Produzidas no polo industrial de Manaus : experiências de mulheres trabalhadoras

AUTOR(ES)
DATA DE PUBLICAÇÃO

2009

RESUMO

This was a qualitative research. The general objective of the study was to understand the meanings of being women and its implications for the mental health condition of female workers of the Manaus Free Trade Zone MFTZ. The specific objetives were: 1. To understand the social reality of the participants; 2. To understand the workers visions on being women and on their roles in and for society; 3. To investigate the development of sexuality throughout the life cicle, and the participants perpectives regarding their bodies; 4. To understand the participants perspectives on relationships and family life; 5. To investigate, from the perspective of the female workers, the point of view of men about their roles; 6. To understand the meanings of being a worker in the MFTZ; 7. To search for the expectations and life projects of these women. The partipants were 14 women born in the State of Amazonas. Ages varied from 18 to 50 years old. They were all workers of the MFTZ 6 worked in the assembley lines; 6 in the administrative sector and 2 held executive positions. Four data collection strategies were used: focal groups, semi-structured interviews, a socio-economic questionnaire and Goldbergs General Health Questionnaire GHQ. The data collected in the focal groups and interviews were submitted to a thematic content analysis. The GHQ was scored according with the manual. Several factors were identified by the participants as potential stressors: 1. In the family area: strict educational rules and strong demands to perform houselhold shores at an early age, made family life difficult; little to no partners participation in household shores and child care; multiple labor journeys; lack of leisure time. 2. In the work area: lower wages and less access to promotions when compared to male workers; long labor hours and the pressure to work double shifts which generate dilemmas and guilt as they keep them away from the family and loved ones; 3. In relation to perceptions of the body and sexuality: personnal appearance is seen as an important factor to be hired such demand together with rigid aesthetic patterns present in contemporary society add stress for women workers and may provoke distortions in their self-image and generate feelings of self-devaluation; many prejudices surround women that work at the MFTZ and reverberate in the form of sexual and moral harassment; 4. In the mental health area: several risk factors were identified and GHQ scores showed the presence of mental health problems of a non-psychotic nature for all participants. The assembley line workers had scores that indicated the presence of greater vulnerability. Further research with a larger number of assembley workers are needed in order to provide a better understanding of such vulnerability. This research aimed to give visibility to the feminine conditions in the Amazon region, specially those pertaining to a group of women workes at the MFTZ. The voices of the participants revealed several benefits, dilemmas and challenges which point to the complexity of their livesexperiences and of being women. We hope that this research will serve as an incentive for future studies regarding the interaction between gender-work-family and its impacts on the mental health of women from the Amazonas.

ASSUNTO(S)

trabalho família psicologia saúde mental work gender female conditions manaus free trade zone condições femininas family gênero mental health polo industrial de manaus

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