perform housework, child care, physically demanding salaried work and craft production and its commercialization. Added work in the tradition of immigrants is another extension for indigenous women. They also perform hostess functions such as washing, shopping, cooking and cleaning. The standard of living conditions for immigrants are related to immigration.
Many younger women differ from the older generations. They contract their own jobs, work without male supervision, negotiate, and collect their own salaries. Many of these young indigenous women work in the maquiladoras of Tijuana, Ensenada, Maneadero, or Mexicali. Today, many of the younger women who have finished primary and or secondary school control their own salaries, study technical or professional careers, and defend their right to choose their partners.