Women vs. Men

When maquiladoras were first being thought about, men were the targeted audience. They could do the heavy lifting and more labor intensive things. However, will the economy the way it was, men didn’t want cheap labor jobs, so it became the target for women. As Doreen Mattingly and Ellen Hansen suggest, “ Women are preferred both because they are less expensive to employ than men are and because their gender socialization and inexperience with labor unions presumably make them more docile and less easy to organize,” (Mattingly, 74). Young, single, childless women were originally the most wanted employees for the factories. They were naïve and wouldn’t think to organize against such torturous working conditions. In addition, they were easy to train and didn’t need any prior experience. Overtime, however, these young women would jump from job to job hoping to find something better that paid more leaving these factories without any employees. The trend started to shift towards older women with children who would be less likely to move from one job to the next. Factory owners, “now they related that married mothers made better workers because they were more mature, reliable, and less apt to jump from job to job than single women, who were immature, frivolous, and more interested in finding a man than in devoting themselves to their jobs,” (Mattingly, 80). Having to take care of a family, especially children, kept them rooted at one job with no intention to leave. In addition, they were more mature and could perform the daily tasks more eloquently.

Mattingly, Doreen, and Ellen Hansen. “Women and Change at the U.S.-Mexico Border.” The University of Arizona Press. Tuscon, Arizona. 2006.