Gender and Agriculture

1. Gender and Agriculture Perpetuating Gender Inequalities

2. Social Construction • Gender is not biological, but rather a social construction • Although many stereotypes of masculinity and femininity change with different time periods, some remain enduring over time. • Through patriarchy femininity and masculinity are both defined and perpetuated.

3. Media’s Role • Agricultural media displays patriarchical families. • The machinery used on the farm is closely related to the stereotypes given to men and women - Tractor - Oven

4. …continued • Agricultural product names, such as pesticides and herbicides, are almost always masculine. • Warrior • Prowl • Bicep • Counter Lock’n Load

5. Race and the Media • Kroma suggests that race is also a social construct rather than a biological one. • Agricultural product advertisements only contain Caucasians. • “Whiteness” in these advertisements is a norm that perpetuates racial segregation in the farming community.

6. “The imagery embodied in pesticide advertisements bears out the critical feminist theoretical position that power is not a monolithic force that men, as a social group, have over women. Rather, the imagery attests to the multiplicity of relations of subordination and power that is consistently played out in the agricultural sphere: men dominate other men, just as they dominate women.”

7. The Poisoning of Indigenous Migrant Women in Mexico • The visions and experiences of indigenous women are silenced. • Indigenous groups are viewed as lazy and unwilling to live civilized by Mestizos (the Mexican middle class). • These groups have not benefitted from industrialization or modern agriculture. - forced to migrate to urban areas - plantation hard labor

8. Mothers and Children • Children are forced to go with their mothers to the plantations to work. -Starting at 9 years of age or younger -too poor for daycare (non-existent) -some are forced to bring their infants -accused of being negligent parents This exposes the whole family to harmful pesticides and herbicides.

9. Empty Promises • Indigenous families are promised adequate housing and wages. • When they arrive many times housing is still in the process of being “built” and are forced to build cardboard homes. • Fires • Water

10. On the Plantation • Mestizo and Indigenous women are structurally segregated. • Indigenous women are not informed about the toxicity of the pesticides. • Many times indigenous women are too poor to purchase protective gear such as gloves, face masks etc. • Mestizo women receive 2-3 times better pay and indigenous women.

11. …continued • These structures set in place perpetuate stereotypes which “normalize indigenous women’s exclusion. • Indigenous women are neglected health care because they are too “dumb” and cannot speak Spanish. • Often times women are forced to drink water from containers used to mix the pesticides.

12. Acute Symptoms • Racing heart beat • Loss of consciousness • Pounding headache • High temperature • Nausea • Burning skin

13. Chronic Symptoms • Long term symptoms have not been determined yet. • Pesticides contain “inactive” ingredients, which are not required to be tested for possible acute or chronic heath effects.

14. “Behind the perfect looking tomato, there are thousands of hidden oppressive realities.” • What, then, is our responsibility in the North? • How can we build solidarity? • How can we raise our consciousness so that we are aware of the food we are eating, where it comes from and who, in fact, puts it on our tables?