Experiences of Being a Couple and Working in Shifts in the Mining Industry: Advances and Continuities
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Regarding the Information Production Strategy: The Interviews
2.2. Regarding the Analysis Strategy: The Option for Critical Analysis of the Discourse
2.3. Participants
3. Discussion of the Results
3.1. Arrangements of Mining Family Life in the Voice of the Men: A Strictly Sexual Division of the Work
- The male miner as highly productive.
“You endure it. It’s impossible for a man to solve family matters, but on the job, a mining worker is highly productive! That is, the productivity of a mining worker is very high. We know that data. The men solve problems quickly; it’s technical, you look for ideas, you resolve, investigate. But they are not able to implement those abilities at home.”(José, 61 years old, three children)
- 2.
- The necessary woman: one who takes charge of everything at home.
“The women, in our case, have to take care of everything when we leave. You can’t be going down all the time, asking your boss for permission. You can’t go down, because if you are going to be going down, there are, I don’t know, fifteen of us up there and the boss is counting on the fifteen of us, so if you leave, the other fourteen feel it and have to take on the work of the one who left. So, the idea is to try not to go down, so you don’t look bad with the boss and also to take care of your job. For that reason, our women are important because they have to take care of everything.”(Mario, 32 years old, one child)
- 3.
- The mother spouse as mother, father and witch.
“The old lady has to know how to substitute at all times (accidents, birthdays, parties, others), when the children are sad the old lady has to deal with the little kids, so they don’t miss us, so while we are on the job, they don’t need anything from us.”(Pedro, 36 years old, two children)
“The other thing that happens to me is the matter of the kids. When I come home and they do something bad, I don’t scold them. I don’t feel I have the right to scold them because I am up on the site for seven days. If you come home and scold them, you end up being a bad father figure. So, I leave all that to my wife. My wife does their homework, teaches the children. Everything that has to do with the kids at home, I completely exempt myself (…) They end up being the witches, ha ha ha.”(Manuel, 40 years old, three children)
- 4.
- The male worker who is useless at home: money as a link to the family.
“After the shift, you come home to a house that your wife dominates. Your children don’t pay much attention to you. If it is you that tries to impose something, in the end, the only thing they want is for you to go back up to the mine. You become a provider, a provider and nothing, nothing else.”(Claudio, 38 years old, three children)
“I come back and the youngest pretends she doesn’t know me.”(Patricio, 42 years old, two children)
3.2. Arrangements of Mining Family Life in the Voice of the Women: Tensions between Accommodation and Resistance
- 5.
- Reproduction of passiveness associated with females.
“When he is at home, we don’t get bored because we say, “What are we going to do today?” “Let´s go for a walk,” we have to buy something. I don´t like to go downtown by myself unless I have to do an errand, and I don´t like to be in a line but I have to, and I do it with my head down. I don’t like to go window shopping either or have a coffee. If I have to visit my sister, my friend, or sister-in-law, I dare to go. He takes me everywhere. If I say, “I don´t want to cook,” he tells me, “Let’s eat out.”(Mónica, 43 years old, two children)
- 6.
- Subordination of female productive work.
“Since last year, I own a SME (small-to-medium enterprise) related to pastry. At the beginning, it was difficult because I was taking his time (from him when he was at home). I noticed, along with a group of girls, that when they come down from the mine, you have to be completely available for them because they have been confined. That’s what they think. When they come down, they like to go out. My husband likes spending time with his family. Last Friday, I had to deliver 400 sweets. I had told him that I wanted be at home early to start preparing my sweets in peace. He made us go out early, but I got back at 8 PM. I felt cheated because we did what he wanted to do anyway. So, it’s here where you have to give in a lot, so you don’t quarrel.”(Silvia, 35 years old, three children)
- 7.
- Dual family rules: when he is at home and when he is not.
“When he (husband) is at home, everything changes. For instance […], he doesn´t eat vegetables so I have to cook pasta. When my son and I are alone, I cook other types of meals. […] I don’t make plans when he´s at home. A woman comes to the house to iron when he is not at home because he doesn´t like strangers at home. When he is not at home, I make the rules, but when he arrives home, everything changes. For instance, I don’t leave things on the dinner table, but he leaves his shoes anyplace, his bag at the door until he is leaving, and he just unpacks it that day. I used to unpack it for him and put the things away, but not anymore. It´s another rhythm when he´s here, it´s something different at home.”(Estela, 50 years old, three children)
- 8.
- The mother as the support for the family.
“I am the witch, and he (the husband) is the boy who plays with him (the son) all day. Even last year, Vicente (son) was called on (at school) to recognize the family: I am the mother, and he is the father and the brother. The other day I answered him (her partner) and told him, “Thanks to me he loves you, because since he was a baby, he didn’t catch you [didn’t take him into account].” The child must have felt that he rejected him, since he wasn’t affectionate. They weren’t like they are now, that they are more like partners, more united. If one doesn’t feel the love from the other person, he is indifferent. That’s the feeling in their relationship. Over time, I insisted so much with him on Vicente that now they get along better. Now Vicente is bigger; I taught him to play ball, with cars—it wasn’t him.”(María, 45 years old, one child)
- 9.
- Advances toward greater equality?
“We both worked 4 × 3, and I was practically in charge of taking care of things at home regarding the bills and tasks that take a little longer (…). Regarding the house, we both took care of day-to-day or domestic things equally. And now that he is 4 × 3 and I am in Antofagasta, we turned things around. He is in charge of tasks that take a little longer, which are done on Fridays, and I am in charge of the house and the more urgent things that have to be done in Antofagasta (…). He generally makes the investment decisions or I consult with him so he knows, but that happens naturally. The same goes for family matters. I am the one in charge of the house, what to buy, what we need, what has to be put and what has to be taken out. It happens naturally (…) and we agree that way and get along well.”(Marcela, 32 years old, one son)
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Dimension: Referred to the Central Topic of Analysis | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Knots and conflicts | Subjects | Narrative | Subjective and gender experience tensions | Linked emotions | Search objects | Synthesis of interpretative analysis in the theoretical counterpoint |
Identification of knots and their ramifications; coding of the interview; sex of the participant; age; microtexts and school assignment to selected text published extensively. | Coding of the interview; sex of the participant; age; attachment to school. | Microtexts and selected texts published extensively. | Analysis of the major emerging conflicts; microprints of the research objectives; articulated analysis of the theoretical core of the research. | Sensations and feelings that emerge in the affective–emotional story of the subjects. | Subjective expressions of the participants from a situated position. | Analysis of the theoretical core of research; counterpoint three levels: The protagonist, the researcher, and the theoretical aspects. |
Synthesis of the analysis of the dimension in three voices: interviewee theories, and researcher. |
Code | Age | Occupation | Shift System | Socioeconomic Level | No. of Children | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | José | 61 | Operator—union | 4 × 3 | Medium–low | 3 |
2 | Pedro | 36 | Mining worker | 7 × 7 | Medium–low | 2 |
3 | Claudio | 38 | Mining worker | 7 × 7 | Medium–low | 3 |
4 | Patricio | 42 | Mining worker | 4 × 3 | Medium–low | 2 |
5 | Manuel | 40 | Operator—union | 4 × 3 | Medium–low | 3 |
6 | Mario | 32 | Mining worker | 4 × 3 | Medium–low | 1 |
7 | Mónica | 43 | Homemaker | - | Medium–low | 2 |
8 | Silvia | 35 | Small business owner | - | Medium–low | 3 |
9 | Estela | 50 | Homemaker | - | Medium–low | 3 |
10 | María | 45 | Homemaker | - | Medium–low | 1 |
11 | Marcela | 32 | Homemaker (worked in mining) | . | Medium–low | 1 |
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Segovia, J.S.; Pastor, P.Z.; Ravanal, E.C.; Segovia-Chinga, T. Experiences of Being a Couple and Working in Shifts in the Mining Industry: Advances and Continuities. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 2027. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042027
Segovia JS, Pastor PZ, Ravanal EC, Segovia-Chinga T. Experiences of Being a Couple and Working in Shifts in the Mining Industry: Advances and Continuities. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(4):2027. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042027
Chicago/Turabian StyleSegovia, Jimena Silva, Pablo Zuleta Pastor, Estefany Castillo Ravanal, and Tarut Segovia-Chinga. 2021. "Experiences of Being a Couple and Working in Shifts in the Mining Industry: Advances and Continuities" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 4: 2027. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18042027