Cuban Women Research Articles

Degrees of Desirability

This paper investigates how colonial discourses in late 19th-century Cuba invoke discussion of racialized sexuality. I propose “degrees of desirability” as an analytical framework defined by culturally pervasive stereotypes and tropes regarding sexuality as a racialized unit of observation and operationalized through hierarchies against which Cuban women were measured. The term “degrees” signifies quantifiable differentiation or ‘Other-ness’ ascribed to non-White Cuban women, while “desirability” illustrates how colonial narratives objectified Cuban women sexually. Firstly, I analyze how these perspectives classified Cuban women along the axes of race and perceived exoticism, particularly in the contexts of colonial prostitution and conjugal relations. I will then present three distinct essays, each authored by a Spanish or American man contemporaneously, that converge in depicting the Mulatta as the most perplexing instance of established, rigid hierarchies. The Mulatta is characterized by her dual proximity to both Blackness and whiteness, navigating the sexual stereotypes associated with each. Thus, “degrees of desirability” is used to underscore colonial essentialisms regarding the race and sexual affect of Cuban women in this period.

Gender Digital Divide and China's International Communication based on Cuban Women's Media Use

The Belt and Road Initiative has entered its tenth year of existence, and cooperation with Latin America has gradually deepened, with global initiatives pointing the way for developing countries. While international cooperation and exchanges have become closer, the idea of "equality" has always been highly valued, but it is important to point out that the gender digital divide still exists in countries in the middle of the Internet access level, which needs to be solved in order to better promote development. Cuba, as an important partner of China's Belt and Road initiative, has gender differences in media empowerment brought about by the digital divide, and the main factors affecting it are the underdeveloped local economic situation, insufficient infrastructure construction, and the segregation of dissemination of knowledge and access to information, etc. This paper mainly uses semi-structured interviews. In this paper, we use semi-structured interviews to explore Cuban women's media use and explain the specific manifestations and causes of the gender digital divide, so as to jointly promote the implementation of the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative, and provide development momentum for the realization of the concept of a community of shared destiny for humankind.

Emancipated women in Cuba: strategies of freedom and motherhood inside of the conflict

Emancipated women in Cuba: strategies of freedom and motherhood inside of the conflict

Experimental fusion (<i>fusión</i>), ritual <i>batá</i>, and gendered interventions

Cuba constitutes a site of immense importance for the history of jazz (and Latin jazz) in the United States, and attention to the contributions of Cuban women artists contributes to a broader understanding of the gendered histories of global jazz. This article explores women jazz artists in Cuba and its diaspora, excavating how women instrumentalists and vocalists have transformed the landscape of Cuban, Latin, and global jazz through groundbreaking and experimental performances. I attend to how the fusion-centered approaches of Cuban women unearth an emic orientation towards collaborative experimentalism that builds upon specific, local histories of jazz performance on the island. These performances draw upon histories of revolutionary-era musical experimentalism and fusion (fusión) that have emerged since the late 1960s and 1970s in Cuba and which repeatedly tie jazz experimentalism closely—though not categorically—to dance forms (both popular and ritual). Amid Cuba’s intensifying economic crises, I additionally engage how women regularly pursue careers—and, in an overwhelming number of cases, emigration—to Spain, Canada, the continental United States, Puerto Rico, and other international locales, in turn impacting local and translocal jazz scenes.

Black Cuban women primary school teachers negotiating the responsibilities of social reproduction

AbstractInvestigations into teacher dissatisfaction often limit concerns to the school setting; however, this ethnographic study investigated how Cuban women's employment as primary school teachers forced them to make strategic negotiations related to childbirth and eldercare. Interviews and participant observation conducted with five Black primary teachers revealed tensions between economic production and biological reproduction. Attention to teachers’ lives outside of the classroom and the complications they experience are useful for Cuba and other counties experiencing shortages.

Examining External and Internal Acculturative Factors: Cuban-Born Women’s Experience of Well-Being in the U.S.

Objective: This study investigates the influence of acculturative stress on the mental well-being of Cuban-born women and Latina immigrants, emphasizing their distinctive experiences. Methods: Utilizing data from the National Latino Asian American Study (NLAAS), a comprehensive nationwide mental health investigation among Latino and Asian Americans, this study examined 264 Cuban women (average age: 58) who migrated to the United States and live in south Florida. The study employed Family Stress Management (FSM) framework and Bekteshi et al.’s Contextual Influence on Acculturative Stress (CIAS) framework to scrutinize the interplay of contextual factors and individual characteristics impacting adolescents’ psychological distress. Results: The findings revealed several noteworthy associations. Higher levels of church attendance, challenges in visiting family overseas, and perceived racial discrimination correlated with elevated stress levels. Furthermore, the age at which individuals immigrated was positively linked to increased stress (b = 0.18; p = 0.04), indicating that older Cuban immigrants experienced greater psychological distress upon their arrival in the United States. Additionally, higher levels of conflict between family and cultural values, as well as intensified religious beliefs, were associated with elevated distress levels. Conclusion: This study underscores the intricate interplay of diverse contextual factors in shaping the mental health and well-being of Cuban-born women. The insights derived from this research have implications for the development of tailored interventions and support systems, aiming to address the unique needs of this population.

Gender approach in the activity and scientific production of Cuban medical university journals

Introduction: science and scientific production are spaces given to men for centuries, although in the 21st century, there are gaps in this sense. Aim: to describe from a gender perspective the scientific production in the academic journals of Cuban medical universities, period 2017-2021. Method: a descriptive bibliometric study was carried out. The universe consisted of all the academic journals of Cuban medical universities in the period 2017-2021, they were reviewed between December 2022 and March 2023. The sampling was non-probabilistic and the sample was 19. Only regular numbers were considered. Results: women were 19 % of the magazine directors and 44 % of the editorial board composition. 57,5 % of the editorials were written by men. 2,6 % of the articles dealt with the gender approach. 61,8 % of the authors were women and 38,2 % were men. Women were 55,7 % of the lead authors. In 32,3 % of the articles, women predominated as authors and 23,7 % were written only by women; gender equality represented 14,1 %. Conclusions: an empowerment of women in Cuba is evident as they are the majority within scientific production in medical universities. However, this is not reflected in the direction of the magazines and the composition of their editorial committees, where men predominate, nor in publications with a gender focus, which is still insufficient

More like a woman: Activa/Pasiva subjectivities in Cuba

This article explores the gender and sexuality of activa/pasiva women in Cuba. The construction of activa and pasiva is very similar to other masculine/feminine female relationships around the world, often referred to in English as ‘butch’ and ‘femme’. In 2017, I interviewed 33 self-identified lesbian and bisexual women and 23 policymakers, officials, cultural contributors, and activists, in the cities of Havana, Santa Clara, and Matanzas. The women I met enjoyed and found power in their masculine/feminine partnerships. However, in contrast to a view of Cuba as increasingly tolerant and progressive towards LGBT people, my case study analyses how other lesbian and bisexual women vilify activas and pasivas in order to elevate themselves through distance, as a route to social inclusion. It demonstrates how political and social tolerance for lesbian and bisexual women is a gendered discourse that relies on their correct performance of white, middle-class, feminine gender normativity. I explore how feminine lesbian presentation is attached in Cuba to ideas of whiteness, modernity, education, and progressiveness, while masculine presentation is denigrated as old-fashioned, patriarchal, and replicating heterosexist norms. I analyse this discourse, showing it to be embedded in racist and traditional ideas of femininity which themselves uphold the gender binary. In particular, I argue that masculine women are made into abject others, using homonormativity theory and the black politics of respectability to show how gender normativity underpins social and political tolerance for lesbian and bisexual women.

Polymorphism of KIR Genes in Women with Human Papillomavirus Infection

Molecular biology screening techniques for early detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection in the National CervicalUterine Cancer Program in Cuba provide the opportunity to treat premalignant lesions and prevent progression to cervicaluterine cancer. Objectives: To identify 14 high-risk HPV genotypes in women aged 30 to 50 with negative previous cytology and to identify the polymorphism of killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes in a subsample of HPV-positive women. Methods: HPV screening tests were performed on 3,115 women using the COBAS 4800 system with the HPV COBAS kit (Roche, Germany). For KIR gene typing, 60 randomly selected HPV-positive women were analyzed using a molecular method based on hybridization probes on a LUMINEX flow analyzer with the LIFECODES KIR-SSO typing kit (Immucor, USA). Results: 295 (9.5%) women tested positive for one of the 14 high-risk genotypes. The highest percentage of positive women was found among those aged 30 to 39 years (12.0%). Fourteen women had coinfection with HPV16 or HPV18 along with another highrisk genotype. There was a high frequency of genes encoding activating receptors such as KIR 2DL1 (98.3%), KIR 2DL3 (98.3%), and KIR 2DS4*all full length (93.3%). Conclusions: The prevalence of HPV in Cuban women with normal cytology is lower than the global average, with activating KIR genes predominating among positive cases.

Mujeres Magazine as a Classifying Space of the Performativities of Being a Woman in Cuba

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the journalistic discourse of the Cuban magazine Mujeres between the years 2010–2015, by questioning its thematic agenda as a dynamic resource for meanings. The main objective of the study is to understand the singular knowledge produced about the experience of women in the economic spheres in Cuba. For this, the qualitative research crosses the meanings produced about the participation of Cuban women by journalistic narratives with the specific characteristics of the productive scenarios where they act, thus revealing how Mujeres promotes particular readings of those contexts and their subjects. The asymmetry in the visualization between the state and non-state economic spheres, the politicization of women's roles in non-state productive scenarios and the disregard of other forms of participation of Cuban women, are among the main results achieved. These limits of the constructed meanings allow us to understand how the journalism of the magazine operates as a classifying device of being a woman in Cuba.

Association of Serum Concentrations of Testosterone and Insulin with the Degree of Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions in Cuban Women

Cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions (SIL) and cervical cancer (CxCa) develop because of high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection; however, other cofactors such as endogenous hormones could contribute to the development of this neoplasia.

Contribution of genetic factors in the occurrence of breast cancer in cuban women

Introduction: breast cancer is a disease of multifactorial etiology, where genetic factors and environmental factors are involved, in Cuba it constitutes the second cause of mortality in women "however" it is not known what the risk of a woman is developing it attributable to genetic predisposition, limiting an effective genetic counseling. Objective: to identify the preferential clustering of breast cancer in relatives of cases with respect to the population and to analyze the genetic contribution in people with breast cancer attended at the National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology (INOR). Methods: we conducted an analytical study of cases and nested neighborhood controls in a dynamic cohort. The sample consisted of 66 cases and 132 controls. The genetic contribution was studied through the tools of genetic epidemiology. Results: there was a preferential clustering of this disease in families that, in the population, genetic factors defined the familial prevalence of breast cancer in the relatives of the cases and there was an increasing tendency to suffer the disease as the proportion of genes to be shared increases. Conclusion: the preferential aggregation of breast cancer is identified and the contribution of genetic factors in the appearance of this disease in women attended at INOR is analyzed, showing that a person has three times more risk of suffering breast cancer attributable to the history of this disease in second-degree relatives

The Politics of Plagiarism

Abstract This article analyzes queer literary politics and the engagement with cultural precursors in the 1990s and into the twenty-first century in works by Cuban writer Ena Lucía Portela and Argentine writer María Moreno. The lack of a clearly defined tradition of lesbian/queer literature by women in Cuba and Argentina leads these two writers to appropriate or invent their own during periods of increasing liberalization in their respective countries. At first glance, Portela and Moreno’s joyful gestures of what this essay conceptualizes as “creative plagiarism” appear to signal their reveling in a cosmopolitan commons, largely situated in the United States and Europe, via Paris of the années folles (Crazy Years), from which fragments can be drawn to create queer counter-canons. However, the article concludes that through their highly intertextual works both writers reflect critically on the location of the so-called cosmopolitan in queer literary genealogies and on power dynamics and hierarchies among both authors and characters and different creative forms, including academic writing. The article argues that while the diegesis of their texts is largely set outside their local contexts, both writers’ works are deeply located in Cuba and Argentina. Ultimately, Portela and Moreno claim authority for creative writers themselves, as well as their nonliterary cocreators, reflecting critically on literary scholarship.

Casa en que nunca he sido extraña: Las poetas hispanoamericanas: identidades, feminismos, poéticas (Siglos XIX-XXI)

Casa en que nunca he sido extraña: Las poetas hispanoamericanas: identidades, feminismos, poéticas (Siglos XIX-XXI)

Hermanas de labor contra la guerra, la intervención militar y el fascismo: La Unión Laborista de Mujeres en Cuba, 1930-1938

The Women’s Labor Union was a women’s organization created in May 1930 to which all women could belong without distinction of race, class or belief, willing to fight for a broad program of demands beyond the limits of feminism. They stood out for their active participation in the fight against the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado, and also for their adherence to the revolutionary process of the 1930’s. Due to their political activities, many of its members suffered persecution, imprisonment, and exile. The Cuban lawyer Ofelia Domínguez Navarro, who is considered the first female notary public in Cuba, participated in this historical-revolutionary process. Ofelia, stood out as a leader of the Women’s Labor Union advocating for the rights of Cuban women, fighting against Machado oppression, and working in a variety of activities of national and international interest. The objective of this article is to offer an analysis of the performance of this Women’s Labor Union during the anti-Machadist struggle in the early 1930’s, and the political actions of this organizations against the war and fascism as well as to present some considerations about the political actions of Ofelia Domínguez Navarro, and of some of her comrades of work and action.

Prevalence, Incidence, and Persistence of Postpartum Anxiety, Depression, and Comorbidity: A Cohort Study Among Women in Havana Cuba.

To estimate the prevalence, incidence, and persistence of postpartum anxiety, depression, and comorbid symptoms over the first 6 months postpartum in a cohort of Havana women and to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive power of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) at 4 weeks postpartum on depressive and anxiety symptoms at 12 and 24 weeks. A cohort study with 273 women in Havana, Cuba. Participants were assessed at 4, 12, and 24 weeks postpartum for anxiety, depression, and comorbid symptoms. Prevalence rates were highest at 4 weeks postpartum: 20.0% women reported elevated levels of anxiety and 16.4% reported depressive symptoms. The prevalence of comorbid anxiety and depression was 5.8%. While rates of anxiety steadily decreased to 13.8% at 24 weeks, rates of depression persisted to 24 weeks postpartum with 14.5% still experiencing elevated symptoms. Comorbid anxiety and depression decreased across time. There were limited sensitivity and poor predictive values for both the STAI and the EPDS. This study is the first to examine perinatal mental illness in Cuba. While anxiety and depression rates found among Cuban women are lower than those reported in other low-income countries, the rates paralleled high-income countries.

Early predictors of short duration of exclusive breastfeeding among Havana women

ProblemIn Cuba, only 40.9% of infants under the age of six months are exclusively breastfed with the average duration of exclusivity being only 2.4 months. Evidence to guide the development of breastfeeding interventions among Cuban women to achieve exclusive breastfeeding to six months is limited. The objective was to identify early predictors for discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding before six months among Cuban women. MethodsIn a cohort study, 273 maternal-infant pairs were recruited immediately following childbirth at a public hospital in Havana, Cuba and followed up to six months postpartum. A univariate and multivariate strategy was used to identify early predictors of the discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding before six months. ResultsWhile all women were exclusively breastfeeding at hospital discharge, only 20.5% continued to six months postpartum. The average duration of exclusive breastfeeding was 3.13 months (SD ± 2.14 months). Factors associated with the early discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding were: (1) breastfeeding not initiated within the first hour of birth, (2) infant birthweight <3.3 kgs, (3) pacifier use, (4) maternal dissatisfaction with infant growth, (5) maternal mental health problems at one month and (6) low breastfeeding self-efficacy at birth and one month. In the multivariate analysis, only maternal dissatisfaction with infant growth progress at one month and birth weight <3.3 kg predicted the early discontinuation of exclusive breastfeeding. ConclusionWomen who gave birth to an infant with a lower birth weight and were dissatisfied with their infant's growth trajectory were high risk to prematurely discontinue exclusive breastfeeding before six months.

Radicalizing Feminism: The Mexican and Cuban Associations within the Women's International Democratic Federation in the Early Cold War

AbstractThis article analyses the interactions between the Women's International Democratic Federation (WIDF) and its Mexican and Cuban national chapters and affiliated organizations. Focusing on the National Bloc of Revolutionary Women, the Democratic Union of Mexican Women, and the Democratic Federation of Cuban Women, this article studies the ideological foundations these organizations defended and the action programmes they used to materialize them. One of its main contributions is to argue that Mexican and Cuban socialist and communist women contributed to the struggle for women's emancipation within the Eastern Bloc through grass-roots contributions that did not simply emulate European communist organizations, but drew on, and were informed by, national contexts, material conditions, and historical backgrounds. The increasing number of requests, demands, and proposals emerging from Latin America, and more specifically from Mexico and Cuba, ultimately fostered a steady process of decentralization that broadened visions of women's progress within the global leftist feminist movement during the early Cold War.

The Corporeality and Magical Reality of Cuban Women in Cristina García’s The Agüero Sisters (1997)

The Corporeality and Magical Reality of Cuban Women in Cristina García’s The Agüero Sisters (1997)

“A Tent City is Not a Place for a Family”: Mariel Cuban Women and Gendered Disorder at Regional Resettlement Facilities

“A Tent City is Not a Place for a Family”: Mariel Cuban Women and Gendered Disorder at Regional Resettlement Facilities