El Salvador Gender Roles

When considering women’s education in El Salvador, it is also pertinent to think about topics such as women in the workforce and the day to day lives women lead. Women in El Salvador lead lives incredibly different from the lives of those in America. Although American women must deal with struggles with abuse and harassment, women of Salvadorian are forced to deal with them on a much more intense basis. It is also important to look into the role of women in Salvadorian society, a society in which men are generally seen as the head of the family and point for all businesses and communication. As compared to 1990, when only 35% of Salvadorian women, today more than 48% of Salvadorian women are in the work force, providing for their family. These numbers become very interesting when they are compared to the percentages of women in America and women in the world in the work force. In America, the 1990s had 44.4% of women in the work force while it has only increased to 45.9% today (Labor force, female (% of total labor force)). This can be telling of the extremely rapid change in El Salvador and relatively little change in America in the past twenty five years. It also helps researchers better understand why women’s education has been such a hot topic in counties like El Salvador and not so much emphasized
For most women in El Salvador, this position is more or less a homemaker, as the men of the family are often times seen as the head of the home. However, some women are able to overcome these stereotypes. These women can be found in the Romero Community, a group of women living together in a neighborhood founded after their homes were destroyed in an earthquake. After the earthquake, they were unable to buy or rent a new house without representation from a male head (Bolaños). These women need no male figure in their lives, for now they have more than just shelter; they have each