“If there is no one to do household tasks, there is no one to do the work in the fields”: gender, work, and daily interplays in Jaguari – RS

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the daily life of rural workers in the interior of the municipality of Jaguari, in the central region of Rio Grande do Sul. Through ethnographic analysis, we will try to present, initially, the obstacles that involve the social roles attributed to them as women and peasants. Then, we turn to the sphere of female labor, understanding the gender division of labor in the peasant world in question, highlighting the working hours of these peasants both in the reproductive sphere and their active participation in the productive sphere. This work, in both spheres, is not recognized, which tends to undermine the autonomy of these women, often depriving them of access to some type of monetary gain. Finally, we will analyze the forms of “agency”, or even, the forms of daily resistance, that is, the strategies that these peasants adopt to obtain a certain autonomy, economically above all, in this space marked by hierarchies and gender inequalities. These resistances occur through the manufacture and sale of grocery stores, a compilation of products linked to the so-called female sphere of work, which enables the women of Rincão dos Alves to position themselves as active agents and income generators.