Chic@s

¡Buenas Días!

Welcome to another week of Reporting Live, From Rosario, Argentina!

On the note of last Thursday, lets talk about boys and girls. (Los Chicos y Las Chicas)

Ladys, think... what do you like to wear? To school? To a friends house? Do you like to dress casual? To impress? (Of course, whatever you choose to wear is impressing :) ).

If you like to dress nice, dress-up and get fancy before you go out, then Rosario, Argentina is the

city for you! In Rosario, the girls put on their nicest clothing for every occasion regardless if it is for school, for church, to hang out with friends, to go to a cafe or to go to the park, dresses,

blouses, skirts and scarves are worn by just about every single girl. At night the best outfits

appear, when the scarves are dropped and the dancing shoes are slipped on as thousands of people hit the clubs. I am not trying to over generalize, but I tested these statements over the past week. It applies 9.5 out of 10 times. But do not fear, when at home you can dress, look, and act as casual as you want - no expectations are written here. (My lady friends tell me they wake up some mornings to their mom making toast in her underwear - comfortable!)

I found that the casual dress for a man is accepted in 3 general trends. Like the rest of the culture the primary category is a nice, exspensive and clean looking, designer made (or in the likeness of) outfit. Shopping is HUGE here, for boys and girls. Both my brother and sister work in a clothing shop. When I went to go take a look, I almost fainted by the price tags... of a shirt! Of a cotton shirt!! Sorry, anyways, where was I... Most guys are going to be wearing a colared or well tailored shirt, nice jeans, and definitelly sporting a close shave. The second category is for the casuals. The "I don't care to look like I own a porshe, but I still want to look good, and maybe own a porshe" kind of casual. Screen-print t-shirts, jeans, baseball cap. The third category are the athletics. Football (as in soccer) and Rugby are huge in Argentina, and in any neighborhood or city you go you will find guys wearing Jerseys of one of the local teams. I myself bought a stylish hat at the Newell's Old Boys Soccer Game last Saturday 8).

As you can tell by the size and descriptions of those two preceding paragraphs, men have much more freedom then Women when it comes to dress.

This lopsidedness toward a male benefited society goes also into the everyday roles that are played. When I spoke with my friend Nacho, asking about the main postions held by women, he told me:

"Women are usually teachers, working with the elementary students. Hardly any men teach, except for in the Universities and a few in highschool. They work in the shopping and retail, or also in the restaurants" (translated from spanish).

In the home it is normal that the mom is the one who cooks, who cleans, who does the laundary, and all the other household chores. As I taught my sister the art of Quesadilla making, I quickly asked a few questions:

Philip: Is it wierd for men to cook here? Is it rare?

FL: Yes, you think it's wierd that Fredrico cooks? (my host-brother)

Philip: No, not at all! Do you?

FL: Yes, but he cooks only for himself! Jaja!

My house is no different. My mom Silvia is always over-stressing to get work done, to get a meal cooked, or to wash the dishes, but she never asks for help. When I give a hand she comments : "No don't worry! Be happy!"

I love her :) But I do the work anyways :p

It's not that the girls are required to dress up or to put all the weight on their shoulders all the time, or that they would be scorned by society if they decided to go against the norm, but I believe that they just like to do what they do. The guys like what they do too! What is sad is that a lot of people here don't have a whole lot of money, but the feeling of need to have the nicest clothe continues to effect everyone. Many people won't be able to afford the designer labeled shirt and jeans that are the most desired, and then begin to feel out of place. And it's not a normal feeling to want to give a hand around the house. What they're used to is normal! I don't think they feel opressed, but it's how they have been socialized. But what happens when a girl want to dress differently, or she cant afford the nice clothe, or she doesn't have a place to stay where she can change, or afford all the hygeiene? It would be a nightmare for her. The issue leaves the realm and responsibility of the indivudal and becomes an issue of the construct and functionality of the society as a whole.

Kind of like how we find trends and fashions coming and going in the states (I remember having bleach tipped hair, Converse high-tops and a chain dangling from my wallet when I was in middle-school- then blue hair in highschool), I hope that in time as women gain more free-will power in the society that the concept of fashion over necesity (style over substance) will change with a sharp and constructive creativity that is being tapped into.

A cool little thing that some spanish speakers have come up with: using a @ to subsitute for definite Masculine or Feminine ending (I.E. Not Chicos, nor Chicas, but Chic@s).

Education is important, and that is one thing Argentina is exemplatory for. School, up through the Universities, is free, and everyone takes education very seriously and important. My local guy friends who have been to other parts of the world told me that what they like most about the girls here in Argentina is how intelligent they all are.

Historically in Argentina, like much of the European influenced world, women have found them selves the subordiantes of a male dominated society. If we stepped back a 1000 years ago before Spain started the conquesting and "civilizing" (good excuse Europe, by whose terms are they civilized? Thieving, conquering, egoists?), we would find hundreds of people groups native to the continent in which women played very important roles with at times even more influence in society then the men. For the most part, it was shared. Only recently however, about 50 years

ago, have things begun to progress into this form again. At this time President elect Perón chose his wife Isabel to be his Vice-President during his third-term in office, but then suddenly, after a tragic death, Isabel Martínez de Perón took the Presidency. Then, on December 10th, 2007, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (to the right) became the First elected Women President of Argentina, and remains so today. As the the results come in from YESTERDAYS election, we will see "should she stay or should go now" for another term, (sorry, horrible pun from a great band: Joey Ramone would be very disapointed).

I want to go into some of the inter-gender interactions, but I won't bore you more right now with an extensive lecture.

How about later this week, we discuss a little thing called Love?

Tell me-

What do you want to know?

What should I look for?

What questions should I ask locals?

Do you even have any questions?

SNEAK PREVIEW:

Love is a verb, (one of those actions you do) but here in Rosario many more verbs are attached to the interactions of affection.