Abstract

CASTRO MUNOZ, Betsy Johana. Construction and Transformation of Masculinities of the Sugarcane Cutters of the Valle del Cauca. Rev. colomb. soc. [online]. 2016, vol.39, n.1, pp.79-102. ISSN 0120-159X.  https://doi.org/10.15446/rcs.v39n1.56342.

From a constructivist perspective, identity is constantly constructed and reconstructed. Human beings continue adding new knowledge to their day to day experience, weaving relationships in the interaction with the other. This process of continuous learning and construction, not only involves the interaction with the other but also the interactions with the social and cultural surroundings, which for the purposes of this study are called E intimate and everyday interactions, eventually shaphing the individual as subject. Accordingly, this article outlines the construction of hegemonic masculinities as one of the features of the cultural identity of the sugarcane cutters, which is transformed after their relocation due to work-related injuries. In this labor relocation, workers stop carrying on the tasks related to the manual cutting of cane and begin doing other new tasks consistent with their current physical capabilities. This situation not only impacts their tasks at work but also their intimate and everyday interactions. As seen throughout the document, the construction of the cutters' masculinities is closely associated with the work of the manual cutting of cane and the social and cultural context of their lives and labor. Of the same token, the whole set of processes that shape the construction of cultural identity traits, are cut through by masculinizing practices aimed at the strengthening of workers' hegemonic masculinities. After the collection and analysis of life stories of the sugarcane cutters used in this qualitative research, we were able to see that these traits are transformed after the work accident and the relocation. In addition to the above, we were able to understand that the economic system, as part of the social organization of this group, is one of the determining aspects for the transformation of these traits, which leads to the change of these masculinizing practices towards the recognition and the establishment of interactions from a more horizontal perspective with respect to the cutters' partners and in general, their family group.

Keywords : Hegemonic; cultural identity; masculinities; traits; labor relocation.

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