The Swiss “agriculteur” and the Swiss “paysanne”: An Unequal Couple?
Abstract
In French-speaking Switzerland it is taken for granted to use the terms “agriculteur” and “paysanne” to respectively refer to men and women active in family farming. We examine this lexical asymmetry by unraveling the underlying gender conceptions. Comparing designations (in official texts, curricula in agrarian education, communication campaigns) with self-designations (interviews) shows that the common use of the binary “agriculteur- paysanne” is the expression of a bisexual and unequal construction of men’s and women’s status, roles and responsibilities in agriculture. Embedded in a discourse of complementarity based on the gender division of labor, this asymmetry is represented as being essential for the good functioning of the family farm.
Keywords
- Swiss agriculture
- gender equality
- family enterprise
- gender division of labor
- social representations
Authors
Links
Publication information
Authors:
Yvan Droz, Fenneke Reysoo, Valérie Miéville-Ott
Editors:
Brigitte Liebig, René Levy, Birgit Sauer, Alfonso Sousa-Poza
Publisher:
Swiss Sociological Association and Seismo Press, Swiss Journal of Sociology, Vol. 40, Issue 2, July 2014, «Gender Equality Policies in Switzerland», pp. 237-258
Languages:
French
Media Type:
City:
Zurich
Year:
2014
Themes:
Disciplines:
Research labels:
Work – carrer – professions
Rural areas – agriculture
Language(s) – discourse – communication
Couple – relationship – marriage – partnership
Subjects:
Ethnology, Cultural Anthropology
Genres:
Article