Single Party States allowed women to play a fuller role in society

Single Party States allowed women to play and fuller role in society to increase the country’s value. If we look back on past authoritarian states like Germany or Soviet Russia, women and men were equal to extent. Women did the same jobs as men and were suppose to be considered as a man’s equal, but the state still expected women to be the housewife that bared a lot of children and made sure the house was take care of. It was harder to change tradition so they never did anything about unless it was very crucial to the state.

Fidel Castro’s policy on women is example of how women were expected to serve their country and their family at the same time. During pre-Revolutionary Cuba, women had more rights the other women in Latin America. The 1940 constitution gave women equal rights as men and made sure that women were not discriminated against at work and were to receive equal pay for equal work. Women had the right to vote, they had a right to get jobs that were more suitable for women (nursing or teaching) and have the right to a divorce. But because of tradition over state laws, women continued to be housewives, which upper and middle class men preferred.

The women who continued to work were discriminated against by giving jobs that had a greater responsibility to men. When Castro took over in 1959, he saw that in order to achieve modernization, he needed everybody to work together, men and women alike. , to be able to achieve a produce record harvests. But because of the discrimination against women working a man’s job, Castro had to come of a way to stop the discrimination against women and find a way to teach the women how to do a man’s job. Legislation addressed these issues by passing new laws that were to reinforce the equal rights of men and women to access all types of jobs.

Women were offered training at technical and professional levels to prepare for posts that were meant for men. Women were now allowed to work in areas such as construction, biotechnology and IT. Because of the Agrarian Reform, women in rural areas were given opportunities to have the same jobs men had. For example, driving and repairing tractors. In suburban areas, day cares were starting to pop up so that women could drop off their kids and go to work without having to worry who was watching their children and if their safe. The daycares were made available so that women could join the workforce.

But the downfall of these reforms caused women to leave home and their families for long periods and work in agriculture legions. They also put pressure on women to be efficient workers, participate in political life, volunteer to serve the revolution while, at the same time, fulfill their duties to there families. Since Cuba was a very patriarchal society, it was expected of women to fulfill their roles as housewives and men refused to help with the duties or live with a women who was financially independent. Because of the conflict created between duties and work, many women gave up their jobs and their entire family would leave Cuba.

In Cuba during the 70’s, a new family code was put into place, forcing men to help out with the household chores and education of children, If they did not comply with the law they were considered exploiting women. The Cuban government hope that by passing this law, women in the workforce would increase but the numbers remained low to expectations. If we compared the facts about the role that women played in Germany and Russia and the role that women played in Cuba, women had more rights in Europe than in Latin America but when it came down towards who ruled society, Cuba, Germany and USSR were all the same.

In Europe, women were more expected to stay home instead of working because their jobs were to make sure that they had kids who were healthy and the ideal child in their country as well as making sure that their family follows the ideal family picture. They did not have to worry about being discriminated against or have to worry who would take care of the children. While in Cuba, men and women were expected to work alongside each other, but women were expected to fulfill their duties to their families and to the revolution. That caused ay too much stress for women and they quit their jobs so that they can fulfill their suites as housewives.