Gendered Representations in Hawai‘i's Anti-Gmo Activism

Abstract

The aim of this article is to analyse some of the representations of intersectional gender that materialise in activism against genetically modified organisms (GMOs). It uses the case of Hawaiʻi as a key node in global transgenic seed production and hotspot for food, land and farming controversies. Based on ethnographic work conducted since 2012, the article suggests some of the ways that gender is represented within movements against GMOs and offers examples of how this emerges through activist media representations. I suggest some of the ways that intersectional gender shapes this food-related movement by analysing themes of motherhood, warrior masculinities and sexualised femininities, exploring the implications these framings have for identification with movements. I propose that these representations of gender invoke some normative ideas that are nuanced in an intersectional, contextualised frame but that these nonetheless constrain movement participation and support by different subjects. The article suggests that these representations may work together to provide a sense of social certainty and familiarity that works to counterbalance and enable anti-GMO organising's threats to (agri)business as usual in the settler state.