~ Gender and Age Roles within the Family ~
While the men
earned the the majority of the money, spending their assigned shifts
working in the oil fields, the wives were responsible for caring
the for children and for the home. This included sending their children
to school, supplementing the family's income, and organizing varous
activities with other families in the neighborhood. Children also
helped contribute to the family income and performed household chores. |
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Men were responsible for earning the primary income for the family. They would work long, hours in the oil field. This does not mean that women and children did not work. Although women especially married ones did not hold full-time jobs with the oil companies or in other capacities, women made significant contributions to the family as they were responsible for much of the domestic work. |
Juan
Ivanoff described his mother's role within the family. "My
mom would take care of the house, make dinner would take care of
her husband." Women's contributions within the home in
this manner were involved and time consuming. Women were resposible
for meal preparation, the sewing, caring for the children, and running
the home. |
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Collectively,
these duties extended well beyond the normal working day. They were
responsible for maintaining the home twenty-four hours a day. "After
all men went for eight to twelve hours to work. But the woman worked
much longer at home...because that it how it was in the earlier
days..." -Martha Eggeling Jung |
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Supporting a family was difficult because men's wages were often low. Women also contributed to the family income through activities such as washing and cooking for the single men. Martha Eggeling Jung described this saying,"She did the household and she always had people for dinner. Gave dinner. For three four people." This 'giving dinner' was a popular means of supplementing the family income. Ivo Sloboda explained an alternative situation, although somewhat of an exception to the norm. "...my wife worked also, so the first years we didn't have children. Um, I don't remember exactly, but I think we were about five years or six years without children. Then when the children came, we hired an old lady who was able to live with us, we knew that she took good care of the children, so we both worked. I worked eh, in the oil company, sometimes we got up at six in the morning, had to travel to the field, eh, come back at six or later in the evening, my wife uh, worked in the police from seven in the morning till, I think it was two in the afternoon or so and eh, the maid was with the children." |
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Martha
Eggeling Jung
 Click on photo for larger image and biography
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Joaquín Guerreiro
 Click on photo for larger image and biography
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Women's
social space was much more limited than men's. Unlike their husbands
who worked long hours, women spent the majority of their time within
the home involved in household chores and caring for thier families.
They would often visit neighbors in their spare time either to talk
or for such activities such as sewing; but they did not have the
same level of interaction with others from outside the family that
men had because of the nature of their work. Women spent most of
their leisure time engaged in famly activities. They would plan
and organize the family and ethnic social events such as birthdays,
weddings, and funerals. Women also played an important role in maintaining
ethnic networks. This was accomplished through the organization
of these functions and through visiting. Some of this social interaction,
although not all of it, focused on other families with the same
background and ethnicity. |
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Men
and children participated in these social activities along with
women. Roles at these functions were also designated by gender and
age. This picture from Astra (KM 20) shows men and a boy cooking
at a barbecue with women socializing and setting up in the background.
See Building a Community
for more information about family participation in these social
events.Workers and their families would also often spend their leisure
time in parks that they built or on picnics in the countryside. |
Men's main contribution to the family, however, was as the primary provider and much of their time was spent working in the oil fields although they did contribute to family life in other ways. For example, Joaquín Guerreiro's video clip explains how his father would help his mother by delivering clothes when she washed for the single workers. Children were also responsible for work within the home. They would have various tasks and would often help their mothers with the housework. This could include chores such as sewing, cooking, and cleaning as well as other activities designed to provide additional income. This could include helping their mothers with ventures or indepenent ones such as collecting bottles for money. |
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Education and homework were also a significant part of children's activities and all children in the company towns were required to attend school. Ivanoff described his ten year old brother's role as going to school. Here children are seen in Comodoro Rivadavia. |
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María Viegas and María Bordeira de
Parreira Video Clip (Spanish) |
María Viegas and María Bordeira de Parreira (Portuguese immigrants when young) describe gender roles and their experiences with the responsibilities of women growing up in Kilometer Eight including how their mothers washed clothes and cooked for single men. María Bordeira de Parreira also describes how her brothers would contribute to the family at a young age by delivering milk.
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