Basque Families

During the 1940s, Franco's Falangist ideology was transformed into laws that denied women the right to work outside the home, did away with divorce, established severe penalties for female adultery, and discriminated against children unfortunate enough to be born out of wedlock (Astelarra 1995). Changes to these laws emerged slowly from the 1960s through the 1980s. Women's right to work was restored in 1961, access to an abortion if the health of the mother is at risk was granted in 1985, and divorce became legal in 1981 (Jones 1997), although separation is much more popular than divorce. Gender roles in Basque families are slowly being transformed by these legal changes and by the impact of globalization on regional cultures. However, these changes are difficult to measure and vary from family to family.

Traditional gender roles continued to predominate throughout the 1990s, so much so that the Women's Municipal Service of Bilbao launched a program in 1994 to cross-train women and men in certain elementary tasks that were considered the domain of the opposite sex. Women were trained to replace washers, change light bulbs, paint a wall, and fix a flat tire, while men were taught to sew on a button, prepare a simple meal, and do the laundry (Ostolaza 1997).

Gender roles are a facet of Basque family life that appear highly resistant to change. The overall impression is still one of traditional gender roles, with women responsible for housework and childcare while men work outside the home. If a woman takes advantage of the opportunity to earn extra income outside the home, she is still expected to fulfill her duties at home. Studies assert that Basque women continue to feel responsible for domestic tasks and teach their daughters to feel the same way, while men continue to distance themselves from housework and childcare (Pérez de Lara 1995; Rodríguez 1996). Girls are expected to help their mothers, while boys are generally free from such obligations.