Empleadas públicas: normas de feminidad, espacios burocráticos e identidad de la clase media en México durante la década de 1930

Abstract

In the 1930s, a debate emerged in Mexico City about the employment of women in public administration, a debate which manifested itself in the newspapers of the capital. The context of this public debate was a growing number of women in public administration positions not related to education, the latter being a field not completely dominated by women, but one considered appropriate for them. With the economic crisis of the 1930s, various groups of men organized to reclaim these positions occupied by women. This conflict was not only about work and what kind of employment was thought appropriate for women, but also about the very definition of the middle class. The resulting debate focused around three questions: economic need, habits of consumptions, and women’s sexual morality.