Research Article

Tracking the Latino Gender Gap: Gender Attitudes across Sex, Borders, and Generations

Christina E. Bejarano^a1, Sylvia Manzano^a2 and Celeste Montoya^a3

^a1 University of Kansas

^a2 Texas A&M University

^a3 University of Colorado

Abstract

Many cultural stereotypes exist regarding the “modernity” of values possessed by Latino immigrants, particularly in reference to gender norms. Common perceptions about Latin machismo and marianismo (the idea that women should be pure and moral) do not paint a portrait of gender egalitarian dispositions. These assessments are upheld by neomodernization theorists who specifically identify gender attitudes as a critical element of modernity. In applying a revised modernization theory to the issue of comparative gender values, Inglehart and Norris (2003, 10) hypothesize that development “brings about changed cultural attitudes toward gender equality in virtually any society that experiences the various forms of modernization linked with economic development.” The idea that gender equality norms develop gradually, as a function of modernization, gives rise to different expectations about accepted gender roles in developing countries as opposed to those in advanced industrial democracies. Another feature of this modernization process is the emergence of gender gaps in political behavior and attitudes. Inglehart and Norris (2000) distinguish between traditional gender gaps found in postcommunist and developing societies (in which women are more conservative in their behavior and cultural attitudes relative to men) and modern gender gaps evident in postindustrial societies (in which women are more progressive than men).

Christina E. Bejarano is Assistant Professor of Political Science at University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS: cbejaran@ku.edu

Sylvia Manzano is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Texas A&M University, College Station, TX: smanzano@politics.tamu.edu

Celeste Montoya is Assistant Professor of Women & Gender Studies at University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO: montoyc@colorado.edu

Footnotes

The authors wish to thank three anonymous reviewers along with Lorraine Bayard de Volo, Robert Buffington, Anne Costain, Maria Escobar-Lemmon, Don Haider-Markel, Erin Melton, Michelle Taylor-Robinson and Gary Segura for helpful feedback. This article received support from The Women & Gender Studies Program at University of Colorado, Boulder, The University of Kansas Big XII Fellowship and The National Science Foundation Grant #0703395.