Costa Rica Women

Costa Rican women seem to be at a crossroad between traditional roles and modern ones.  Like much of the world, the Costa Rican culture traditionally treated women as a weaker gender and limited them to certain roles and behaviors.  Nowadays, the role of Costa Rica women has developed into a more human role, getting treated like individuals rather than just fulfilling a stereotypical gender role.

Culturally speaking, women have changed.  Values dealing with sex, marriage, family and the so-called machismo have also changed drastically.  However, many women still have a significant attachment to traditional roles and values.   Most Costa Rican men and women alike choose to remain in the household of their parents until they marry, a fact that illustrates that ‘ticos’ in general keep being dependent on their family and on the values accepted by society.

The insertion of Costa Rica women into the workforce has helped the country’s modernization.  The first step towards economic independence was the promotion of women’s education, in the late XIX century.  The Costa Rican government encouraged women to study careers such as nursing and education.  In the XX century, women began gaining more political power to express themselves until receiving the right to vote in 1948.

By this time, Costa Rica has had multiple female vice presidents as well as women presidential candidates.  In 2010, Laura Chinchilla, now President Chinchilla, was elected the first female president in Costa Rica’s history, winning the popular vote with a 46.8% support – facts that contrast with countries like the United States, where women have never held such positions of high political power.

Professional women in Costa Rica are having the same concerns as women in more developed countries.  Apart from being wives and mothers, many of them have also taken the responsibilities originated by their jobs.  Furthermore, many families still delegate all the housework to women, making their work load far more intense and exhausting.  Maids are common in most middle to upper class homes; however, many younger couples can’t afford to pay for this service.

Women’s insertion into the workforce due to the rising cost of living worldwide continues to transform their roles and responsibilities at a very fast rate.  The constant changes prevent women from adapting completely, leading to confusion and social ambiguity.  Today, Costa Rica women continue to play the roles of working professional, wife and mother.