One of the most pervasive stereotypes about Argentina is that it is a very “machista” or sexist culture. I think a more appropriate adjective would be “sexualized” culture. There is no puritan guilt attatched to thinking about sex, talking about sex, or even having sex! Women are expected to dress sexy and men are expected to make comments on said women´s bodies. But, does this put women at a disadvantage in the business world?
I don´t think so.
In film and tv, it is common to see female set electricians doing all the heavy lifting and wiring that their male counterparts do (and I´ve been told that they even get work more easily than some men, because “it´s cool” to have a female electrician). Almost half of all film and tv jobs are filled by women, and I´ve never come across problems when I had to give orders to male crew members as a director.
At a TV production company where I worked as a screenwriter, the ex-owner/founder famously remarked that he prefers to work only with men, because he finds women to be “hysterical”. One of my bosses sometimes made comments that would get a man sued in the USA. But the actual work environment was quite friendly, half of my co-workers were women and at least 40% of all executives were women.
Appearances can be deceiving!
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Filming in Argentina: The blog of San Telmo Productions 
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Hi Ginger, remember me? Back in the day we did some travel videos together. It’s awesome to see that you’ve taken things to the next level.
About sexism in Argentina…I think that what you say is true, at least for women from a certain social class who have resources. Hence the huge presence of women in your industry.
However, I’m not sure the same is true in rural areas, or in the villa, but that’s the case in many countries. It’s also important to note that the power of women is a relatively new phenomenon, and that feminism has a different definition in Argentina than say, Europe or the U.S.
Also, I don’t really believe that Argentine men are more sexualized than men from anywhere else. Do you really think that a Swedish guy gets less excited by Pampita’s butt than some guy from La Plata? They just happen to express their feelings out loud, to random strangers in the street. What goes on in their head is exactly the same, I imagine 😉
Hi Gigi, great to hear from you? Are you still in Buenos Aires? I agree with you that social class and rural vs. urban has a lot to do with it, in fact, we are filming a movie about how women in the shanytowns are treated when they want to play soccer http://www.goalsforgirlsthemovie.org However, far more women work in film in Argentina than in the US and there are far more female directors (only 9% of directors in Hollywood are women)
I disagree that it’s a good thing, the fact I was confident and even smart alecky here was DESPISED and belittled by dudes like I literally couldn’t speak my mind or something. But whatever, if you like it.
I´m confident too and speak my mind and if people have a problem with that it is there problem, not mine. But no man has ever not followed my orders on a set, or acted surprised that I was the director (or camera person or editor). There are tons of powerful women in Argentina, especially in the film industry.