Allusions to the autonomy and power some women acquired in immigrant communities surfaced frequently in our research with Latin American immigrants living in urban, suburban, and semirural locations in or near New York City.1 In informal exchanges, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions, many women and men from the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico described changes in gender roles and expectations favorable to women. This is consistent with the existing literature.2 However, the various meanings given to the words libertad and liberal (liberty/freedom/free/independence) referring to women’s reported ability to mandar (order/command) their male partners and men’s sumisión (submission) to women’s control should not be taken literally. The multiple meanings of these words illuminate existing and emerging contradictions in the politics of gender and sexuality in immigrant communities.
