Meaning of working in women who do productive and reproductive works

Objective: This paper analyzes the meaning of working in Women with Productive Work (WPW) and Women with Reproductive Work (WRW) in Cali city, Colombia. To achieve this purpose, four dimensions proposed by the MOW (1987) were studied: centrality, social norm and work values, kind of work and work trajectories. Method: A qualitative research was carried out based on phenomenological design. Semi-structured interview guides. Six WPW and six WRW were chosen randomly with an age among 30 and 40 years. Results: It was found that the WPW present more centrality than the WRW; also, the WPW’s rights are based on legal aspects, while WRW’s rights are based on symbolic values associated to the recognition of their relatives. The duties of the WPW are focused on the specific function of their job’s nature, meanwhile for the WRW their duties cover all daily tasks demanded from their household. Women with productive occupations have their work values highlighted by bigger incomes, more independency, flexible schedules and the prospect of occupying a directive position; as long as for the women with a reproductive occupation they are encouraged for getting a better income to supply their own necessities or the family’s, as well as to rely on their respective partner’s or family’s support. Conclusion: Both groups have been permeated by a default genre perspective that empowers a sexual division of the work activities, such that it is taken for granted that women are responsible for all the household activities and reproductive work even when they are performing the same productive activities as their partners, whose participation in such household activities is usually regarded as a help or even a favor, not as a shared responsibility.