Doing Farm Tourism: The Intertwining Practices of Gender and Work

Abstract

Drawing on the perspective of doing gender, Berit Brandth and Marit S. Haugen explore how women and men do gender in farm tourist work. On the basis of five case studies of farms that have shifted from farm production to hosting tourists, the expectation is that the new occupation of tourism may create conditions for (un)doing gender at the interactional level and reshuffling power within the couple. The segmented work and unequal work statuses of men and women known from research on family farming seem to be less distinct in farm tourism as women are managers and men do cleaning, catering, and caring. However, the symbolic meaning of the indoor‐outdoor dichotomy plays a defining role. And even if women and men have changed their performances, gender and work are still interpreted and perceived according to the heterosexual matrix.