Poor adolescent girls and social transformations in Cuenca, Ecuador

This paper, based on eight years of observation and interviewing in souther n Ecuador, examines how the processes of modernization affect the lives of poor adolescent girls growing up in the city. Focusing exclusively on the d aughters of rural-to-urban migrants, this paper discusses how both Hispanic gender models and a rigid class system ultimately serve to undermine the s tate-sponsored rhetoric promoting girls' full participation in the moderniz ing economy. The disjuncture between the imagined world of professional suc cess and the real one of urban poverty is described. Using a theoretical fr amework that views culture and ideology as contestable domains, the author argues that consideration of the responses of adolescent girls is important for understanding future social transformations.