Mooove Over! Females Coming Through

Every child grows up dreaming about what will one day be their career. Some make it that far, but others do not. Little girls that want to be dairy farmers will sadly never achieve their dreams because this modern society continues to determine who will do what and when. Sexism remains ever dominant.

Recently I paid a visit to a local farm where I met a very lovely man who is clearly passionate about his work in the dairy industry. However, I found myself feeling most frustrated when he told me he was stuck in a “difficult position”. Despite, having four daughters and a two year old grandson, he proclaimed that, when he passes on, he will have nobody to take over the farm.

Personally, I cannot see anything that sets males from females apart in the industry and there is no reason a woman should be stopped from taking on such a role should it be what she desires; not only men are capable of running an effective business. We know it is not all numbers and paperwork but we are not scared of a bit of grafting. We are prepared to get our hands dirty if needs be and we will not be fussed about the state in which our clothes are at the end of the day. In fact, I would prefer the grafting – I have a phobia of math.

There is no reason that only men should be able to work in this environment. I know it sounds ridiculous, but cows are female. Perhaps that is why men do thing this way; they simply can’t get enough of the female attention. The fact that these females are cows is irrelevant to them. But let us be honest, we, as women, are not going to get all embarrassed about milking a cow. There is a chance a few of us might be grossed out at calving time but that happens with men too.

“Relief worker”, a position where people take over when others are sick, or there is just too much work, is also not a role I would appreciate to be given. Essentially, you are being told that, despite being obviously capable of the job, it is only the case when the top dogs are not. I would rather have no job on the farm than a relief role. After all, if it is such a man’s domain, and he is perfectly capable every other time, why is he not capable now? Why should he need a female’s help?

It seems that, within the dairy world, the tradition of the wife staying at home to cook and clean is still what is expected. Possibly, women are given the accounts to look after and occasionally allowed out of the kitchen and onto the farm as a “relief worker”.

Although I am not convinced it is just dairy production where this takes place, it is the most obvious and most recent I have myself had to bear witness too. However, as Australia’s Dr Cannold says “business is still a man’s world”; women clearly have a long way to go to prove society wrong.