differences were augmented by capitalist development. By comparing four separate communities

that represented different socio-economic segments of Guatemala, Bossen illustrated that the

farther the society is from a subsistence economy, the more women become dependent and

submissive (Ehlers 1990). Bossen tended to construct Mayan gender relations as egalitarian with

some male dominance, and Ladino gender relations as extremely imbalanced with an emphasis

on machismo. Bossen posits that even though Mayan women assume the traditionally "feminine"

responsibility for household and domestic activities, their tangible contribution to the subsistence

economy keeps their status high. She further argues that as the production of traditional crops

became increasingly commercialized, men's activities became more highly valued than women's

and consequently their dependence on men increased. In the other communities, Ladino women

tended to have access to work and to the cash economy, but always to a lesser degree than men

did, an imbalance that reduced women's status.

 One of Bossen's key findings was the difference in the physical mobility of Mayan and

Ladino women. She noted that Mayan women had a greater ability to move through a variety of

social spaces than Ladinas did. Whereas Mayan women were able to walk the streets to get to the

marketplace or the plantation, Ladina women were more limited in their activities, in part

because Ladino men construed such mobility as a sign of independence that defied accepted

social norms. Cominsky and Scrimshaw's study (1982), concurs with Bossen's findings

regarding Mayan women's increased participation in the Guatemalan economy, yet finds that the

life cycle stage is an important variable to be observed in assessing women's status. Their

research suggests that older Mayan women often have as much or even more authority over

household decision-making than men, and that they were able to achieve more mobility and

authority over time. This comparative research is relevant to the examination of current