Gender Role In Agriculture Essay

In a source by, The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, aggregate data suggests that if the gender gap did not exist in agriculture women would have the same access to productive resources as men increasing agricultural output and decreasing hunger across the globe by "12-17 percent" (Women in Agriculture Closing the Gender Gap for Women). Moreover, in a article "women comprise about 43 percent of the agricultural labour force globally and in developing countries" (The Role of Women in Agriculture, 2011). The statistic argues that because of power, hegemony, oppression, and continuation of gender roles constructed by religion, cultural norms, and gender identities, women, "face constraints that reduce their productivity"

Yama spoke of the hardship she faced as the woman of the household, waking early and never ceasing to gather yak waste, milk yaks, clean, or churn butter, among other duties. As I mentioned, Locho and Yama have different duties and I would argue that those responsibilities cannot be specifically based on hegemony or patriarchy, but instead belief. Before we can understand this, the environmental leader, Vandana Shiva, explains that there is a need for societies to recognize that the earth is sacred and in order to do so there is a need to shift from the masculine paradigm to a more feminine

They view the land and the yaks with a sense of reverence and respect which can be explained in some part by the religious relationship they share with the land, as well as Buddhist influence in Tibet. “Throughout the pastoral areas, nomads adhere to traditional beliefs that give special significance to certain physical aspects of the landscape” (Miller, 12). However different their responsibilities are as prescribed by gender roles, the nomadic herders share a bond with nature. Also, Locho and Yama worshiped ancient spirits in the film, and in further research I found that Daniel Miller, an anthropologist who studied eastern Tibetan nomads in the late 1990’s, had uncovered these ancient spirits to be the sa bdag, or “Lords of the Earth” which are known to “dominate the soil and habitats connected with the earth”. This is different in comparison to western belief that "man" is to subdue the natural world there is no given sex or gender to the sa bdag. The action of worship of such spirits reflects the ethical makeup of the Tibetan nomads’ ways. Their belief system is a compilation of smaller aspects derived from a variety of ethical