Status: 08.08.2021 10:23 a.m.
In Argentina, more and more women are tackling construction themselves. The Corona crisis intensifies this general trend towards more equality on the Rio de la Plata.
Valeria Salguero cheerfully stabs the cement sack with the triangular trowel. Then the 32-year-old easily finds the right ratio for the mortar mixture. Shortly afterwards she slaps the wet gray mass against the red brick wall behind her. In a week, Valeria wants to finish plastering. Then her daughter should move into the new nursery.
Made a virtue out of necessity
No professional construction worker was involved in the extension, but it was Valeria herself who took everything in hand in the middle of the Corona crisis. She has been raising her two children alone for several years – like many women in Argentina. For Valeria, this has always been associated with financial bottlenecks due to the prolonged economic crisis and inflation on the Rio de la Plata. The financial worries became even greater during the pandemic because Valeria was only allowed to exercise her profession as a hairdresser to a limited extent.
When her eldest daughter needed her own nursery, Valeria faced a problem. “I desperately needed an extra room in my house, but I just couldn’t afford a professional bricklayer.” So she picked up the trowel herself and put up new walls, made wooden slats on the roof and nailed roofing felt down. It was by no means easy, but little by little Valeria learned what was important: the right mixture for the mortar, the right tools and the ideal size of the bricks so that not too much heat escapes in the Argentine winter.
For Valeria, masonry has long since become a hobby; an activity traditionally reserved for men in Argentina. “Yes, nowadays it’s men’s business, but very early on, women also built homes while the men were outside at work or in the field,” explains Valeria.
Valeria Salguero made a virtue out of necessity and taught herself to build walls. On Facebook, she is networked with like-minded people across Argentina.
Image: Verena von Schönfeldt
Argentina is developing progressively
This conquest of a male domain is not an isolated case in Argentina. In the South American country, women’s movements have grown stronger in recent years and demand more rights. In 2018 and 2019, hundreds of thousands of Argentine women demonstrated for the right to abortion – with success. In December 2020, the Senate decided to end the strict abortion ban.
Argentina is also avant-garde when it comes to social legislation: be it the fight against violence against women or rights for the LGBT population. It is now possible to have a non-binary gender entered with an “X” in the identity card. In addition, in June the Argentine Chamber of Deputies initiated a legal transquote in the public service with a large majority.
“Walls is a woman’s business”
After discovering her craft skills, Valeria Salguero caused a sensation across the country. Because she founded the Facebook group “Walls is women’s affairs” – and networked with like-minded people across the country. In it they exchange tips for building a house and help each other. Within a very short time the group grew to 13,000 members – 92 percent of them women. “Most of the people in the group are single parents like me and have had hard lives behind them. We talk about it a lot. I’m surprised how many women are now helping with the expansion themselves.”
Tens of thousands of Argentines demonstrate against poverty in the country
Tagesschau 8:45 a.m., 8/8/2021
One of the fellow campaigners is Andrea Figueras. Nowadays she even earns her entire income from working on construction sites. Because the government in Buenos Aires specifically involves women in the construction of state social housing – with the same salary as their male colleagues. “When we come home, the children are waiting there, dinner, ironing, washing and so on,” explains Andrea. “That’s why we need the same rights as men at home. We also have to be able to say in the evening: ‘Man, I’ve just come from construction, I’m dead tired!'”
Valeria is proud of the success of her construction workers movement. She already has her next goal in mind: “I hope that one day we will found a solidarity-based women’s group in which we will help those older women who are no longer able to do it themselves with building their houses.” True to the motto of Valeria Salguero: “Women can do that too”.