Rural women look at their role

Press, 4 December 1981, Page 16

Rural women look at their role

By the Agricultural Editor

For one day the week-end before last I was the only male among more than 60 women who are in some way connected with farming. The occasion was a “gettogether,” organised by the Women in Agriculture subgroup of the Advisory Committee on Women’s Affairs, to share ideas and skills. When I walked into the opening session at Lincoln College the participants were in the process of introducing themselves. When it came to my turn I frankly admitted that I felt something of an interloper and would, if they wished (on a fine Saturday morning), leave instantly, but the organisers indicated that the possibility of a male presence had been foreseen and if a male wished to remain through their deliberations and activities then he was welcome to do so. So I stayed to see what was going on. The week-end turned out to be an exchange of ideas and views interspersed with some sessions in which those taking part, if they wished, could improve their competence in some basic skills associated with farming like riding a farm motor-cycle, driving a tractor or classing wool. There was a suggestion that a “resource list" might be prepared with the names of the people who would be prepared to travel to help with instruction in such skills, and who would also be willing to accept other people to learn about particular types of farming like dairying. I was naturally asked what I thought of the week-end — I must hasten to add that I could not be at all the sessions, for some were running concurrently, and so therefore missed some of the deliberations. I had to admit that I am perhaps a bit too old and long in the tooth, but I recognise that one has to have an open mind. Some of the more radical views expressed at times would probably have astonished my mother and her mother. Both lived on farms. As a young bride of a returned serviceman after World War I my mother hand-raked a poor cereal crop that was hardly worth harvesting on their new farm. My widowed grandmother, at an advanced age. still continued cheerfully to milk cows and manage a small remote farm in Otago 50 to 60 years ago. But times have surely changed since then and like the new generation of farmers the younger farmers’ wives these days have had more educational opportunities and cannot perhaps be expected to accept their lot on a farm as placidly as they did even 30 or 40 years ago. I had to accept reality, but a colleague has given me a thought — rural women and farmers’ wives in particular, have a unique opportunity — they can share in and participate in their husbands' vocation in a way that is not open to many urban dwellers. One of the participants told me that the week-end had been helpful in achieving a recognition of rural women. I had always thought that their role had been recognised and that in their day, by their activity in the farm home and on the farm, our mothers and grandmoth-

ers had also achieved that recognition. The difference today is no doubt that the recognition should take a different form. This was perhaps highlighted by Gwenyth Wright, associate editor of “Straight Furrow,” in reporting on a survey on women in agriculture conducted by her journal, which has drawn no fewer than 1429 replies and which is about to be analysed. She said that there were many examples of how competent women in the countryside had won recognition by their achievements. There was the woman with a doctorate of philosophy degree doing advanced scientific work on a farm. There was the woman who had taken over control of the farm after her husband had suffered brain damage in an accident, and the woman who reported that they would have to employ another farm worker on the farm if she did not do what she did. . The participants in the seminar provided more examples of achievement by women. Beth PottingerHockings. with the Ministry of Agriculture at New Plymouth, is still the only woman farm advisory officer (agricultural engineering) in the country. Later, she was helping some of her colleagues to master the art of driving a tractor. Wendy Hogg is a farm advisory officer with the Ministry at Waimate advising on matters pertaining to sheep and cropping. Irene Strong is manager of rural services with Radio New Zealand in Wellington. Irene Scurr, with a five-and-a-half-months-old, Blair, in backpack, has been running a farm on the Taieri for the last 14 years. Heather Gallagher from Okuku, from going down to the woolshed with her children to help with the wool handling, has “graduated” to the status of owner-classer, and she demonstrated during the week-end that as well as being a good classer, she was also an able lecturer and demonstrator when she took a class for those who were interested in learning more about this important sheepfarming operation. And there were many more. Gwenyth Wright quoted the comment of one of those women wiio have responded to the survey. Her husband thought that she had it pretty good. She had three meals a day and slept with the boss. Who could want more? But Gwenyth said that some people did want more. Women were speaking about being second-rate citizens, being exploited,, being unpaid farm workers and being taken for granted. They wanted recognition, payment for work or a financial part in the farming business. On the basis of a survey in Australia, she said that there was some concern among young women that if they worked hard they might become less attractive, but this did not seem to be a concern in New Zealand. A member of the audience commented that the biggest opposition to women taking a more active and positive role in the countryside came from women of their own age, who did not think that they should be doing agricultural work. Danna Glendining, from

the Wairarapa, a long-time very active worker in the interests of rural women, said the the farmer’s wife could have a feeling of being threatened by the presence of a woman farm worker on the property and their confidence had to be built up. Someone else remarked that women should not be pushed into doing things that they were not fitted to do — they had to be good at doing the things that they sought to make a career for themselves in or else another woman might not get a chance in that same area for many years to come. A solicitor, Linda Dacre, urged her listeners that they should seek the protection that existing legislation provided and that in a farming situation under present legislation rural women should make some records of the contribution that they were making to the farming enterprise. It was perfectly legal, she said, to draw up a marriage contract. But not all those present were in agreement that this was the answer, and Danna said that she would be very wary about such contracts and they could be to the disadvantage of the woman. In the background five-and-a-half-months-old Blair murmured slightly. His view on the whole affair was not clear. This male listener even sensed that words like “dad, dad” seemed to slip into his “baby” talk. For a time some of those taking part in the deliberations turned their attention to the problem of isolation in rural areas for women. The message that seemed to come from this was that the female newcomer into this scene, as the new wife or wife of a farm worker, had to do something herself to get out and make contacts and get involved with other people and in the life of the district — it is a two-way affair. A member of the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers for more than 34 years, Ginny Talbot from Timaru and formerly from Hanging Rock, said that there were once distinctive leaders among women in rural areas — to take the initiative in welcoming newcomers — but that was not nearly so much the case now. It was also suggested that it was not wise for a woman coming into a district to immediately go off to a job in the hospital or airline office in the nearest town. She should first find and establish her roots in the new community or she would only be putting off the day when she would have to do this. Ultimately, of course, attention was’ directed to the exercise of power by rural women — Danna Glendining commented that the talent of half of the population should not be wasted. Some of those who have held positions of responsibility made their contributions, including Robyn Grigg, who has been secretary of the Banks Peninsula branch of Federated Farmers, Jenny Simpson from Inglewood, who is a past national president of the Young Farmers’ Club, has been a member of the Dominion Council of Federated Farmers and a new member of the Inglewood County Council, Ginny Talbot with the Women’s Division of Federated Farmers, and Danna, who has also been involved with Federated Farmers. Mrs Talbot agreed that the name of the Women’s Division was a disadvantage, but

she reminded her listeners that Federated Farmers had been responsible for the formation of the division. It was, however, a completely autonomous body that saw itself as being open to all women in rural areas. She had found that women in it looked on their meetings as a social occasion but they were very happy to take up new ideas and she added that they could not do without the women with more radical ideas — she called them the guerrilla fighters. When members wished it, she said, the name of the organisation would no doubt be changed. Some of the speakers found Federated Farmers organisation and procedures rather slow and cumbersome and a body witn a rather lesser interest in rural social

issues than they would have wished. Local authorities also came under attack and Jenny Simpson said that if the current level of competence or incompetence of such bodies continued they were likely to be taken over by regional authorities. She urged women not to be deterred by any myths about county councils and to get involved in them. She said that she had become a member of a council that was traditionally supposed to be 65 years of age. and all male, and she had also broken the rules in actively canvassing for support. She said that the 1977 Town and Country Planning Act had opened up a whole new area for county councils. They could help rural repo-

pulation become a reality. Jenny has also been appointed' to the Committee on Women, which has the responsibility of advising the Government on women's affairs. That committee was supposed to be broad based and its members there because they were supposed to “know the system.” she said. It was her view that changes had to be made from within the system, she stressed. She said that the Government spokesman on women’s affairs, Mr McLay, had advised them to “burrow into the civil service,” and another area of their activities was in looking at legislation. But she described as “an insult to her intelligence” the fact that no provision had been made for the expenses

of members of the committee. She certainly had no wish to become a millionaire and had in mind putting any

money she received by way of expenses into a special account for conducting seminars and the like as part of her job.