^{Mariana Parra González is a Mexican student currently pursuing a Masters in Critical Fashion Practices in The Netherlands. Her research focuses on decolonization of fashion, inclusion and representation of minorities and at-risk groups, and the relationship between labor and gender. Growing up in a family dedicated to local garment production, she witnessed the negative impacts fast fashion has on communities. Therefore, she views fashion from a critical perspective, and acts through her practice to create a positive impact in the industry.}

Low wages, sexual harassment, bullying, working shifts of more than eight hours without overtime pay, health insurance, benefits, rest days, or retirement: these are some of the working conditions endured by textile workers in the northern border states of Mexico, such as Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas. These conditions respond to a capitalist model of economic development in which high productivity and low cost are the top priorities and where the exploitation, marginalization, and commodification of working-class women is indispensable for the system to persist, as they participate in the processes of reproduction (of workers) and in the production of goods.

This article aims to analyze how capitalism and the feminization of textile work disadvantage women and how this perpetuates undignified working conditions. I also present the case of a man who, due to not complying with the “macho” stereotype, is constantly subjected to various types of violence. The article collects testimony gathered in 2021 and 2022 by the Comité Fronterizo de Obreras, an organization that promotes the human and labor rights of maquiladora workers on the northern border of Mexico in order to reduce gender-based violence and to improve the wages and working and living conditions of female workers and their families. [1] In addition to this, you will find an interview by the author in which an independent textile worker talks about her working conditions, and how informality in the industry has affected her personal and professional life.

The Feminization of Textile Work

For centuries, gender stereotypes have been an endemic part of Mexican culture, and the labor market is no exception. In the 2000s, greater attention was given to how these stereotypes connect to the exploitation of workers in the textile industry in the north of the country, a sector that employs 19.6% of women over the age of 14 in Mexico. [2] The National Institute of Women in Mexico published a report in 2007 exploring how gender dynamics at that time contributed to women's access to certain types of employment that were viewed as feminized. [3] Some of these stereotypes confine women to the role of housewife and men to that of provider, a division that reduces women to the private sphere, which is therefore invisible and not valued economically or socially. In the workplace, gender roles have also dictated where, how, and when women can work. This is shown in a series of interviews that the Institute conducted in 2007 with married women or women who lived with a partner, in which 36% of the interviewees suggested that they should ask their partners for permission to work even if they live in precarious economic situations. This current article presents the hypothesis that in this environment women are conditioned not to challenge male authority, as this would imply the man's inability to provide for the family's total income.

It also shows that the main occupations in which women are employed include artisans, domestic workers, office workers, and service workers–jobs that are related to their gender role and identity. This occupational segregation by sex means a social exclusion of women because they are generally placed in occupations with lower status and unfavorable working conditions. For these reasons, it is not surprising that the manual labor required in textile manufacturing has become feminized in Mexico. The reasons companies hire female labor include the perception that women have a greater sense of responsibility and specific skills. Employers believe that “feminine” docility and dexterity in the home could be transferred to the workplace, as they see them as necessary characteristics for the meticulous and repetitive tasks of garment assembly.

In this context, it is necessary to highlight the impact of global capitalism on local communities across Latin America. Mexico's northern border with the United States is a geographically intensive labor and exportation zone for garment manufacturers, where transnational companies (especially those from the USA) benefit from the low hourly costs of the employees, even though they are slightly more qualified workers than at a national level, something that appeals to foreign investors. [4] But what about the workers? The state began to build cheap, overcrowded housing near the companies to ensure an influx of workers. The Bank of Mexico itself highlighted its priorities in one of its bulletins entitled “Mexico has regained its status as a leading center of high-productivity, low-cost manufacturing,” with the goal of making labor costs the cheapest in all of North America. This statement highlights the imbalance and tensions between high productivity and low cost, which can result in unfair trade agreements. These agreements between the U.S. and Mexico have provided more support for U.S. fashion companies than the long-term social, labor, and economic conditions of its citizens working at the border.

Many roles in the textile sector have no educational requirements and companies know that the population is in need of employment. Young and poor women are thus used as a convenient workforce,both willing to adjust to the demands of a 50-hour working week and accept wages of $2645.94 MXN ($133.02 USD) per month in 2011, a wage that is 1.46 times lower than that of their male counterparts. [5] Because their employment conditions are unstable and their work is considered second class and of little economic value, women are viewed as unskilled, weak, and temporary workers and are often exploited by companies that prefer to hire them as they can be paid lower wages than men.