Abstract
The feminization of social work is a remarkable phenomenon linked to the sexual division of work and affected by gender stereotypes such as the ones determined by certain Catholic sectors. Besides the social, political, and economic processes that lead to this idiosyncrasy, it can be attributed to the association of women to motherhood, which is translated to the performance of caregiving tasks and to a specific attitude of approach to another which I will define as “maternalistic.” I will base this study in the ethnography conducted for my doctoral thesis about the charitable intervention of Opus Dei in Argentina, addressing the “clash of classes” reflected in these rendezvous. Particularly, I will choose one of the gatherings to which I attended as part of the activities organized around poverty in a private Catholic school for women in the district of San Isidro, province of Buenos Aires. This study shows that these gatherings involve certain ways of approach to others by the volunteers, which produce specific reactions and perceptions of the poor about themselves.
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Notes
I carried out field work between 2015 and 2018. This specific paper is based on the knowledge I acquired in more than fifteen field notes and around ten interviews I did in two of the fifteen institutions and events I visited.
The only Personal Prelature of the Catholic Church founded in 1928 by the Spanish priest Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer. As it has a special figure, its organization and membership characteristics are different from other Catholic groups. For example, Opus Dei has a primarily laical composition. Diverse authors, such as Estuch (1994) or Casanova (1983) explore its particularities as well as their specific charisma. Opus Dei expanded after the Spanish Civil War and, especially, when the Second World War finished.
It is the most urbanized region in Argentina. It includes Buenos Aires City and its nearest suburbs. Besides some wealthy districts (those located in the northern zone), it also includes minor cities, slums, and rural areas.
See more at https://apdes.edu.ar/2021/11/05/apdes-una-familia-de-colegios-en-continuo-crecimiento/ [in Spanish] (last accessed on August 31st, 2023).
Interview conducted for the headmistress of Colegio del Buen Ayre de San Isidro on Tuesday, May 24th, 2018.
Interview to a member of the DAS team in Colegio del Buen Ayre de San Isidro on Monday, November 6th, 2017.
Narration constructed from a field record on September 28th, 2017 at Colegio del Buen Consejo.
TN: Coarse expression between “stuck up” and “disgusted,” always referring to a negative resting facial expression, comparable to “resting bitch face.”.
TN: Filler figure of speech comparable to “like, you know,” generally attributed to middle-upper and upper class youth in the Pampas region.
Fragment from a field record on September 28th, 2017 at Colegio del Buen Consejo.
Interview to a member of the DAS team in Buen Ayre de San Isidro school on Thursday, April 19th, 2018.
Interview to a member of the DAS team in Buen Ayre de San Isidro school on Monday, November 6th, 2017.
Esquivel and Faur (2010) also acknowledge that women are often reduced to their role as “mothers.” In this regard, they are seen as the primary caregivers both in the home and in public policies, which instead of challenging this stereotype, often reinforce it by appealing to the female maternal function. Among other functions, they ended up being teachers, nurses, and developing other roles related to specific gender stereotypes, taking jobs in which they were supposedly able to expand their female nature (Biernat and Queirolo 2018).
In the Conversations with Msgr. Escrivá de Balaguer, there is an excerpt from an interview conducted by Pilar Saucedo, published in Telva (Madrid) on February 1st, 1968, and reproduced in Mundo Cristiano (Madrid) on March 1st, 1968. In the interview, she asks him about the “evolution” that implies a greater female presence in “social life, beyond the family sphere.” In response, the priest says, “I think it's appropriate not to oppose those two areas you just mentioned. Just as in the life of a man, but with very unique nuances, the home and the family will always hold a central place in a woman’s life: it is evident that dedication to family tasks represents a great human and Christian function (…) the work of the home is also professional work.”.
To delve deeper into the representations of poverty that prevail in these activities, see: https://doi.org/10.35305/revista.vi45.228 (last accessed on Aug 31st, 2023).
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Bargo, M. Maternalism: Feminized Catholic Approach to Poverty. Int J Lat Am Relig 7, 444–457 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-023-00217-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41603-023-00217-6