Dominican Republic Gender Roles

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The Dominican Republic
Introduction
The island in which the Dominican Republic now stands was originally known as Hispaniola. The native people of the island, called Taino, split up the island into five territories. Each territory also held one chiefdom within in. When Christopher Columbus was sailing the world in 1492, he claimed the eastern half of the island. This began the colonization of the Dominican Republic from the Spanish Empire. However, the western half remained property of France and was known as Haiti. When Columbus claimed this island Spain renamed it to Santo Domingo. Dominicans wanted their independence. They fought to gain their independence in 1821 but were unfortunately conquered and taken over by Haiti for the following twenty-two years. In 1844 they were finally given their independence, so they thought. In 1861 they returned to the Spanish Empire however two years later a war ensued that ended this reign. Dominicans finally gained their …show more content…

However, some strict gender roles and expectations are still enforced and in control of the norms for both men and women. In the society of the Dominican Republic men are seen as superior. They are supposed to hold the responsibility of making financial decisions as well as providing for the family. While women are often constricted to the home. Their role in society is to be caretakers. Even if they are bringing in money, they are expected to still provide care to their family. Men do not involve themselves with taking care of the family because it is so strongly ingrained in the culture that that is a women’s duty. Women are often viewed as weak and needed protection, while men are looked at as dominant and strong. Men are brought up by society to have a mindset of Machismo, which essentially means to be