Relational Agriculture: Gender, Sexuality, and Sustainability in U.S. Farming

Abstract

Although 97% of U.S. farms are "family-owned," little research examines how gender and sexual relationshipsinherent in familial dynamicsinfluence farmers' practices and livelihoods. Gender and sexual dynamicsshaped by race and classaffect who is considered a farmer, land management decisions, and access to resources like land, subsidies, and knowledge. We use feminist and queer lenses to illuminate how today's agricultural gender and sexual relations are not "natural," but when left uninterrogated are constructed in ways that harm women and queer farmers while limiting potential to develop sustainable practices. Women and queer farmers also resist, "re-orienting" gender and sexual relations in ways that expand possibilities for achieving food justice and ecological sustainability. We offer "relational agriculture" as a tool for making visible and reorienting gender and sexual relations on farms. Relational agriculture brings sexuality into food justice and demonstrates the centrality of gender and sexuality to agricultural sustainability.

LGBTQ+ Farmer Health in COVID-19

“…LGBTQ+ farmers report exclusion from LGBTQ+ farms as legitimate. 6,7 By increasing instability and precarity in farming, COVID-19 may exacerbate heterosexist bias in agricultural opportunities. For example, LGBTQ+ farmers may be less likely to receive federal COVID-19 farm relief funding aimed to keep farms viable.…”

“…LGBTQ+ farmers report isolation, heterosexism, and anticipated discrimination in agricultural communities. 6,7 Farming predominantly occurs in rural areas, and rural LGBTQ+ people experience more stigma and have less access to mental health providers. 5 COVID-19 may exacerbate isolation and pre-existing mental health conditions, leading to LGBTQ+ farmers experiencing worse mental health outcomes than heterosexual farmers.…”

“…First, the masculine ideal of a rugged individualistic farmer contributes to increased stress and thwarts farmers from seeking support during mental health declines. 7,12 Heterosexuality is baked into these masculine norms, meaning that many LGBTQ+ farmers may not attempt to uphold hegemonic masculinity. As such, LGBTQ+ farmers may be insulated from some stressors and more open to mental health interventions.…”

Product Diversification, Adaptive Management, and Climate Change: Farming and Family in the U.S. Corn Belt

“…We would also ask about gender more clearly, by asking respondents to log the number of women and the number of men who were responding to the survey and provide more options for gender-non-conforming respondents. Our analysis would have been strengthened by a more critical and inclusive approach to understanding how gender expression and sexual identity shape farming relationships, family dynamics and decision-making (Leslie et al, 2019). Another item we might revise, to ensure it is no longer potentially double-barreled (Schutt, 2014), is "Do you anticipate changing your farming practices in response to changing weather patterns?"…”

Supporting Agricultural Resilience: The Value of Women Farmers' Communication Practices

“…Women are often able to overcome these challenges, but it is overwhelmingly those with the privileged racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic status to do so (Pilgeram, 2019;Sachs et al, 2016). Therefore, alternative agricultural movements offer narrow opportunities for mobility and exclude farmers whose identity intersects multiple forms of marginalization such as gender and race, sexuality, or socioeconomic status (Leslie, & White, 2018;Leslie, Wypler, & Bell, 2019;Wypler, 2018).…”