Mulheres rurais chefes de família: demandas, redes e relações de gênero no Sertão Pernambucano.

Abstract

Female family leadership refers to women that are the head of kinship system, and who exercise family authority upon its members and take responsibility for the family till the end. Facing the meaningful growth of this structure at Brazil`s Northeast rural areas, the current study aimed to research specific demands of ten women leaders of rural families from Pernambuco State hinterland, identifying the institutions and groups that build their support network and analyzing gender relations that come out from such network. In order to effective the research, it was necessary to move and live in Pernambuco9s hinterland for three months, having as base semi structured interviews and the visual observation of those women performing their role within the families at their granges, rural settlements and quilombo communities. Due to field work, it was possible to notice that, besides the deterioration of those demands had already being found at urban area, such as lack of nurseries and legal support, the overcharge of reproduction work that they are submitted to, as well as the precarious conditions with which they perform family farming. As a way to accomplish their demands, such women make use of governmental institutions and services and weave their support network, building up survival strategies. However, the network activation, although allows to create shortcuts to change their conditions, loads more work to their daily lives and cause situations to their emotional and mothering behavior. Thus, the greater proximity of social relations within rural context and the rules of gender fixity, permeates the experience of those women and impacts upon the quality of their support network.