Gender bias / male chauvinism

Hey, gender bias is very strong here. Start from the language. Male Child is Hijo, Female is Hija, but Chidren are Hijos! same with Padres, Tíos, Abuelos etc. Husband is marido, but wife is just mujer. This sets a cultural mindset I think. Yes, I have seen this around and fortunately, I am a man!!!

Not everyone does it, but I think it's petty normal.  My female friend has similar negative experiences with the men and the instructor of her kickboxing class. 

Many men whistle/hiss at young women or have something to say. I mean young too.  13-years old and up seems to be fair game.  My wife hates walking around without me because of the harassment.

I have spent all of my time in Ecuador with locals and yes the culture is male dominant but I have never seen men treat women badly or refuse to talk to them.  I have been with every class of people here and never seen this but my wife has told me that it is pretty common for Colombian men to treat women like this but I haven't personally seen it.  As for latin men aggressively pursuing women or girls, I have witnessed this personally in the coastal regions but I have also witnessed another aspect of this culture and that is the women being aggressive and outright not caring that my wife is next to me when they are flirting.  She just laughs it off because she knows how the women here can be towards handsome gringos haha.  I catch men staring at my wife all the time and they flirt with her sometimes but I have never come across a man that completely disrespects me when it comes to my wife. 

I think it boils down to the people you are surrounding yourself with!!! People here are very kind and very proud but that being said there are very distinct classes of people and these different classes do have different manners and values.

Chris

In Cuenca and some rural areas you can see male chauvinism is strong. In Quito or Guayaquil the relation between women and men are more equal.

Few examples, married women has to go to work, pick up kids at the school, buy food... and if there's only one car in the family the men take it and spend most of the day parked until he finish working.

If a couple have a business meeting the other part ignore the women and talk only to the other men.

When driving, men are really disrespectful towards driving women. My wife reply back a couple of times and the the man threatened to punch her. When my wife keep been defiant, then the man pull back.

In the other way in some indian groups, the female is dominant like the Cholas Cuencanas.

Vinny

Yes, the thing with men treating women badly is they seem to prefer to do it when other men and women aren't watching. So like a lot of discrimination it's only the one on the receiving end that gets to see it. 

I have seen the flirting thing and I've been told having a mistress is fairly common.

My main group is for the most part upper middle class. I think having a maid/cook fuels the problem too. The men I'm around have never had to clean up after themselves or cook. They've always seen a woman do it. I know a couple men who are kind and seemingly unaffected (albeit messy) and others that are ruined for any self-respecting woman to ever consider.

Hi Vinny,

The men are certianly selling themselves short in the business category. There was a group of men speaking about finance in the US - an area in which I worked for many years. They did not direct any of their questions or discussions toward me but chose to speak with men that had zero finance experience. I certainly couldn't hire or give any type of recommendation for this type of person.

Hi,

Unfortunately it is true sometimes, but as an ecuadorian woman I have to say that nowadays is not that bad.
I agree with vinny66, and I hope you do not leave the country because of this issue. You can also see in local newspapers there are several successful business women in cities as Guayaquil (Joyce Ginata, Isabel Noboa,etc). In my opinion if more openminded people  is in our society  more easier to change it in a positive way.

Yes Joey, as we also discussed when we met, "Machismo" is very common here. Promiscuous behavior of men is "accepted", and people are surprised at some of us that do not exhibit this behavior. I am often asked at office parties why I dot have a girl friend and if I am gay! They can not believe that someone not Gay could be living alone without a girl friend! I see my colleagues come to events with Girl Friends (and I know they are married to someone else) and some come to different parties with different girl friends! So, I guess this is a cultural issue in this part of the world and unless the women stand-up and make noise against it, nothing will change!

Here it goes another one: There's kind of holiday named "Dia de la secretaria" (secretary day)
Is a day that secretaries who works in companies, offices get a special treatment like a lunch, presents and so on.
Well, I remember few years ago that this day motels are full with bosses and managers bringing his secretaries (lovers)for some fun.

I think this has not change.

Vinny

Hi,

I am glad samgeets is commited to his marriage, but I live in a country with lot of Indians and/or people with Indians roots, and "machismo" is a lot present here and stronger than other cultures.
Of course not everyone displays the same behaviour here or in Ecuador (fortunately).

Hi guys, for the record, I am not married and Joeyeggs has left Ecuador, the topic of this discussion being the main reason for her departure.