CHAPTER 7 By early 1970 the means with which families could influence politics, social patterns, and the economy were limited. Most previously influential families had emigrated; those remaining had had to alter their patterns of living. The importance of the individual as against that of the family was being stressed by the government, however, and persons whose families had been discredited, through emigration or opposition to the government, were judged on their own merits and not on those of their relatives. Government activities that would create new roles for women and indirectly affect family life were still being resisted by a large percentage of the population in 1970. Programs for integrating women into the labor force were in conflict with traditional ideas that the male should be the wage earner, and that the woman's place was at home. Parents believed that girls should be groomed for becoming housewives and mothers and, ideally, should be chaperoned and supervised before marriage. Even among revolutionaries, husbands often objected to wives taking jobs and daughters being unchaperoned. The majority of women still preferred to remain at home. Young women, on the otherhand, were apt to value their new civil rights and seek freedom from traditional familial patterns in new educational and job opportunities. Children whose parents sent them to day care centers and boarding schools were less pampered than those of the majority of parents who kept them at home as was customary. Children, however, continued to be a source of pride to all parents. Both the marriage and divorce rates have increased since 1959. Although civil committees have been dispersed throughout the nation in an effort to foster legalized unions, the government has also made divorces more easily available. The size of the family has remained about the same since the Revolution, although the government plans for a reduction in the birth rate during the decade that began in 1970. FAMILY LIFE The Revolution has fostered the emigration of many families, divided many others, and altered previously existing familial social patterns. Families that belonged to the upper and middle classes have been most adversely affected. When the government first started to appropriate upper class business investments and socialize private club facilities, many more affluent husbands sent their wives and children abroad. Men with investments outside the country joined their families almost immediately; others remained in Cuba until they could liquidate assets. Some children emigrated alone and were cared for by relatives or by the charitable offices of the Catholic Church. Persons of draft age, however, were not permitted to emigrate until they had fulfilled two years of military service. Upper and middle class women were generally limited to the roles of wife and mother before the Revolution. The few activities in which they participated were welfare and cultural promotions. The majority remained at home. They could not negotiate a business transaction without their husband's permission. Wealthy families that have remained find it difficult to maintain traditional family life with women in a subordinate and reclusive position. The Revolution has given particular attention to equalizing their rights. The Fundamental Law of 1959 gives women full civil liberties, including control over their own property. Coincidental with legislation that allowed women to pursue the profession, trade, or craft of their choice, the government proposed to integrate those women into the national labor force. Among the lower classes, women before the Revolution had been much less subordinate to men than had been their counterparts among the upper and middle classes. Women and children necessarily were wage earners in urban areas where male unemployment was chronic. If a husband could not support his dependents, the wife often did. Women were frequently heads of households. Common-law marriage was prevalent. In 1970 greater economic security has resulted in a higher number of marriages among the lower classes, and many common-law unions have been legalized. The Revolution has had less impact on rural lower-class family life where families worked together on their own land, and where women were not wage earners. Women who did work outside the home worked for relatives without pay. The ideal male before the Revolution was the antithesis of the female. Where she was preferably chaste, subservient, and sexually innocent, he was uninhibited, dominant, and virile. Men were frequently four to five years older than their wives. Husbands were not condemned for infidelity, nor was it a cause for divorce unless a public scandal ensued. Government legislation and campaigns for integrating women into national life have caused premarital and family crises even among those men and women who support the Revolution. Life styles for men and women are no longer as clearly distinguished as they were before the Revolution, and women who actively participate in government programs have led what Castro has labeled the revolution in the Revolution. The New Role of Women A United States writer who visited the country in 1968 reported that the most widely discussed topic in the country at that time was the so-called new relationship between men and women. Since the Revolution, nearly one-half million women have joined the labor force, chiefly in services; of nearly 100,000 that were incorporated in 1969, some 20,000 replaced men in their jobs. Young girls more than women, however, have broken with tradition. Women largely fill daytime administrative, clerical, and teaching jobs. Girls, however, attend evening classes alone, room away from home, and work overnight on armed-guard duty. Many more than before the Revolution are interested in sports; more are university-educated, and some have gone abroad to study. Girls who have assumed their new freedom look for husbands who accept their new roles. Even young activists, however, find it difficult to break with traditional ideas of male dominance. Divorces have resulted from political differences and female activism. Some women complain of unequal employment opportunities and that men treat them as inferiors on the job. The government has found that the biggest obstacles to integrating women are some women's own ideas of their roles. Over twothirds of more than 300,000 women interviewed by the Cuban Federation of Women in 1969 said that a woman's place was in the home and a man's on the street; work was considered unfeminine. Reporters who have visited Cuba have noted militiawomen on duty applying makeup. In the Havana traffic-directing school for women, morning classes include weapons and self-defense instruction, whereas afternoon classes include cosmetics. A Ministry of Labor report released in 1969 said that many housewives over thirty who took jobs as a result of government campaigns, left after a few weeks' complaining of overwork. Among young girls, who filled more physically demanding jobs, the proportion who left was much lower. Children Children, especially boys, are a source of pride to parents. Before the Revolution all children were generally pampered. Early in youth adult-like activities were encouraged by parents. Upper class parents were particularly anxious that their children assume the dress, manners, and accomplishments of adults. According to Cuban government publications, the first years of the Revolution were particularly difficult for children. Parents frequently divided over the Revolution, and families and relatives were split. Women were more frequently in agreement with the attitudes of their parents than with those of their husbands. When it became rumored that children would be taken away from their parents and brought up by the state, many mothers and children emigrated. State facilities for the care and education of children have in fact decreased parental control over children among those who use them. This is particularly true in state-subsidized day care centers and boarding schools. To facilitate the incorporation of women into the working force, the Federation of Cuban Women provides two types of free day care centers: nursery schools (círculos infantiles) and kindergartens (jardines). Children can be brought to these centers from the age of forty-five days. By 1970 there were over 160 day care centers with an enrollment of 15,000 children. Instructors are responsible for the physical and social development of children in the center. They familiarize the children with their country's history and that of other Communist countries by celebrating holidays with revolutionary songs and native costumes. Some mothers find day care centers a relief from overcrowded households. Others object to them on political grounds. Most mothers, however, prefer to keep young children at home. Parents who are unable to care for small children can send them to orphanages operated by the Ministry of Public Health. Whenever possible children are returned to their parents. Some young students attend schools away from home. Many are youths from rural areas where population dispersion has made it inefficient to build many small local facilities and where the government considered it easier to change traditional ideas in absence of parental influence. Parents may visit students on weekends, but students are rarely allowed to go home during the school term. Students at such schools find their outlook often conflicts with that of their parents. One United States observer found much greater solidarity between the nation's students and its leaders than between parents and students. Adults Older persons have traditionally been respected by younger generations. Many older adults however, believe that there is no place for them in the Revolution. Both United States and Latin American |