Rupture and Tenacity of the Costa Rican Woman

By José Angel Lagos

The image of the devoted mother totally consecrated to the sacrifice of home, almost “immolating” herself to give breath and security to her children, has been left behind, suspended within the 50 ´s, 60 ´s, 70 ´s and the 80 ´s, because precisely in this decade, the Costa Rican woman consolidated her decision to change, to break away from the past and be impelled toward a new future.

Towards the 90 ´s, the feminists began their stardom role into national life, combining the traditional and inescapable tasks of home, with progress in businesses, offices and personal business ventures. In an explanation of this phenomenon, the sociologist Leticia Jiménez says respectively: “The economic crisis, the upheavals in Costa Rica, made women leave their homes for the purpose of helping their men folk with maintenance, since he alone could not watch over and comply with all the expenses. This was the main motive. But, another of more violent character, as the abandonment of the family on the part of the man, pushed many women to work.”

Male Reactions

This fact caused serious inconveniences with their companions. “The reactions were exactly as expected adds Leticia Jiménez, because the men felt and they believed that this response of their companions was an offense to their dominion as men, to their presumptuous ways of controlling the family. In other words, they felt that the salary contributed by the woman, placed her on an equal scale. And that could not be permitted.” stated the sociologist.

For the psychologist Marlen Vargas Zúñiga, something also burdening the men of this country was the insecurity and fear of being betrayed in the workplace with another man. “It caused quite a few divorces in the 80 ´s and 90 ´s in Costa Rica” she said. But the decision had already been taken: the women of this nation were freeing themselves in every sense of the word becoming stars of “a true social revolution”, as the master Jorge Salazar certifies, describing “the great exit of the feminists to the national reality”. From that moment on they achieved great progress before their amazed companions.

Dismal and Rough

Cynthia is the name we will use in this story to cover the true identity of the woman who relates her experiences. She is, more or less, the faithful representative of scores of rural farm girls that emigrate from the field to the city and end up adding to the lines of drug addiction prostitution and death. “I was born in Guanacaste relates Cynthia; I saved a bit of money, working on the little farm with my dad. When I thought that I had enough, I made the trip to San José even though I didn’t know anyone. I asked the taxi driver to take me to a simple hotel and he thought that I was seeking a hole to prostitute myself. Without knowing anything, I lodged in that bad luck place before the laughing faces of the women who worked there. My true problem occurred when my savings ran out and a laborer told me that he could help me. For the hunger that I felt, the threat of being thrown into the streets and for lack of funds to pay the room, I started my life as a prostitute” concludes Cynthia who isnow in charge of a textile factory, once she overcame twenty years in the low world of the Capital.

Inside these dismal places, other “personages” that act as intermediaries among the owners of the bars and the clients also circulate. They export the women toward Asian countries, in a sordid “white slave trade”, that is the most dangerous form of female exploitation.

The other side of the coin

Leaving aside for a moment the dismal scene previously mentioned, the Costa Rican woman has also increased the rows of national production and attained administrative positions in public functions. Such is the case in the departments, delegations, counsels, courts, etc., where the ladies have acted since the decade of the 80 ´s, as hierarchical and with great relevance in the decision making.

According to the politician and sociologist Angel Barboza, “the tica was shaken from the past, to form part of almost 30 percent of the productive force in the entire country.”

The other aspect of the situation is this: an emancipated woman, full of tenacity, un conformed with her generational role and has studied, graduated, created her own businesses and has reached impossible goals that were not feasible for her before the 1980 ´s.

This example is best described in Hannia Muñoz, young businesswoman of a six chain boutique who says: “One day I began to think that my future life could not depend on the emotional and economic favors of a man; therefore I took the firm decision to do something for myself and be self sufficient as much as possible. I studied administration, I asked the bank for a loan, I put down my first store and, little by little, I opened up the other branch offices.”

Behind the boutiques, the lady Muñoz has a workshop with eleven specialized operatives that make quality dresses and export, even to the United States and some Central American countries. This is “the other side of the coin”, that shows the impetus of the Costa Rican women in the course of the third millennium.

Projections and Conquests

In spite of what we have described, The Costa Rican woman understands that there are still many fights and conquests that should favor them with time. In agreement with this, the same Hannia Muñoz indicates: “Look, we have managed to make men accept that we are also an important part of the labor force; we have lessened a bit of the machismo in our homes; the Legislative Assembly has approved laws that benefit us as mothers, wives and employees; but there is still more to be done. We have to project towards greater conquests in order to insert ourselves better into society, in the government, and be respected as human beings who have aspirations.”

Calculation surveys, show by data that four women labor in fixed positions, for every ten Costarricenses. It is an aspect that transcends, all the more if we take into account that the society of this country has always been very conservative and has not accepted the absence of the ladies in their respective homes. So concludes the sociologist Leticia Jiménez : “I believe that this is the beginning of everything. There is still a lot that remains to be seen. We will continue to advance and achieve greater quality for our families and our own personal dignity. This is, undoubtedly, what we deserve.”