Welcome to the blog for Colgate University's interdisciplinary course on food. This is the place to keep up with what students in the course are experiencing in their work at Common Thread Community Farm and through their everyday encounters with food.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Gender Roles in Agrarian Society

Through Farmer Boy and Changing Works, we observed distinct gender roles in an agrarian society. In Changing Works, men collectively performed the agricultural tasks needed on the farm, while women took on the duties of cooking for the entire crew working on the farm. Mens' acknowledgement was derived through their capabilities of performing the agricultural tasks at hand and women's' respect was obtained through the lavish meals they prepare. Changing works is seen as a male domain that encouraged a patriarchal society and emphasized traditional gender roles. Evidently, there are individuals who were resistant of these traditional gender roles, however it was seemingly uncommon. In Farmer Boy, we also observed the mother and daughters taking on kitchen duties of cooking and washing dishes for the whole family, while the father and sons performed tasks on the farm, such as driving the tractor, plowing the fields and sowing seeds. Though traditional gender roles were present in Farmer Boy, we observed that the title of breadwinner in the family does not only reside with the father but also the mother. Both mother and father brings in revenue for the farm and family through differing means. This shows that, though there was a gender structure in the society of Farmer Boy, women still had power and agency. In addition to our readings for the class, what sparked my interest in gender roles on the farm was seeing Wendy on the tractor for the first time last Friday, since volunteering at Common Thread. Usually, Asher was the one operating on the tractor to turn over the soil to pull the carrots out of the ground. This makes me wonder if gender roles still currently exist on the farm today. Are there certain tasks that are gendered and certain tasks that are performed collectively?

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