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G rowing up in a matriarchal Latino household, I was taught How could she
two things: that a) women are just as strong and capable
as (if not stronger than) men, and b) we must demand the get the farmers
right to be treated as equals. Chile, my second home, has recently been
participating in a wave of social unrest much like the #metoo movement
in the US. This one demands non-sexist education and an end to vio- their product?
lence against women. The hashtags center on #yotecreo (I believe you)
#dondeestalajusticiachilena (where is justice in chile?) and, most
tragically, #antoniabarra, a young woman’s name. She is one of count-
less victims who has not yet seen justice.
It was through this internet uprising that I discovered some-
thing truly disconcerting about women’s rights in Chile: a married
women’s right to own property and manage their funds are com-
pletely dependent on their husband’s approval. Share a bank account
with your husband? You cannot remove or administer those funds
without his co-signature. What about a savings account for your
children – even one for which you are the exclusive contributor?
Sorry, you need a co-signer for that too. Worse still, if you owned
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more money for
property before the marriage, he must now approve any changes –
mortgage, rental, or sale – to that property now that you are married.
I can’t think of a better example of how insidious the culture
of machismo is in Latin America. It’s baked in. Even in a country like
Chile, who’s already had a female president, has universal healthcare,
and is already discussing UBI, these laws remain in place.
Chile doesn’t grow coffee, but these problems aren’t unique to
the southern tip of Latin America. This led me to wonder: what is it
like to be a woman working in an agricultural industry that is over-
whelmingly male, within a culture that is extremely machista? What
challenges do these women face and how do they confront those
challenges?
To answer these questions, I spoke with two women within the
coffee industry to find out what their experience has been, how
they’ve dealt with this male-dominated industry, and what advice Machismo
they have to others.
The term is associated with
Mayra Orellana Powell is from a rural town deep in the
negative characteristics, such
mountains of Santa Elena, Honduras. As a young woman she em- as sexism, misogyny,
igrated to the United States, where she lived for almost two decades. chauvinism, hypermasculinity,
and hegemonic masculinity.
Even though coffee had been her family’s main source of income
Scholars characterize macho
in Santa Elena, she seemed unable to find Honduran coffee in the men as violent, rude,
domineering through
US. On trips back home, she would stuff her suitcase full of roast-
intimidation, womanizing, and
ed coffee each time she visited her family, bringing back enough prone to alcoholism.
to drink for the next year.
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