A Qualitative Study of Gender Constructions Among Female Free Trade Zone Workers in the Domincan Republic

The purpose of this senior Independent Study thesis is to explore gender constructions among female free trade zone workers in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. A great deal of theory and literature was reviewed concerning this topic including: history of feminist anthropology, Latina women and work, and women and development. The theory used specifically to address my research was Sherry Ortner\u27s (1974) nature/culture theory, Henrietta Moore\u27s (1988) theory addressing the different experiences of women and Arlene MacLeod\u27s (1991) theory concerning hegemonic models of power. In order to gain a better understanding of gender construction, 33 interviews were conducted among female free trade zone workers in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. In addition free trade zone promotional brochures were collected and analyzed. From these interviews one can see that female workers have diverse experiences dependent upon their pruticular place in larger Dominican society. In addition, there is a discrepancy between the understanding of the free trade zones among the promotional brochures and the female workers