Under Pressure: Young Farmers In Marriage Markets – A Greek Case Study

Abstract

AbstractGender issues, and masculinity in particular, have increasingly drawn the attention of scholars in the last decade. Nevertheless, given the well‐established phenomenon of young rural women's rejection of framers and exodus from rural areas, scant attention is paid to the issue of rural marriage markets. This article aims to address the topic of young farmers' perceptions and practices in their search for a bride. The target population was young males who joined the ‘Young Farmers’ programme in two tobacco producing communities in Greece. Utilising Bourdieu's oeuvre (especially ‘habitus’), we argue that young male farmers do not seem able to reflect on their current position in the local marriage market and, in general, challenge dominant structures owing to themselves being ‘trapped’ in the tobacco production habitus (including dominant masculinity). While consciousness‐raising and change seem difficult the implications of the current crisis (including social suffering and disorders) are not yet plainly manifested.