Gender and Community Context: An Analysis of Husbands’ Household Authority in Rural Guatemala

Abstract

Drawing on research about women’s autonomy, gender, and development, and Latin America, I analyze individual, household, and community-level factors associated with husbands’ sole authority with regard to four household issues: (1) money management; decision-making about (2) food purchases, (3) medicine purchases, and (4) health providers. The results point to how husbands’ authority varies across household issues and how the dynamics of authority differ with regard to money management and the other decision-making issues studied. This study found that husbands’ authority varied not only by individual characteristics but also by community features and thus adds to efforts to represent more fully how context matters to household gender relations.