agendas (OAS, ONU, Summit of the Americas, Ibero-American Summit, and so on),

women's well-being still remain largely ignored by development. It is ironic that after

decades of social labor benefits tailored for (urban) workers (extra payments, vacations,

education subsidies, etc.), the first massive experience of rural women's employment is

bereft of sustained benefits.

 It is ironic also that for peasant women, in the past decades when subsistence

agriculture was the only household livelihood their situation was much better than today.

Then, women enjoyed less distorted gender relations, since they were an effective part of

their household management, and also they engaged in work, which was widely

recognized socially and absolutely functional in their family. But now, in times of

democracy and with better social and economic tools to determine the social, economic,

and psychological situation of women around the globe, peasant women are being

received in the world of development and modernization by this illusory work.

 Suggestions for Future Studies

 Since all the women involved in the flower industry stop their participation in

waged work after at a certain limited time, it is important to analyze how these women

face their future life; how they invent a new reality, and how in that new reality they

weigh their short experience as flower workers. An anthropological study of the post-

flower experience of peasant women could provide insights on adaptability and cultural

resilience.

 Another field of future studies could be in economic anthropology. Since

periodically there are women that leave the economic circle of the flower industry, it is

likely that most of these women will try to replace the wage they used to obtain from

flower employment by involving in economic activities that could result in massive