Technology and Rural Women: Evolution of Roles and Production Tools of Female Rice Farmers in Guilan Province

Based on Ester Boserup’s theory of development, this research is an attempt to answer the question “Can technology empower the rural female rice farmers?” To answer this question, a qualitative research was designed and different generations of women were observed in a 15-year period. The changes in women’s activities, opportunities, and resources were observed and analyzed. Technology seemed to reduce women’s roles and marginalize them, impeding their access to financial resources. The observations were indicative of the difference in the type of tools used by men and women as well as their roles. In the process of development and upon the introduction of technology to some regions, men had taken the roles previously assigned to women. A decrease in women’s activities has restricted their control over the sources of economic power, including the ownership of rice, land, and trade of products. A change of roles has made the women mere homemakers and has restricted their social relations only with women on a local level.