Identidad femenina en la exclusión : experiencias y estrategias de afrontamiento de mujeres rurales del cantón Marcelino Maridueña.

Abstract

This research, entitled "Female Identity in Exclusion: Experiences and Coping Strategies of Rural Women in the Marcelino Maridueña Canton," is developed from a social work perspective and aims to characterize the way in which rural women farmers, who live in contexts of social exclusion, construct their identity based on their life experiences, as well as to learn about the resilience and coping strategies they develop to sustain their personal, family, and community lives. The study took a qualitative approach that allowed for an understanding of social reality from the perspective of the participants' subjectivity, recognizing their voices and sociocultural contexts. It also required a descriptive-exploratory level and a hermeneutic method to understand and explain the meanings of their experiences. The population of this study consisted of five women belonging to an association in the rural sector of the canton and its leader, to whom an interview and focus group were applied. The results of the research show that living conditions marked by rurality influence their identity and well-being, generating overload and invisibility, but also reveal an emerging process of empowerment with women assuming productive, community, and leadership roles. However, forms of symbolic violence and devaluation of unpaid work still persist.