ABSTRACT
An understanding of women's work roles in Mexico must be viewed in the context of Latin America's rigid typing of gender, as defined by the machismo cult. Although women have made slight advances in their status in the late twentieth century, they are subordinate to the male both in the home and in industry, in which they find marginal positions despite a higher literacy rate than men. They are relegated predominantly to service roles and to the assembly line, often in factories belonging to multinational corporations.
