HISTORY FINAL REFLECTION

Throughout the course, I have had the chance to learn about different aspects of normal women’s
everyday lives. The two most memorable topics to me were about reproduction and double
burden. In this essay, I would like to reflect on the challenges that women had faced or are facing
in terms of reproduction and double burden, problems that, sometimes, women were forced to
take for granted.
Reproduction undoubtedly has always been seen as women’s responsibilities. Giving birth or
reproductive issues were never easy for women, but the social impacts from regulations, society,
and education have made these tasks extra challenging. More specifically, for example, abortion
and reproductive controls, which are more widely known and used now, were not supported, or
at least not for women’s best benefits. From the reading about “Soviet Decree on the
Legalization of Abortion”, abortion was characterized as “evil among working women”.
However, due to the high number of
1. Reproduction:
- Abortion & Reproductive Control: Chapter XIX:
o Concerns for other women, reading about abortion HIS1075 SP22 March
14.pdf
o In these villages, Rigoberta met women, some of whom were her friends, who
were raped by soldiers and sometimes became pregnant as a result. In one
case, the community supported a woman’s abortion, saying that their
ancestors also did this when a woman was raped and found themselves unable
to love the child. Rigoberta felt helpless, however, at witnessing these
women’s suffering. Two of the girls who were raped were 14, and they
suffered physically and emotionally as a result.
o Birth Control Pill: HIS1075 SP22 1 Birth Control Pill.pdf, HIS1075 SP22
Norplant .pdf
- Lack of sexual education(even when she does not have her childhood): Chapter VIII
o “As a rule, we girls don;t play” (Menchú, 97). This quote stuck out to me
because it demonstrated how Rigoberta was forced to be an adult at a young
age and understand the troubles in her community instead of being a child and
playing.
o Rigoberta shares how they don’t even know about the parts of our own bodies,
and we don’t know what having babies means” (Menchú, 70). Rigoberta was
told that she would be a mother someday; however, she is confused on what
that even entails. While family is very important to Rigoberta, it can be seen
that the lack of explanation about certain topics can make people feel
suppressed
o Having Period and no teaching over that. Creating the Overpopulation
o Promote Birthcontrol but not the lack of sexual education for population
control (Birth control chapter)  Fixing but not eliminating the root cause. .
Not only are students graduating from high school with little knowledge of
 their bodies, and, for queer students in particular, confusion and shame
surrounding their sexual desires and gender identity, they are also more likely
to engage in unsafe sexual practices. Puerto Rico has the seventh-highest rate
of syphilis in the U.S., and as much as 65 percent of pregnancies there are
unintended, compared to the also-sizeable 45 percent in the contiguous U.S.
https://www.bustle.com/p/sex-education-in-puerto-rico-isnt-helping-women-
on-the-island-these-organizations-are-stepping-in-15870312
2. Double Burden
- Reproduction and parenting: Responsibility: HIS1075 SP22 March 16.pdf, I
Rigoberta: Does not have the choice for herself, getting married and have children 
Faith is determined but she went for women had the right for herself
- Because of the war and imbalance in sex  Work and take care of the home at the
same time.
- Hardship but the support is inadequate, rather focus on the pride not the materials that
they need  Make it even harder
- Ideal image: work and cleaning
- Wanting to work too
o About Rigoberta's family, it seemed that her life was constricted within her
family's decisions. Since she was a kid, she was already told that she "would
have many ambitions but I wouldn't have the opportunity to realize them"
(Menchu, 48). Additionally, because of her parents, she already had the image
that she would grow up suffering in poverty and become a mother.
o Community is the core value of Guatemalan culture, that puts the needs of the
whole above those of the individual including the emphasis of the need for
girls to grow up quickly and take responsibility for their role in the
community. By the age of twelve Rigoberta was expected to join the
communal work, where she was to harvest the maize. The community held
strong beliefs that girls should not play because they are to “learn to look after
things in the home”, “learn all the little things their mothers do” because as
mothers they are expected to never sit around as there is always more work to
be done (Menchú, 97). The community puts a large amount of pressure on the
young in which they are to follow all customs and never leave the community
because “the work isn’t like our work and because rich people treat you like
dirt” (Menchú, 106). Rigoberta as well as the other girls were forced to act
like an adult at a young age where they must recognize the needs of the
community and not spend time playing and acting like a child. Although the
community looks out for one another, the traditions have led children to grow
up at a faster rate than we see in the United States causing them to struggle
more with societal pressures and the expectations they are to meet in order to
follow their ancestors way of life. 
o When a male child is born, there are special celebrations, not because he’s
male but because of all the hard work and responsibility he’ll have as a man.
It’s not that machismo doesn’t exist among our people, but it doesn’t present a
 problem for the community because it’s so much part of our way of life. […]
At the same time, he is head of the household, not in the bad sense of the
word, but because he is responsible for so many things. This doesn’t mean
girls aren’t valued. Their work is hard too and there are other things that are
due to them as mothers. Girls are valued because they are part of the earth,
which gives us maize, beans, plants and everything we live on.
o The mother talks to the child constantly, even though it is still in her womb,
and performs all her usual chores in order to introduce the child to the kind of
life they will lead.
o On the one hand, her duty as a woman in the community is to become a
mother and have children. On the other hand, she knows that in order to
defend the community’s survival, she must take on a leadership role and
contribute to the political struggle. As Rigoberta attempts to make sense of her
own position with regard to expected gender roles, she concludes that her
priority should be activism, because true social change can only take place if
women are fully integrated in the fight for justice. And instead of viewing
men and women as two conflicting sides, Rigoberta emphasizes that engaging
both men and women in dialogue about gender equality is the only way to
build a better, more equal society.
o Rigoberta’s personal story highlights her struggle to be both a woman and a
political leader. Although she ultimately decides to forgo marriage in order to
focus on her fight for the rights of the poor, she realizes that misogyny exists
even within revolutionary political groups. For example, some of the
compañeros she works with sometimes refuse to follow a woman’s orders. In
these situations, instead of blindly imposing her authority, Rigoberta believes
that engaging in heartfelt discussions is the solution: through dialogue, men
can change their attitude toward women and understand that both genders are
perfectly equal. Therefore, Rigoberta believes that true change can only take
place if women and men unite. She argues against the creation of women-
specific political groups, since women suffer from the same exploitation as
men. As Rigoberta’s mother argues, true change—including a more favorable
position for women in society—takes place when women are capable of
making their voice heard in the public sphere. For Rigoberta and her mother,
fighting poverty and violence is not enough: the political movements
defending the poor in Guatemala should also strive for gender equality.
Without the promotion of women’s rights, no political or economic
achievement will ever be a full victory.
 Double burden is not doable  Have to forgo sth to do another
 Women do not have the rights to determine their faiths and have to follow the norms, past
generation directions