Abstract

SUAREZ GUTIERREZ, Gloria Mariel; BELLO BALTAZAR, Eduardo; HERNANDEZ CRUZ, Rosa Elba  and  RHODES, Allan. Ecotourism and the invisible work of women in the “Lacandona” jungle in Chiapas, Mexico. El periplo sustentable [online]. 2016, n.31, 00007. ISSN 1870-9036.

This article analyzes the situation of invisibility of women regarding ecotourism, observing effects that maintain gender stereotypes in ecotourism as an economic and social alternative for women. We want to reference from planning of ecotourism centers, gender differentiation through social processes, and are transferred to the working environment of ecotourism centers, based on an analysis of two levels (community and ecotourism center), the which allow analyzing gender relations and how transform at each level.

In particular, two ecotourism centers are studied: Top Che Lacanja-Chansayab and Las Guacamayas in Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas, Mexico. Qualitative methods based on the proposed model to the two-level, using tools such as participant observation, semi-structured interviews and participatory workshops were used.

The results indicate the presence of gender stereotypes within the ecotourism center activities, evident in double shifts by women, it shows how the division of labor is kept in the productive-reproductive relationship; however it is also perceived that women find in ecotourism a new space for economic and social entrepreneurship, changing attitudes, way of being and doing, as well as roles and time use within two levels of study proposed.

Keywords : women; gender; community; planning; ecotourism.

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