I3 3

Some facts and Yani Herreman

Machismo is apparent4 neìther ve y widespread nor virulent ìn fhe miseum

pro$%sions ìn Mexìco. Tbìs may be because woiwetz are sokdb ensconced on the commanding heìghts as well as the

lower echelons ofthose professions. Does fhat meal-2 that women mdseum

professionuls e@y full equalì0 wìtb peopZe hoZdì&jobs ìiz other cultural

pofessìons - and ìizdeed other professions at laEe? This arfìcle looks at so?m o f the broud ìssz4e.s szmozmdìng wo.men’s work ìn musez/fns attd ìn socìeg as a

whole. The author holds ulzìversìg degrees ìpl arcbìtecture, nzuseology and

the bìstogi o f art, co-ordinates the munìlicipul mzsetmr of Mexìco Cì&

directs the Maseim o f Nafural Histo y ìl-z Mexico Cìty, ìn whose Imtìtute of

Ecology’s MuseoloB Prdect she ìs actìz)eb involved, and semes on

Museum7s edìtonàlAdvìsog Board. Her address is: Museo de Hìstoria Nutural de la Cìudad de Méxìco,

Izstituto de Ecologiu, Apadado Postal 18-845, M&uel Hidalgo, México

II. 800(Mexìco).

.-. m B mi

2 d z 3

- O L

myths in Me In Mexico, as in the rest of Latin America, women’s role is still associ- ated more with family life than with a visibly decisive economic role in de- velopment. This view also includes the traditional dissociation of labour from domestic work.

Different social and economic fac- tors such as demographic changes, birth control, improved education conditions, social legislation, diversifi- cation of scientific aiid technological jobs, as well as ever-increasing eco- nomic pressures have, however, trig- gered changes reflected in the region’s labour-force statistics. Of the total la- bour force, the percentages of women are as follows: Uruguay, 42.1; Colom- bia, 37.4; Argentina, 32.6; Venezuela, 37.1; Peru, 37.2; Panama, 39.2; Costa Rica, 41.5; Brazil, 41.3; Mexico, 29.0.

Nowadays, as a rule, the more edu- cation a woman receives, the greater the chance is that she will participate as an active social and economic indi- vidual. Education remains the major factor in changing women’s role. An interesting feature is that cultural areas in general and jobs related to human sciences in particular draw a large number of women. But the triple role of mother/wife/worker makes wom- en’s access to decision-making posts and executive levels far more difficult than men’s. In a cash economy, still mainly led by men, the employment of women is still seen as risky, especially in positions of power.

Women and cuZture in Mexico

‘Culture is part of development.’ Is this really true? How seriously is culture taken in developing countries? Is it considered and supported in the same way as industrial and technological de- velopment? These questions are highly important to us since, as I pointed out above, women are heavily concentrat- ed in what could be called pweferential- ly feminine activities, and there must be some reason for this.

I believe that there are still activities considered, by men and women alike, to be more suitable for women, at sev- eral levels. A medium-to-high salary

13 4 Yáni Herrenzan

group with diploma qualifications is employed, on a first level, as school- teachers. A second level - with uni- versity degrees - includes physicians, architects, biologists, psychologists, historians, anthropologists and other professionals who either work in the private sector, have a private practice or serve in government. In Mexico these two groups represent 30 per cent of the total number of women classi- fied in the active labour force. Indeed, the cultural area is considered in Mex- ico as in all of Latin America to be the ‘natural’, and therefore accepted, working sphere for women. Thus, a tremendously high percentage of its workers are women.

Is this because of some innate ca- pacity, or is it a reflection of historical and social developments? Two theo- ries have been lately developed regard- ing women’s role in culture. At the first Symposium on Women in Mex- ico, psychiatrist Alejandro Hernández stated that women’s inclination to- wards culture is a myth, since women are falsely led to believe in a feminine stereotype. This ‘imaginary’ figure is incapable of competing with men, and must therefore remain in what are deemed secondary areas, which in a modern consumer society are not ‘im- portant’, or at least are less ‘important’. Men, on the other hand, are encour- aged to follow careers that are ‘deci- sive’ for so-called economic develop- ment. Women are thus relegated to intellectual work.

The fact that a considerable number of educated women in different fields end up working in culture and culture- related areas might make us think that Hernández’s approach is correct. Areas with direct impact on productivity and what is known as economic, technical, scientific and industrial development, are not yet considered fit for women. It seems that women are still seen as sec- ond-rate workers in ‘first-rate’ produc- tive decision-making fields, although excellently prepared and recognized as fully fledged workers in ‘second-rate’ fields like culture and museums.

On the other hand the well-known Mexican anthropologist, Guillermo Bonfil, who is an expert on culture, has pointed out, throughout his work in folk culture and social anthropology, that women are society’s cultural transmitters. I fully agree with him, and point out that as those in charge of

the perpetuation of family structures and traditions, tasks that are carried out through childbearing and family education, they also trigger changes in society. Women have thus the dual and sometimes conflicting tasks of preserv- ing traditions and group values and of encouraging changes in social atti- tudes, including sex discrimination.

The two theoretical perspectives just discussed complement one anoth- er, and support the affirmation that culture as a second-rate field is a myth that must be eradicated.

A survey in Mexico City

If culture in general attracts women because of social and economic factors, museums as specific cultural institu- tions are no exception. A number of assumptions about women and mu- seums were tested recently in a small and simple survey. This survey, though not as extensive as originally desired, has given important clues to the real situation in Mexico in today’s mu- seums as working spaces for women. It is the first time that such a survey has been carried out in Mexico.

The sample was restricted to Mex- ico City. Of the ninety-six museums registered by us in the Ciiy fifty-two (54.1 per cent) are directed by women. The Mexican National Committee of ICOM has ninety-three members, of which thirty-six are men and fifty-sev- en (61 per cent of the total) are women. The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (National Institute of Fine Arts) co- ordinates 90 per cent of the art mu- seums in the country, including those in Mexico City, all of which have women directors. The same situation prevails among the museums belong- ing to Socicultur (Culture Department of the City Council): its four museums have women directors and another woman co-ordinates them. The other cultural pillar, co-ordinating anthro- pology, history and archaeology mu- seums, is called the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (National Institute of Anthropology and Histo- ry). In hlexico City, this Institute has seven first-rate museums, only two of which are directed by men. All the above-mentioned musums are state in- stitutions. It is also worth noting that the three most important private mu- seums have male directors. Is this a co- incidence? Not really, as we shall see

Some fa& atid tyfbs iti Mexico I3 5

below. Salaries differ substantially be- tween privately owned and state-run museums, as do policies.

One of the myths regarding mu- seums, which turned out to be true mainly in art museums, is that they are socially accepted as working areas for middle-class and upper-middle-class women. 51.7 per cent of those inter- viewed in our survey considered them- selves to be upper middle class, 35 per cent as middle class and only 3 per cent as working class.

This state of affairs is closely relat- ed, for obvious reasons, to economics. Culture is undoubtedly not as well paid as other fields. According to our re- search, the difference between business and cultural salaries varies, for a more or less similar post, by anything from 30 to 50 per cent in favour of business. Compared with university standards, museum work is also less well remun- erated, even though at present univer- sity professors have had their salaries frozen. Women are aware of this sit- uation. Of the interviewed group 95 per cent replied that they thought they earned less in their museum job than those working in other fields. They chose museum work not with an eco- nomic goal but simply because they liked it.

Women can still 'afford' these low- er salaries and the chance to do what they enjoy doing because most of them are married or have parents who are willing to help support them. In nei- ther case do their families depend on them financially. Of the women inter- viewed, 61 per cent indicated that their salaries were only supplementary. They estimated that their museum-de- rived salary accounted for between 10 and 30 per cent of the family's total in- come.

Another fact brought to light by our small survey concerns the absence of a university degree in museology or mu- seum studies in Mexico. As a result, the image of museums appears less profes- sional than it should, and projects mu- seum workers, both male and female, as disadvantaged compared with other professionals working in other areas. This fact encourages male museum staff to look for more prestigious posts, leaving their places for women to fill. Our survey revealed that 65 per cent of women working in museums have aca- demic degrees, though obviously not in museology, since none is offered in

Mexico. Their degrees were in art his- tory, anthropology, industrial rela- tions, economics, architecture, design, sociology and communications.

What happens to the women who enter the museum world? Many stay only a short time. Of those surveyed, some 32 per cent had held their pre- sent positions for a year or less, and in- dicated that they did not intend to stay. About 26 per cent were long-term mu- seum professionals who had decided to continue in their work.

Is museum work really an easy, non-absorbing job that allows a healthy combination of family and

work? This seems to be another mu- seum myth: 56.6 per cent of those in- terviewed answered that they worked more than eight hours per day.

Museums are, as we have seen, a recognized field where women play an important social role. During the 1970s and 1980s many gained positions of leadership, far more than in most industrialized countries. But I have the notion that we women museum work- ers have not really acquired a true con- sciousness of what we can do. This is our immediate task. W