Zapotec peoples

Women are generally free to choose romantic partners; monogamy is valued, but having multiple sexual partners is not. However, for men and women this differs slightly; again for women virginity is regarded as important, even to the extent of publicly displaying the bloody sheet from the wedding night for some, an ancient Mediterranean custom brought by the Spaniards, while unmarried men are encouraged to experiment before they marry. This follows from the fact that "paternity is uncertainty." Women always know a child is their own, but a man cannot be so sure. Thus men need assurance of paternity to be willing to put in decades of support for a child. Within marriage, the degree to which women are able to exercise agency depends on the husband. Some women are very free and have the ability to do as they wish, while others may have very controlling husbands; either way, however, women's freedom is determined by their spouse. "While some men jealously guarded their wives (even insisting on driving them to the marketplace), others allow their wives and daughters considerable independence." The issue of domestic violence is not necessarily commonplace.

"In the past during an agriculturally dominant time, most agricultural activities associated with planting and harvesting are carried out directly by men, women also participate in the agricultural production. In particular, female household workers help with weeding and harvesting. Seldom is a female seen planting or plowing. When no male labor is available, however, women also work in planting. The majority of female labor was directed toward supplying male workers with food during agricultural activities and providing supplemental labor during weeding and harvesting."

Lynn Stephen (2026). 9780822336037, Duke University Press. ISBN 9780822336037

However, with the onset of globalized industry and Mexico's transition from an agricultural economy to one revolving around services and manufacturing, the ideas about women and work have been shifting dramatically. Women now see a way that they can participate in the market economy to make extra money for their families, and still are able to maintain the additional work they do at home which has no monetary value. As men are migrating for other, mostly industrial, work opportunities and agrarian work is decreasing, women have come to dominate the textile industry, which caters mainly to tourists. Weaving and factory life has become a way of life for many Zapotec women in Oaxaca.

"Clothing is a relatively new industry which began about 1960. Sewing on treadle-type sewing machines has been practiced in areas since about 1940, when they were brought into the area by the Singer Company. Shortly after that, women who since pre-Columbian times had contributed to the subsistence of their families by weaving, began to make and design men's ready-made shirts and trousers for sale in the local market and the global markets."

The industry has had a significant impact on the wage-earning opportunity of Zapotec women. Workers in Teotitlan's textile industry employ a variety of strategies and systems of production from piecework production...increased direct control over production and distribution...weaving cooperatives...establishment of households and small businesses in Oaxaca... to subcontracting of weaving in Teotitlan and surrounding communities."

As women are increasingly working and involved in the market because of their contribution to the industry, the role they have in society is changing in relation to other aspects of their lives.

"While women in the community have common social roles based on their gendered positions as wives, mothers, and daughters, these roles are modified by the position of their household as workers or merchants. In their discussions of differences among themselves, women particularly emphasized merchant or worker status, specifically in the role of each in local labor relations."

The merchant has come to symbolize a higher class status than the worker because they are the individuals who essentially control the market. For Zapotec communities, occupations are divided by gender. While men have a place in the industry as overseers, it is still primarily considered to be 'women's work'. Furthermore, even though the manufacturing industry has been thriving on a global scale, because of the gender separation of labor, there is a lower value placed on the work. Local industry is not seen as a glorious business in the Zapotec community because it is essentially controlled by women.

"In general, the women in are considered productively inferior to men. Their ability to contribute to the economy and family are respected but, they are believed to be less capable than men as managers and their work is looked upon as insignificant. In consequence Yaletecos do not see the manufacturing industry as an industry. Although shirt making like other women's work is visible in itself, it is not an industry, but is perceived as part of the category of women's work comprising weaving, sewing, and embroidery. In contrast, men's occupations are identifiable, and a man is known by the type of work he performs."

Teotiteco industrial exports, such as textiles, clothing and manufactured goods such as electronics and white goods, are being absorbed into the U.S. consumer market and shifting the local economy of Oaxaca from a small community of workers and merchants and blending them into the global marketplace. The women are producing goods which are being bought and sold not only in Mexico, but also in the United States and the rest of the world.