Resumo de Women Of The Depression: Caste And Culture In San Antonio 1929-1939

Blackwelder, Julia Kirk. Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio,
1929-1939. Texas A&M University Press: College Station, 1984.

In the book, Women of the Depression: Caste and Culture in San Antonio, 1929-1939, Julia Blackwelder discusses women in Depression San Antonio. She did not focus on a single group, but rather on groups of women who were members of particular ethnic and economic groups. These women?s lives were affected basically on their memberships in these groups. In San Antonio there were three main ethnic groups that populated the area: Mexican-Americans, Blacks and Anglos. The book also tells of experiences and the behavior of women that lived through this time period in history and also how they experienced dislocations and disasters which were worse among the Mexican-Americans than the other two groups. Through the chapters discussing the city of San Antonio, family importance, jobs, segregation, working conditions, labor movements and crime and consequences, Blackwelder shows the public that a town of different ethnic and economic groups all suffered and survived one of the hardest times in American history.
Blackwelder?s bias is a focus on three main ethnic groups of women in San Antonio: Mexican-Americans, blacks, and Anglos. During and throughout the Depression, white women in San Antonio were better off materially than the minority women and had better access to jobs. Yet Blackwelder contradicts herself by then pointing out that therefore, Anglo women had the most to lose in the 1930s. Blackwelder focused on San Antonio due to the demographic complexity, poverty, and the importance of the women in the local economy. Her thesis is the statement that the caste system in San Antonio which was based on race, color and ethnicity was a dominant force that shaped the city?s women?s lives. These women faced discrimination from employers and relief agencies and this deeply affected women?s abilities to cope with the Depression. Blackwelder states that ?the Depression and the city are dual protagonists in the drama, but the central focus is women?s behavior in a difficult environment.?
In reading this book there were things that could have been expanded in thought. For instance, what did the men think about the discrimination against the women at this time in this city? Were they facing the same kind of problems? At this time black and Hispanic men were facing intense discrimination in emergency work, but their claims to employment were never questioned on account of gender. What about religion? The church did expect a woman to give all her time to her husband and home after marriage and therefore it did not provide organized clubs for married women. But what did the church think about women working? Did they frown on it? What if a woman could balance family life and work at the same time? San Antonio was looked at as the ?Neglected City.? In fact many government employees lived outside the city limits and therefore did not participate in city politics. The U.S. Army even turned its backs on the city as they knew they would be reassigned or discharged soon. Yes, the federal government put a foot in the door to help, but went no further. Did it even know the hard times these people faced ethnically and economically? Or were they just not worried about this southern city in Texas?
Some interesting points in this book highlighted the different ways of life among Anglos, Mexican-Americans and Blacks. For example, during and throughout the Depression the Anglo families were more stable that those of minority families. The women among Hispanic families were taught to obey anything their fathers or brothers expected of them. The woman in this family was expected to be more or less submissive to her husband or any man in the family. As is stated, ?whereas a Hispanic mother taught her child obedience and devotion to family, an Anglo or black mother educated her child to ?be somebody?.?
In conclusion, Blackwelder has shown how caste and culture both drew lines of division for women during this hard time during and after the Depression. She has shown that women of different ethnic and economical groups faced hardships of all kinds, just because of their economic status or association with a specific ethnic group in the city of San Antonio.

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