Today there is a growing debate about the effects of paid employment on women. Some observers argue that paid employment is the key to gender equality because it raises women's class consciousness and reduces their isolation within the home and their dependence on a male's wages. Others suggest that paid employment merely increases women's burden a

"A fine collection . . . this is a volume every person with interests in the social sciences and/or Latin America should read." American Anthropologist "Outlines in impressive detail the dimensions of women's powerlessness and shows the rich array of strategies women use to survive the oppression of their daily lives." Women's Review of Books

"Comparative sociohistorical study examines interplay of the economy and gender relationships in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Offers extended treatment of the impact of Operation Bootstrap on Puerto Rican women and gender relationships, the impact on women of the Dominican Republic's economic crisis and export manufacturing option of the 1980s, and the development of mass organizations for women in Cuba"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.

"Outlines in impressive detail the dimensions of women's powerlessness and shows the rich array of strategies women use to survive the oppression of their daily lives." Women's Review of Books "A fine collection. . . . This is a volume every person with interests in the social sciences or Latin America should read." American Anthropologist