Women's Work? The Relationship between Farmwork and Gender Self‐Perception

Abstract

Women have long been involved in agricultural production, yet farming and ranching have been associated with masculinity and men. In recent years women have become more involved and more likely to take active and equal roles on farms and ranches and thus increasingly are doing tasks that have been associated with masculinity. Prior work indicates that women are perceived by others as more masculine when they do these tasks, but less work has focused on the association between women's involvement in farming and women's own perceptions of their gender (i.e., how masculine or feminine they feel). Using 2006 survey data from a random sample of women in livestock and grain operations in Washington State, we find that women's involvement in farm and ranch tasks is associated with their gender self‐perception, with more involvement being associated with a more masculine self‐perception. Women who view their primary role as independent agricultural producers or full partners also perceive themselves as more masculine than women who view their primary role as homemaker. We discuss the implications of these findings for women's experiences in agriculture.

Characteristics of “work in agriculture” scientific communities. A bibliometric review

“…As expected, some work issues in agriculture remain strongly related to specific scientific communities. For example, the labor market, employment, and income are addressed mainly by agricultural economics (Pfeiffer et al 2009; Alvarez-Cuadrado and Poschke 2011), while division of labor by gender is addressed mainly by rural sociology (Melberg 2003;Smyth et al 2018). Our results indicate, however, that contemporary agricultural dynamics has renewed the entry point for discussing work issues, such as diversification of farmer activities (including off-farm work), and the increase in the number of hired workers, especially migrants.…”

Misery loves company? Linkages between actual vs. Desired couple work arrangements and women’s mental health

“…This study utilized cross-sectional data collected from a mail survey sent to women on cattle and wheat operations across the state of Washington in 2006 (more details can be found in Smyth et al, 2018). The survey contained questions based on early interviews and adaptation of the instruments of others who have surveyed women in agriculture.…”

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

“…Women who claim the farmer title struggle to be interpreted as farmers in their local and agricultural communities (Keller 2014). In addition, the label is infused with masculine connotations to the extent that women who call themselves farmers report higher self-perceptions of masculinity than women on farms who see themselves primarily as homemakers (Smyth, Swendener, and Kazyak 2018). Strikingly, the U.S. Census of Agriculture did not include gender on their survey until 1978, when it found that 5% of farms were operated by women (Hoppe and Korb 2013, iv).…”