This footage was filmed and produced 10 July 2021.

Since women are "automatically" relegated to cleaning tasks, a group of women in Argentina started doing masonry to break down gender roles. According to Argentina's construction workers union, the number of women in the industry increased by 131 percent from 2003 to 2010 and they now make up five percent of the workforce.

The video shows Argentine women building houses to break down gender stereotypes as well as some interviews with these powerful women.

Interview:

I was working on many things before this... I'm a music teacher and I was giving lessons but because of a pregnancy problem, I was in the need of leaving my job. After this I was searching for another job and there were not too many options. I found a job in a hotel as a cleaner and after some months the pandemic situation made me lose that job too. I have 2 kids and I was desperate.
Some days later, a social assistant and a psychologist called me and told me about a cooperative project. That day they asked me if I was interested in becoming a part of the project. That was an opportunity for me, I needed a job urgently. With the people of the MTE social movement they helped us by giving the option to choose between different skills like construction, carpentry, etc.
That day was the birth of my crew and we chose masonry skills. In my case I never did anything like that.
We started with one house, first by learning to lay bricks and helping people who were there before us. (They taught us everything about masonry) As we were learning they divided us in different groups.
The majority of the women who are in the crew come here because of gender violence. Their housing situation is quite complicated. We helped them to become independent and build their own houses.
By making this, by having a job, their job, they will not depend on someone who had mistreated them.
We started with one of these women who was most in need and after this we continued with the other women's houses.
The project started around 1 year and a half ago and for me during the pandemic in 2020.
At first, we started with our own tools. (I took all my father’s tools). Later we got more and better tools and machines to make our job easier, and we even had working clothes and other equipment.
In my opinion this job makes me very happy. Maybe it is unusual to have this kind of emotion for someone who goes to work but for me it is. Also, it is a great opportunity to learn new and interesting things. The group is a great companion, we help each other all the time by working together.
When we worked in the neighborhood we were surrounded by other male workers who were working in their own houses. They looked at us and misjudged us because we were women. Maybe they were thinking “what are these women doing here?” But if they were thinking badly of us, for me it isn't a problem. This is my work and for me it is necessary that women are able to do the same jobs as men. Women need to learn the same as men learn, we need to be treated in equal conditions. Also I think men need to do the same work as women by sharing home chores on a daily basis. My personal opinion is that from there we start equal rights.