We learned this as women brought out papers for us to help decipher. We provided the help as they requested, but first asked what they thought the paper before us was about. In this way, we became aware that they can read more than they acknowledged.

Our staff talked a lot about what we increasingly noticed as the invisibility of women's literacy in English. In most cases, when asked, wives say that their husbands know more English than they do. When couples are interviewed together, the man agrees that he knows more English. Sometimes further questioning reveals that the wife can read more, but often her greater facility with the written word is unacknowledged. This is not meant to imply that literacy skills in English are good - nor that the literacy of the women is perceived to be less than it is, and that wives defer to their husbands as to who is more competent. My guess is that wives not only present their husbands as more competent, but believe that they are. Most of the women do not feel very confident in themselves, and talk of feeling ashamed. Several describe how their husbands "call them down," tell them they are stupid, illiterate, even whores; at the same time, they oppose their wives taking classes.

L. Emily Elliot

In a traditional marriage, where women are the property of their husbands, men do not want their women to learn more than they know. Except for a few cases where the man is well educated and/or fairly fluent in English, husbands are opposed to their wives taking classes or learning more than the rudiments of literacy in English. Once literacy carries with it the symbolic power of education, it poses a threat to the power (im)balance in the family. Men need to feel in control; not only does this mean having more power than their wives, but controlling what they think and do. This is especially so in a society where the man feels little or no power at work, in the family as the breadwinner, or in other positions associated with masculinity. This may explain the large investment in the macho act of drinking. According to the women we interviewed, masculinity as domination is especially brutal in a culture where machismo reigns. The words of Maria echo the feelings of many: "I don't want a macho. I want a man ."

Many of the women live with violence in their daily lives. Alcoholism, or heavy drink- ing by their husbands, left them feeling desperate. Modesta breaks down and sobs: "He drinks a lot. He is very much like a man. Right now, things aren't going very well for us. He loves his children very much but he treats me badly. Very badly." Several related stories of being physically beaten; some flee their homes and a couple call the police or turn to the priest. Rosa related part of her story:

While it is true that not all the women talk of violence, it is also very true that we asked very little about marital relationships - we did not even directly ask about the husband's attitude toward their learning. What is quite amazing is that these stories come out in the course of informal conversations between women about how English-language practices fit into the texture of their daily lives. It is the fact that I did not explicitly look for this information and did not fully appreciate its significance when I heard it, that makes me aware of the importance of reconceptualizing how we think about literacy and educational participation where it involves women.