ABSTRACT
Women's more assertive involvement in farm work may be a sign that 'patriarchal' gender relations are breaking down, but rural print media and farmer organisations continue to articulate conservative discourses on gender Research on gender in rural/agricultural studies has flourished since the mid-1980s. In an attempt to understand the power of the traditionalist discourse, this chapter focuses on the embodiment of agricultural work and organization. The masculine body in agricultural work is culturally coded as controlling and mastering nature and the feminine body as life-giving, nurturing and caring. The patriarchal ordering of the farm production defines men's bodies as superior, as the norm, and women's bodies as inferior. To further illustrate the embodiment of farm work, the chapter draws on textually mediated representations of masculine and feminine embodiment in the agricultural press. Looking at gender, bodies and work in agriculture underlines the argument that embodiment is not solely an individual accomplishment.
