Let’s Talk: Ghassan and Maya
Ghassan: “Statistically, women are the bigger portion of the labor force working in agriculture worldwide. And they’re usually not the first target in sustainable development. Most rural and poor countries are usually worse off because of sexism and lack of literacy…there’s still that perception that if you’re working in agriculture then you need all that muscle mass.
In sustainability its different, because people that are going to appreciate sustainability are going to appreciate the feminine side of the world––nature is usually feminine. Mother earth is a mother. When they’re conscious of the impact humans have of the earth I think they’re on a different level of awareness so they appreciate women as much as men…”
Maya: “When I think of a Lebanese woman, I think of a strong woman, and the fact that there’s this misconception that we have one role to play and we all have to look a certain way, it kind of works against the women that are trying to break out of that mold.
For instance, im not looking forward to having to deal with certain people on the field. I want to work ON the field. I don’t want to work in a company, I don’t want to be hidden. I want to work on the field, I want to interact with farmers, I want to be able to just talk to them and see what their problems are and offer up solutions. But these farmers are old men. The majority of them are men who have been there for years and years and who am I? I’m this little girl? Even how I look, I’m this little girl that’s going to be like, “sorry, you’re doing this wrong.” No, I don’t think I’m going to be taken seriously in that aspect. Or even doing manual labor, this is what I want to do and my size works against me in that aspect. There will always be men that are going to be like let me do it for you. No, I’m learning this.”
A farmer is a farmer, not a he she or it. This is something that’s kind of scaring me for future goals. I’m a woman, whereas he has a higher chance of getting the same job I’m applying for just because of his gender.
I’d be easy to talk to. I’ll inspire a girl who’s just like me or other girls in the major to take that step to be like, ‘No, I’m standing against what everybody else says.’ And the reactions you get are, ‘What are you going to do with agriculture? You’re so small. They’re basically saying, you’re a girl. What am I not going to do with agriculture?”
— Maya Ayache, Agriculture and Ghassan Al Salman, Agriculture