Women for a modern company: hostesses and the Centro de Cómputos employees on the Ferrocarriles Argentinos company (1969-1973)

Abstract

This paper analyses how, between 1969 and 1973, the Ferrocarriles Argentinos company made female labor a visible image. As part of a makeover policy, during this period, the company allocated a remarkable attention towards the promoting of two sectors erected as a handle of the modernization: the “Trenes Bandera” hostesses and the “Centro de Cómputos” employees. I argue that the attention to the women on the railroad was associated to the fact that their inclusion was considered as a way to modernize the company. To achieve that, I analyse documentary sources and I also include the oral testimony of a "Trenes Banderas" hostess.