Symbolic representations of the gender in Manabí-Ecuador

Abstract

Gender studies in the province of Manabí- Ecuador, are almost nonexistent and scarcely raised in the social and political arenas of the region. Consequently, the discussion, which is limited in itself, falls on speeches and practices encrypted in sexist structures, reproducing messages about their social representations in that province. Therefore, the symbols and speeches are analyzed to know that reality, from the perspective of a group of inhabitants directly and indirectly connected as the context. A qualitative methodology is applied with ethnographic tools based on interviews and image analysis. The symbolic representations show us stereotypes and internalized roles in unequal and violent practices, in a population strongly embraced by the cultural identity of their people, in which the masculine power over the feminine is naturalized.