Maquiladoras—What?
As mentioned in the class lectures, the maquiladora
manufacturing industries grew significantly after the 1994 NAFTA treaty that
allowed free trade zones along the US-Mexican border where global corporations
could outsource production and assembly.
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Benefits of the
Maquiladora System:
Initially, large corporations brought with them hundreds of
thousands of jobs into the Mexican border towns, which seemed to be a great
boost to the economy. Higher employment rates, more capital, and stable working
environments—what could go wrong?
Among others, some “pros” to the maquiladora industries are
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Short-term benefits, such as shelter, money,
etc.
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More work opportunities
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Higher rates of female employment
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Higher wages overall
·
Tax breaks and cheap labor for companies
·
A strengthening of community
Pictured to the upper left is an American mother enjoying the spacious housing and other luxuries provided by her husband’s management position along the border of Texas. 
Pictured to the lower right is a Mexican mother whose family can now enjoy a chicken, which she must hand-pluck, once a week thanks to her factory work in Reynosa.
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Darker Reality of
Maquiladoras:
Consequences of the maquila?
There are long-term challenges to the idea of maquiladoras:
·
Poor working conditions in the factories
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Perpetuation of gender, class, and ethnic based
prejudices and discrimination
·
Widespread effects of severe pollution and environmental
damage
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Health hazards, including birth defects
·
Dehumanization of workers
·
There will always be other locations and workers that will work more for less (i.e. the
move toward Asian factories)
As depicted in Maquilapolis,
factories are unsafe for workers in terms of poor sanitation alone. Diseases,
deformities, and defects are passed from mother-workers to children and family
members. Mexican cities are wrought with pollution from the chemical disposal
of maquiladora industries. The lack of environmental concern is alarming, for,
the effects of this are global: natural resources are not easily replenished.
Water and land contamination affects more than just the workers; it affects
other community members and even citizens of the US who are not that far away
geographically. The squalid conditions of the factories and surrounding
neighborhoods serve only to perpetuate the cycle of discrimination. If the
women in these areas cannot find other employment, they must work in the
maquiladoras. If they work in the maquiladoras, their opportunities to work
elsewhere will be limited at best when considering the time obligation, health
risks, and inability to save wages. Thus, women will continue to be less
qualified and/or able to seek other employment. The film Maquilapolis also illustrated the mechanization of human
workers—are we employees or cogs in the machine?
Though the source might be a bit controversial, Michael
Moore offers good commentary on the conditions of the Mexican maquiladora
border towns:
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Maquiladora System
and Femicides in Mexico:
How does the maquiladora system, a product of globalization,
connect to the series of femicides (female murders) in Mexico, specifically
Ciudad Juárez?
Though women are the targeted factory employees for their
supposed dedication, honesty, and high work ethic, they are paradoxically
limited in their employment opportunities. Women find few jobs that allow them
to simultaneously fulfill their roles as caregivers in the home. More and more
female workers turn to factory positions that have later hours and, at least at
first, more flexible work schedules. The temptation of higher pay and the
supposed stability of a large name corporation draw many mothers into the
factory setting. Yet, when the women are hired, they are often misused—many for
the sheer fact that they are women. Female factory workers not only face the
same grueling conditions of other employees, but they are also met with sexual
harassment, abuse, and exploitation in the forms of rape, prostitution, and
even slavery. Many women have been murdered in and around the Mexican border
towns that house maquiladora industries. The connection? Femicide can be used
as both a tactic of control and convenience.
As described by Steev Hise, creator of the documentary On the Edge, there are “social,
cultural, and economic factors that have created this situation” and “the
Juárez killings [are situated] in context[s] of wider political and economic
trends” (2006).
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The Maquiladora system in Mexico directly connects to the femicides of women in the country. Being a worker in the maquiladora system, women already have a target on their backs. They are forced to work long hours and often do not end work until late at night. It is commonly known that it is not safe for any women to be walking around late at night, especially where these maquiladoras are. Women who get off late are subject to vicious acts such as sexual harassment, rape, and even murder. Usually what happens first is sexual harassment among the women workers with fellow men in the factory. These harassments often escalade and lead to violence such as murder. In Katie Pantaleo’s article “Gendered Violence: Murder in the Maquiladoras”, she states that, “After working their shift, women workers leave the sweatshops very late at night and it is then that they sometimes disappear, never to be seen alive again” (p. 5). Women are more prone to be attacked at night and overworking them into the late hours of the night makes these women more vulnerable to these attacks. Two reasons offered as to why women in the maquiladora system are subject to murder are because of patriarchy and capitalism. Concerning patriarchy, in Mexican culture it is traditional for the man to be the worker and the woman to be home and partake in domestic duties. Seeing that women are involved in labor in these systems, a lot of men do not agree with that hence the attacks. Concerning capitalism, making profits is always the number one goal. Also, capitalism favors cheap labor which has these women overworking and working long hours. These women are abused and taken advantage of in the work place which can ultimately lead to murder. Women working in these maquiladora system causes them to risk their life because they are going against the patriarchy and being taken advantage of both physically and mentally.
ReplyDeleteThe maquilladora system is connected to the series of femicides in three major ways. First, Mexico is a patriarchal society, second the extraneous work conditions that these women are faced with and thirdly, the women are working into the wee hours of the morning.
ReplyDeleteIn Mexico, traditionally men have always been the bread winners of the family. Machismo and Marianismo are qualities that a lot of men still have. Men in Mexico feel that it is OK to take advantage of these poor women.
Women are often sexually harassed by the men working at the factories. There seems to be a sexual affinity that these men workers have with the female workers, and it does not help that these maquilladora jobs have random pregnancy tests and enforce women to dress provocative. Having said that women then are often the easy target for men to elude after. Hence, men raping and murdering these poor victims.
These maquilladora workers are overworked on a regular basis. These workers are out late at night when everyone is "supposed" to be at there houses sleeping. But, that seems to be the time that men literally hunt for innocent thin brunet women to take advantage of and then brutally murder their victims.
Globalization is the cause of this huge problem Ciudad Juarez has. If there was regulation to the hours and job safety of these women, there wouldn't be such a huge number of mothers, sisters, nieces, friends, etc.. missing.
Maquiladoras are a root to many problems in Mexico. They cause so much devastating harm to the environment but beyond that they cause irreversible harm to women and their families. Maquiladoras promote discrimination against women as well as sexual harassment and abuse in the work place. As mentioned by Group 3, often the women are raped, abused, or enslaved by their bosses at the factories. In addition to this kind of treatment in the work place paranoia of the realities of femicide haunt women outside of the factories as they go to and from work at dangerous and even seemingly safe hours of the day. There is no safety for these women anymore as they have become prime targets and victims of femicide, such as in Cuidad Juarez. These women are targeted to prove power of men and the subordination of women in this patriarchal system. Often times the government and officials in Cuidad Juarez try to brush off these murders as the work of a serial killer of at the fault of women who intentionally entice men to treat them this way. This kind of neglect and lack of recognition and responsibility from the city are a result of shame and result in denial, as if it will avoid further smearing the name of Cuidad Juarez.
ReplyDeleteAs you can see, the globalization of maquiladoras has resulted in femicide and reduced female workers in these factories to cogs in the machine and a means to American economic success. Women are a key factor in the functionality of maquiladoras because they are cheap labor, they are willing to work for less, and will put up with poor treatment. Men are not as likely to put up with these factors. Often times for these women, maquiladoras are they only option for them to provide for their families as caregivers. They also offer better pay than other places of work which results in mass amounts of women being pushed towards the factories for a semi-stable source of income. Their willingness to work for little pay is what allows Americans to sit so comfortably and economically stable. Cheap labor means that we make more money and pay less for our imports. This is what keeps factories and employees going, the awareness of being so disposable. There will always be another place with people who will work for less. Their jobs can be swept right out from under them at any moment and they will have to say goodbye to that stability of work and an income for their families.
The Maquiladora system, I believe somewhat does contribute to some of the female murders around Ciudad Juárez. These women are already working long hours with dangerous conditions and yet they are still not protected under their companies that they work for.These women were discriminated against by their culture because most companies wanted Hispanics to do the work because no one else would work that hard for cheap. This systems connects to Femicide because most of these women are out late coming home from work and they might get caught in the middle of something. Being a women working in the Maquiladoras can cause these horrible things to happen. Some men, that are sometimes called machismo, believe that they can do whatever they want to women. If they find a woman that works in the factories, they know that they deal terrible things in those factories so they might want to take advantage of them just as the factories take advantage of their rights.
ReplyDeleteI dont think that the maquiladora system is valuable to the economic stability of the United States Economy. The U.S. receives items from all over the world, not just Mexico. Our economy and gas prices today is not doing to great because of our inability to provide for our own needs. Gas prices are soaring because of the tension with Iran. So, the maquiladoras do help the U.S. but i dont think it would be a huge factor. Most of the factories have moved elsewhere.
I believe that living in America can blind many of us to the realities that the rest of the world faces. To us it would seem impossible to exploit women in the way that malquiladoras are exploited in Mexico, because of all of the labor standards that we have in America today, but this is the harsh truth that many women face. I think that the idea of malquiladoras great contributes to the murders that we have been discussing as well as the harmful nature that we are seeing progress. Malquiladoras initially have to deal with the dangerous working conditions of hard factory work at horrible hours of the night. This alone is enough to create an unstable life. Group 3 also asked whether people are seeing as workers or just cogs in the machine. In this case, I believe that the women are actually just seen as another cog in the machine. They are not looked at as actual living beins, but they are treated as a factory part that can be replaced, something that will naturally wear out with time. This dehumanizing aspect of a human life is heartbreaking to me. Further on, maliquiladoras must compete for survival outside their harsh work conditions. The polarizing ideas of machismo and marianismo further create a dangerous place for women. The patriarchal society that exists creates an idea that men should be the dominant leaders in the family and in the workplace. We see this male dominant view elsewhere in the world, but in Mexico the highly esteemed values overreach this belief. As women have gained more acceptance and even desirability in the work place, men have been pushed out. With out jobs or money, they cannot provide for their families and are therefore left aggravated. Maliquiladoras are then an easy target. They are already exploited at work, but combined with angry men looking to take their frustrations out on helpless women, the malquiladoras become the perfect target. This is one example of how an ideological culture can actually create a harmful environment.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the maquiladoras started as a fine, theoretical idea, but in play, have been warped into a terrible idea for many factors. Capitalism drove U.S. corporations to find cheaper labor and expenditures in order to have higher grossing products. In order to do this, with a little help from NAFTA, they looked to the South. Maquiladoras were built and labor flooded in, men working the higher, manager positions and women holding the laboring positions. This patriarchy, men running the show with women underneath, keep the labor costs even lower and aided the capitalistic goals even more. Despite this patriarch system, there were still very few men in the maquiladoras having jobs. Their machismo was aching and brought out the aggression within, femicide was not far behind. The women in Juarez, Mexico experienced this more than any other city; Women disappeared and were found tortured, raped, and murdered in surrounding deserts a few days later. But capitalism kept authorities from investigating very far, for it may hurt the economy of the maquiladoras. Capitalism, patriarchy, and machismo have led to femicide in Mexico and this is definitely not a positive outcome. Something has to give, capitalism has to let up, perhaps starting with equal gender employment within the maquiladoras. If everyone is getting jobs, perhaps machismo will not be so much of a threat. From there, more equality should follow. Perhaps what the world needs is a universal minimum wage, that way no one could be taken advantage of. Yes, prices would soar in the beginning, but it would level out after a few years. Both human rights and the economy could receive the boost they have been desperately needing for many decades.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, what Americans view as providing job opportunities to a less fortunate country, has caused physical and emotional concerns to those areas, specifically, Ciudad Juarez. Femicides are ultimately linked to the maquiladoras system due 2 major issues.
ReplyDeleteThe poor working conditions of long brutal hours of work for these women in these factories result in them leaving the maquiladoras at an unreasonable late hour. Due to most of these women having to walk long distances to go back home, they are easily abducted and raped, and finally left to die. The ridiculous expected long hours of work from these factories create the increasingly numbers of murdered female workers. Femicide is a horrible problem that is not taken seriously due to the second major issue.
The already established idea of machismo and marianismo, which are concepts that find the females gender inferior to the males, create an attitude of the utter insignificance of murdered women in these cities. Women are seen as objects and are labeled as prostitutes that go looking to be murdered create the issue of femicide. Women that leave the maquiladoras are targeted as rape victims and murder victims because of this attitude that they will not be missed and even the attitude of these appalling acts to be permissible because of their unbalanced gender equality.
However, even though maquiladoras are clearly causing more problems than benefits, the U.S. corporations still find it to be an economic aid. The increasing acts of outsourcing keep costs down due to cheap labor and tax breaks, while increasing productivity making more money than can ever be earned if the factories were kept domestically. Unfortunately, the capitalistic ventures of the U.S. find no sympathy in the exploitation of these women as they are being discriminated against, raped, tortured, and murdered.
The film Maquilapolis also illustrated the mechanization of human workers—are we employees or cogs in the machine?
ReplyDeleteMaquiladora workers would like to think that they are employees. Employers also want them to think they're employees. Ultimately, though, we all know the workers are just cogs in the machines. The women, especially, are victims of such treatment. They work everyday (most of the time for more than 10 hours a day) doing the same unskilled labor that the companies hired them to do. In the movie, it showed scenes where a few women were motioning their jobs in mid-air. They produced so many of the same goods that they even memorized the process. They can most likely do their jobs in their sleep if they wanted to. The repetition of their work makes them cogs of the machines. There are work out there that are also mundane, but the work requires something different each time whether it be clients, work place, strategies, etc. Maquiladora workers, however, are unskilled labor. Therefore, they are required to produce the same goods everyday at a certain quota set by the owners.
How does the maquiladora system, a product of globalization, connect to the series of femicides (female murders) in Mexico, specifically Ciudad Juárez?
According to Katie Pantaleo, most maquiladoras hire their female workers and require them to wear revealing clothing. Of course, this reason is not the only one, but it does play an essential role in the femicides. As a feminist, revealing clothes does not necessarily mean an invitation for murder. However, in a man's perspective, "sexy" clothing means that they are invited to be involved sexually and eventually lead to these femicides. The other important factor is the fact that the women leave work late (while wearing those revealing clothes). It is difficult for most women to defend themselves, especially at night when they have no energy after working long hours. From this, the murderers take the advantage for rape, murder, etc.
Maquiladoras are not the sole cause of the femicides that are occurring on the border of the US and Mexico. Yes, they enable men in gangs and the drug cartel to get to them because of the distance it takes to get to work but the reason that femicides occur is because of the governments lack of response. The only response the government gives it to ignore the killings or accuse the women of being prostitutes, claiming they were "asking for it". The government is more worried about the negative attention of the killings and the shame it brings to the city, which, like it mentioned in the clip with the famous band, is why officials are not acknowledging these killings as femicide. Maquiladoras are not helping the living conditions, not creating social equality, and are allowing murders to go unnoticed. The only people the maquiladoras help are people who own companies in the United States. With these maquiladoras, US companies make tons more money than they ever would in America. Are maquiladoras essential for the economic stability of the United States? Yes. The cheap labor keeps the cost low and makes the companies more money, and these companies support what is left of our economy, which is why this toxic cycle of capitalism continues because everyone needs more money. Although the maquiladoras are essential for America's economic stability, they are toxic to our dignity, independence, and integrity, or the American persona. Because of outsourcing, America's new persona is quickly becoming untrustworthy, greedy, and selfish.
ReplyDeleteWith the little help from NAFTA, and the need for mass production from major corporations, it is clear to see that the Maquiladoras are not run properly, or ethically. Women in these environments are earning extremely low wages, are working long hours, and on top of it are forced to take birth control to prevent them from getting pregnant, however they want the women to be sexy as well. I think the cog aspect these women provide to the factories is an immediate connection with the murders of the women. People don't see these women as human, they have been formed into objects, and are put in dangerous situations everyday. No one is looking out for the safety of these women. Consumerism has become more important than a woman working in a maquiladoras. It isn't surprising that these women who get such little pay have to walk home late at night, after a long day at work, and run into rape, and murder.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteOnly looking at the surface, Maquiladoras seemed to be profitable, advantageous and, even beneficial to both U.S. and those third world countries like Mexico because they increased the employment rate by providing more job opportunities, provided a high pay in short amount of time, and produced more amount of products with less inputs (prices). However, it rather seems to be a failure, now. Without receiving full support of NAFTA, Machiladora failed to be a successful system as it was operated improperly. Many women who worked at Machiapolis were exposed to harmful environment, worked longer hours than promised and, most severely, were treated as sexual objects rather than a human being. They were harassed, discriminated and abused. Even though Machiladoras is critical to the economy of our country, I think it is more important to consider their rights as a human and protect them.
ReplyDeleteMaquiladoras definitely have benefits, but many disadvantages as well. I really do feel like the maquiladoras set a ground for femicides. Women are treated very poorly in these workplaces, if you want to even call them that. I feel awful because it is almost as if women are subjected to sexism no matter where they go or whether or not they are trying to better their family. Since the rule is sacrifice for the family, it does make sense, but for all these murders to happen is just outrageous. It is true, the women will work for cheaper wages, and work harder and longer hours than the men will, but that should not subject them to unfair treatment. These women put up with it because there is no other way, and that is just wrong. I think it will be a very glorious day in Mexico when laws are established and followed enforcing the equal treatment of males and females.
ReplyDeleteNafta as we learned last week has definetly seen its clear cut winners and losers. The Maquiladora program would be the afterbirth of the free trade agreement which can be viewed as a loss for civil rights for the women that have been incorporated by the program. Women are forced to work long hours, many times are not even allowed to tend to basic human rights such as going to the bathroom as we heard in the movie Maquilaopolis last week. Nearby cities are impacted because many of the towns allow factories to go up without enviornmental laws being followed. What's worse for women is that on top of working dreadful hours for marginal pay, their lives are in danger because of the Machismo which has infected the people and led to a steep climb in femicide. What needs to occur is Mexico making laws to protect women from these heinous crimes. The fact that so many murders remain unsolved gives creedence to men wanting to kill women. Why not? Its not like anyone would catch me anyway is probably a valid mindset with which they possess. Mexico needs to enforce these laws and increase civil rights for women, make a suitable standard of living which prevent the exploitation of women further
ReplyDeleteThe Maquiladora system was something that Americans thought as a great opportunity of providing jobs to those who were in desperate need, but was unfortunately turned into something that became a contributing factor in the continuing series of femicides. I find two major reasons on why this system is connected with these problems.
ReplyDeleteThe first major issue with the Maquiladora system is the obvious one of harsh working conditions and long strenuous hours that continue late into the night. These women are mistreated and put through sexual harassment and abuse. Not only must they withstand these harsh conditions at work, but they are working late into the night and forced to walk home after sun down. The kidnapping and murders are occurring at such high rate because of the late hours these women travel home at.
The set stereotype for men to meet the standards of being “machismo” and the women to be attached with the term “marianismo” is creating these Maquiladora systems to be very dangerous. Men feel they need to express their power and show they are the superior while women fall into this idea set that they are the inferiors and must obey their men. With these established ideas set in Mexico create these harsh crimes of abuse, kidnapping, harassment, and even murder to be of the norm.
Taking patriarchy into consideration, Mexico has a culture where men are the bread winners while the women hold the domestic duties. When women are the majority of those working in these Maquiladora system, it is causing men to feel the pressure to meet those standards of being “machismo”, taking out their aggression on those helpless women.
These Maquiladora Systems do have many problems and I do believe have a contributing factors in the femicides occurring, however pulling these jobs right from under these women will leave them with nothing. These women are in desperate situations willing to work in such harsh and dangerous situations, taking that pay away from them will leave them in a situation worse then before. The day that the Mexican cultural beliefs on men being the superior and women as an inferior is demolished, is the day these femicides will begin to diminish as well.
The maquiladora system in significantly connected to femicides specifically in Juarez. This system targets women because although it promotes more work opportunities for women, cheaper labor, and strength within the community, these women who are working there are slaves to their work. That is a problem and exploit women as a weak gender. Females face poor conditions in order to have an income. This famicide tactic is demeaning to women. In relation to Juarez, these women face these conditions and are subjected to fearing conditions like these. This tactic is saddening that women have to face these types of conditions to live. To live is fear is upsetting.
ReplyDeleteMaquiladoras are directly connected to these disappearances and femicides that have taken place in the towns and cities of Mexico. It all started with women going to work, earning money and above all, providing for her family. This made men feel like their power of controlling the household had been taken away from them. This increased their aggression against these working class women and thus these femicides. I definitely see the advantages of have the maquiladoras but people need to see is that at what cost do these advantages actually come from? The environmental pollution that lead to the birth of brainless kids causing their immediate death? The disappearances of thousands of women? Or the physical and mental tortures the women go through at work? The disadvantages of the maquiladora system definitely outweighs its considerably negligible advantages and for me, any society that advocates this, is a symbol of inhumanity and selfishness.
ReplyDeleteThe maquiladora system is aiding women in the case of money yes, but I reason that it relates to the mass murders because it also is increasing a certain market. The demand for the labor market brings an increase in transit, more people will travel to and from the cities like Juarez. The increase in population may threaten the large gangs, and in order to ensure dominance, they have to increase the fear factor they employ to control the citizens. Specifically, the larger female population as a result of the maquiladora system. One can see the results.
ReplyDeleteI'll be honest and start out by saying I was a little confused by some of the pieces of information presented. For example on the gender equality slide it states that women are preferred due to the fct that they will work for less than men and then the next point states that women make 1/6 of the U.S. hourly wage. However to me that seems like an unfair comparison not only because we are comparing two vastly different economies, but also because we are bringing in to question gender equality when the statistic includes both men and women. I may be wrong, but it sounds like its essentially a temp job. Something for workers to come in and do to make a little bit of extra money. Which is something we do have in America. As far as women being mistreated in the workplace goes I have to ask if the responsibility needs to be placed on the government and their labor laws. Obviously ethics play a role in the way we believe things should be, but we have to remember we are analyzing another ethics system while viewing it through our own.
ReplyDeleteThe maquiladora system is connected to the series of femicides in that it offered a new source of jobs, but more particularly to women. They were willing to work those long hours and for less wages. In true patriarchal fashion, the men believed that the women's place was in the home and that he men should be the ones working. They also felt anger at the fact that women were supposedly "taking" sources of income from them, making the possibility of them finding employment, that much smaller.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I can see how this began with good intentions, I believe that the negatives outweigh the positive. The benefits were short term, and also what good was it to have benefits when the conditions in which the women worked in were horrible. The factories were unsanitary, there were other health hazards. The prejudices and degradation faced by the workers added to the negative aspects.
The femicides are the worst outcomes, but we cannot blame that solely on the maquiladora system. We also have to acknowledge that as long as patriarchal beliefs are still in place, the women cannot be safe.