Confessional Narrative of Patriarchal Misconceptions in Ethnobiological Studies of Northern Patagonia

Patriarchal biases are deeply rooted elements in the scaffolding of the oppressive system against women. They are those practices that reaffirm the belief that the biological differences that exist between women and men justify inequalities and submission over women. The existence of a gender hierarchy gives rise to a tripartite set of problems that may arise in our ethnobiological research. The three problems-sides of this triangle of bias are (1) when we maintain a hierarchy; (2) when we fail to examine differences, being insensitive to differences and treating people the same when they should be treated differently; and (3) when we use double standards, treating different groups differently because of their position within a social hierarchy. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to reexamine my published works from a confessional narrative, evidencing my patriarchal misconceptions that have operated in the conception, methodology, and interpretation of my results. The set of problems, synthesized in the so-called triangle of bias, which can be evidenced in my work and that of other authors, can only be corrected with an integral gender approach.