DOMESTIC PRODUCTION AND THE MARKET - WHERE STATUS AND CONTRACT MEET

When domestic production enters the market it is assumed payment will be individuated and correspond to the division of labour. However, the sparse and often ambiguous evidence about payment for women's domesti c production shows that payment is not necessarily made to the produce r. Payees for farm butter supplied to a dairy in North Norway were in some cases the women who made the butter, and in others men, but there were no clear differences between households which explained why. The act of payment is more than simply a material transaction, it also ha s symbolic significance as a ritual marking status. Variations in prac tice reflect different interpretations of its meaning. When a woman is payee, either butter production is seen as a sideline, or the payment is given a different ritual significance. Market transactions do not inevitably displace previous status relations, but add new means of co nstructing public statuses and maintaining inequalities.