The pantanal woman and its working relationship with tourism

Abstract

Tourism is the fastest growing economic activity in the Brazilian Pantanal, a region where there is a predominance of private land ownership for breeding cattle. In overlap or substitution to livestock, the tourist activity acts on the dynamics of the farms. This research aims to show that among the observed changes is the role of women in the Pantanal society, whose work has gained greater importance in the farms for performing essential activities for tourism as the food and cleaning services. Through the participant observation, the female universe was diagnosed in four farms that operate with tourism in the Rio Negro region, in the municipality of Aquidauana / MS, as well as non-directive interviews with owners, tourists, employees and family members. The results of the research demonstrate that the presence of tourism modifies women's consumption habits; increases their autonomy in relation to the family; intensifies its connection with the urban centers, because it is from there that many of them come and it is for the cities that direct many of their interests. Finally, by changing the status of the worker in the Pantanal, tourism directly interferes with the question of the Pantanal identity, hitherto centered on the masculine universe.