Korean women in the forest mushroom industry: A case study

ABSTRACT

The pyogo mushroom is an interesting non-timber product which is cultivated by people living in or near the forests. It is a rare crop that provides economic security to people in the forest areas. At the same time, pyogo mushroom cultivation has had a contradictory effect on women. Forest mushroom cultivation has a centralized male-labor force and a marginalized female labor force. However, some women have refused to be victimized and try to find their empowerment strategies through its cultivation. Our research defines women as active agents of change and emphasizes their energy and ability. We selected ten women for individual, in-depth interviews in order to examine their consciousness regarding gender roles and how they challenge these. In doing this, we analyze how women utilize the pyogo mushroom industry, which is gender-biased, as an empowerment opportunity. The theoretical section includes a literature review for understanding the masculine and patriarchal traditions of the mountainous rural areas of Korea and empowerment strategies from third world feminism. The interview results showed that participants succeeded in confronting traditional gender divisions and in partially or fully controlling their income from pyogo cultivation. In our conclusion, we suggest how their empowerment can be supported so that they may become more effective at local and national levels.

ABSTRACT IN KOREAN

본 연구는 산촌 거주 여성들 중 표고버섯 재배를 통해 자신의 능력을 발휘하고 역량 강화 전략을 구현하는 여성 재배자들의 사례를 발굴하여 이들의 재배활동의 특성과 역량강화 전략을 파악하고자 수행되었다. 먼저, 여성의 차별과 이에 대한 여성의 저항과 관련된 선행연구들을 살펴보았다. 특히 남성우월주의와 가부장제 및 제 3 세계 페미니즘과 관련된 연구들이 집중적으로 검토되었다. 표고버섯 원목재배에 관여하고 있는 50 대에서 60대 산촌 여성들을 대상으로 이들이 성역할에 대한 사회의 고정 관념을 어떻게 인지하고 이를 저항하는지에 대해 귀납적으로 관찰과 개별 심층면접을 병행하여 실시하였다. 결과적으로 산촌 여성들이 표고버섯 재배에서 자기 결정권을 강화하고 자원 구축을 해나가는 역량강화 과정에 대한 세가지 사회적 실천을 유형화하였다. 게다가, 이 산촌여성들의 미시적 행위들이 가지는 한계와 딜레마에 대해서 논의하고, 사회구조적 측면에서의 시사점들을 제안하였다.

KEYWORDS:

• Pyogo mushroom
• rural masculinity
• patriarchy
• rural women
• gender division of labor
• empowerment

KEYWORDS:

• 역량강화
• 표고버섯
• 남성우월주의
• 제3세계 페미니즘

Notes on contributors

Semyong JEONG is a research professor at Chonnam National University. He received his Ph.D. in forestry at Chonnam National University. His academic interests include gender issues in the forest sector, social sustainability of forestry, and forest education and policies. Email: [email protected]

Kyunghee SHIN is a professor at Nambu University. She received her Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her areas of specialization are gender inequality and women’s empowerment. Email: [email protected]

Notes

1. A set of work-teams, one of main pyogo-producing Jeolla provinces in Korea, has 129 registered pyogo cultivators, of whom women comprised roughly 10 percent in 2015 (Jeong, 2015).

2. According Jeong (2015), the rate of female participants increased every year from 2012 to 2016 (5 percent in 2012, 8 percent in 2013, 20 percent in 2014, 15.38 percent in 2015, and 42.11 percent in 2016).