Hagene, T. (2008). Negotiating love in post-revolutionary Nicaragua: The role of love in the reproduction of gender asymmetry. Oxford, UK: Peter Lang.

The author explores in this book the question of love and its role in the reproduction of gender asymmetry in Nicaragua. The study used the theoretical approach of lifeworld phenomenology with an emphasis on people’s personal experiences. The author conducted an anthropological case study of the women from a small Esperanza sewing cooperative in a rural area of the small coastal town of San Juan in southwest Nicaragua.

The author examines the topic in relation to a specific religion, labor practices, and housing arrangements. The book reports the findings of how gender ideals and norms inspired by the Sandinista revolution affected gender practices and regulations. The book provides narratives of the marital lives and relationships of women based on their life stories, personal accounts, interview materials, and other sources.

Hagene, T. (2010). The role of love in the reproduction of gender asymmetries: A case from post-revolutionary Nicaragua. European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, 89, 27-45.

This article reports the findings of a study conducted in Nicaragua. This ethnographic report presents the stories of women who work for a living, provide housing, housework, and childcare. They still provide emotional and sexual support for husbands who have other women and families. The author describes the processes through which women’s emotional dependency reproduces their subordination to men. The author conducted this ethnographic study in a small town in a Nicaraguan rural community.

In this cultural context, men’s masculinity does not necessitate their family maintenance. The author calls this gender order “absentee patriarchy.” A man circulates among several women who serve him. So, he is mostly absent in the family.

Women are home-heads who manage to build themselves up as a “Limited Good.” Women are seen as independent, autonomous, and strong. However, they do not take advantage of their agency and power in the realm of love and intimacy. They need to make tremendous efforts to keep their husbands close to the family. They are willing to sacrifice their other feelings and values. They accept the relationships and actions that hurt their honor and emotional well-being. The author concludes that emotional dependency rather than economic dependency motivates their behaviors in such relationships.