Description:
This paper analyses the factors that led women from urban areas of medium-sized cities of western Mexico to become the head of the household. The paper aims to discuss the reasons that led women to break with their partners as well as the paths they followed to become the head of the household. The paper presents the results of research on this subject carried out throughout 2007 in Colima, Mexico. The study aims to show that the formation of alternative forms of domestic and family life is a consequence of external phenomena such as globalization, cultural, historical and political factors.