These days, tongues are wagging: women farmers are reporting that they are fed up with not being recognised as farm managers. Yet companies have everything to gain from breaking down gender stereotypes.
“Where’s the boss? Women farmers can’t take it any more. It’s a very small phrase, and in itself it expresses the violence of ordinary, everyday sexism. In fact, as unpleasant as it may be to admit, the farming world suffers from the same problem as our society in general: sexism. And it’s the women farmers themselves who are sounding the alarm. ” Laurie Poussier, a breeder and soap-maker from Brittany, recently reported on LinkedIn : “Yet another sales person canvassing, whose first sentence is: where’s the farm manager?
And she’s not the only one, as shown by the comic strip “Il est où le patron?”, co-written by five “farmers in fleeces” and drawn by Maud Bénézit. It’s a great read, and one we warmly recommend! At the agency, we’ve got our copy 😉
Chefs struggling for recognition
The typical story told by these five women farmers is this: a salesman canvasses a farm, spots a woman hard at work, and sends her a flamboyant “Where’s the boss? While the anecdotes in the comic strip are easy to smile at, or even laugh at (yellow), the reality is unpleasant for these people, who don’t feel recognised as agricultural experts and business leaders. Because, without even realising it, the market assumes that a woman farmer cannot be a farm manager. This biased preconception is symptomatic of a society that is struggling to abandon traditional gender roles.
Watch out for closing doors!
In France, 26% of farm managers are women. In Brittany (since we’re from Brittany, we’ll allow ourselves this digression), the figure is even 27%. Although this figure is tending to stagnate, it is far from anecdotal! Hence the importance of changing mentalities, for the good of us women, but also for the good of society… and companies!
Salespeople and agricultural professionals in general need to recognise women as farm managers in their own right. By failing to recognise their leadership, companies are losing out on the opportunity to work with competent and even innovative women experts. And, potentially, a quarter of prospects will close their doors in the face of the indelicate. You can’t blame them…
Raising team awareness
To avoid these setbacks, companies have a role to play. By making their sales teams aware of the importance of diversity on farms, they will encourage a new awareness. It will only be a drop in the ocean, because our society still has a long way to go, but it will at least make the working lives of our women farmers more pleasant.
Oh, and if you fancy listening to a fun podcast about the Paysannes en Polaire women at La Jaubernie farm, here are 2 episodes for you to enjoy:
Balls on the farm (1/2) – Balls on the table – Binge Audio
Balls on the farm (2/2) – Balls on the table – Binge Audio
Sources :
infographie_femmes_bretagne.pdf (agriculture.gouv.fr)
The female agricultural workforce in 2020 – Infostat – MSA Statistics