Of tractors and men: masculinity, technology and power in a French farming community

Saugères, Lise

doi:10.1111/1467-9523.00207

Cited by 111 publications

(83 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Therefore, in some instances, technology policy designed to encourage women farmers and to reduce women's workloads on and off farms has been introduced. Other studies show glimpses of women driving tractors (Saugeres 2002b;Pini 2005aPini , 2005b in the masculine space. In some instances, in taking up either full-time or part-time farming these women are seen to be creating a new gender identity for themselves (Blekesaune et al 1993;Pini 2005a).…”

Section: Masculinities and The Appropriation Of Farming Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Retracted: Masculinities in the Rural and the Agricultural: A Literature Review

Coldwell

2009

Sociologia Ruralis

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This article provides a summary of social science studies at the nexus of masculinity and the rural, particularly the agricultural. These studies began to emerge in the rural social science literature in 1995, when Berit Brandth pioneered the study of masculinities and farming practices in Norway. The studies reviewed here are particularly important as they begin to focus on men and masculinities in the rural and the agricultural, categories that previously had been the assumed, yet invisible subject of rural studies. The studies also link masculinity to farming practices in a number of ways that clearly have implications for the future of farming in terms of ecological crises across social, economic and environmental rural landscapes. The aim of this article is twofold; to gain a deeper understanding of the relationship between masculine identities and farming practices and to identify possible theoretical pathways for future research that might assist us to identify and develop more sustainable ways of farming and rural life. S tudies have shown agriculture in Australia and other western nations to be a masculine domain of social practice where men see themselves as the farmers and the name 'farmer' is analogous to the identities and practices of men. In the context of current social, economic and environmental concerns that are perceived to threaten the sustainability of agriculture and many of its rural communities, it therefore seems likely that much of what has taken place historically in the practices of agriculture has a lot to do with men and therefore with masculinity. It follows that the future sustainability of agriculture will also have a lot to do with men and therefore with masculinity. Here, a review of the literature is used as a starting point in attempting to understand current knowledge about the relationships between masculinity and the rural, particularly the agricultural. Such an understanding is able to inform further necessary work in documenting the emerging story of agriculture and its farmers in the context of sustainability.Most current knowledge about masculinity in the rural and the agricultural emerged in discourse analysis from studies organised around the concept of gender as social practice within a framework informed by hegemonic masculinity theory (Campbell et al. 2006). The concept and theory have been used widely in

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Section: Masculinities and The Appropriation Of Farming Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 96%

Retracted: Masculinities in the Rural and the Agricultural: A Literature Review

Coldwell

2009

Sociologia Ruralis

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“…The sphere of the farm is a highly significant space in the construction of rural masculinities. For example, Brandth (1995), Liepins (2000) and Saugeres (2002aSaugeres ( , 2002b, working in different farming contexts, explore representations of masculinity in popular imagery of farmers. Conventional farming masculinities involve constructions of the farmer as a hard worker battling against environmental and economic obstacles and exerting 'his' authority over the natural landscape (Liepins, 2000, Peter et al, 2000.…”

Section: Farming Masculinitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Conventional farming masculinities involve constructions of the farmer as a hard worker battling against environmental and economic obstacles and exerting 'his' authority over the natural landscape (Liepins, 2000, Peter et al, 2000. These conventional representations are replicated in many different agricultural contexts, from rural Ireland (NíLaoire, 2002) to southern France (Saugeres, 2002a(Saugeres, , 2002b. Despite this apparent coherence, rural masculine identities are unstable and shifting, reflecting changing gender relations and rural change.…”

Section: Farming Masculinitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘You're Not a Man at All!’: Masculinity, Responsibility, and Staying on the Land in Contemporary Ireland

Laoire

2005

Irish Journal of Sociology

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This paper explores some of the competing pressures at work in the lives of a particular group of Irish men, that is, young male farmers working in different types of farming regions in Ireland. As the economic and social landscape of farming is undergoing transformation, reducing the attractiveness and viability of farming as an occupation, there is, simultaneously, a strong association between constructions of farming masculinity and staying on the land. The paper explores some of these tensions. Farming masculinities are bound up with a sense of cultural and familial responsibility, which is attached to maintaining the family farm, but it is increasingly difficult to fulfil these responsibilities in the current environment. This can lead to stress and anxiety on the part of young farmers. It is argued that the construction and negotiation of farming masculinity is spatially contingent, reflecting local and regional geographies of gender.

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“…Rural spaces are seen as maledominated and male-defined; places in which definitions of masculinity and what it means to be a 'real' man are bound up with mastery of the land, physical toughness and the denigration of normative feminine traits such as emotion and sensitivity (Bye, 2009). Farming continues to dominate rural societies and communities, even as the economic importance of farming deteriorates in many countries, and to be a 'good' (male) farmer is to dominate and tame the elements, to endure physical toil and extreme conditions, and to demonstrate mastery of the land and landscape (Laoire , 2002;Little, 2002;Saugeres, 2002a;Brandth and Haugen, 2005). In contrast, women's positions in rural societies have often been restricted to supportive and nurturing roles within the family and wider community.…”

Section: Femininity and Gender Relations In Contested Terrainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strong, active women: (Re)doing rural femininity through equestrian sport and leisure

Dashper

2016

Ethnography

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Horse-riding is a popular leisure activity within rural Britain. Straddling two masculinised social contexts -rural, land-based society and sport/physical recreation -horse-riding is a feminised, yet mixed-sex, milieu. This article presents data from an ethnography of the social world of horse-riding to consider how women within this context do and redo gender in ways that may begin to challenge ideas about what women are and are capable of, within rural and sporting contexts.Equestrianism is revealing about elements of rural life, particularly the role of women and women's leisure. Women's active leisure in the countryside has been rendered largely invisible for decades, yet women's sport/physical recreation forms an important part of rural leisure worlds. This study of women and horse-riding offers examples of how feminine identities help shape the rural leisure landscape in ways that begin to redefine gender relations and gender identities within the British countryside in small, yet potentially significant, ways.

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Of tractors and men: masculinity, technology and power in a French farming community

Cited by 111 publications

References 19 publications

Retracted: Masculinities in the Rural and the Agricultural: A Literature Review

Retracted: Masculinities in the Rural and the Agricultural: A Literature Review

‘You're Not a Man at All!’: Masculinity, Responsibility, and Staying on the Land in Contemporary Ireland

Strong, active women: (Re)doing rural femininity through equestrian sport and leisure

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