Search

A major drought has been a feature of the Australian rural landscape for much of the new century. Inland rural Australia, the main locus of large-scale agricultural production, is a site where discursive practices construct a reality that disempowers women, where men engaged in agricultural pursuits are regarded as farmers and women are more likely to be accorded secondary status despite their contributions to the economic and social survival of farm families. The dominant discourses and imagery of drought have been framed around its impact on the landscape and the decline in agricultural production. Consequently, the narratives of women's lives have been subjugated during a time of significant hardship. This article presents three case studies of Australian women on drought-stricken farms. They are drawn from a larger study conducted in three sites in rural New South Wales during 2003. These stories reveal the taken-for-granted labour undertaken by women and the multi-dimensional and gendered reality of the drought experience.

Australian rural women are largely invisible in public areas of influence. This paper presents findings of research into Australian rural women 's public profile in powerful agricultural organisations. Using a survey of Chairs of influential Boards and follow up interviews, as well as a survey of women in influential positions it shows that the Australian agricultural agenda is largely framed around a masculinist position and that women remain shadowy presences of outraged silence. Few men in powerful positions express disquiet about the current situation, with most arguing that appointments are based on merit. This paper exposes the fallacy of such a position noting that merit-based appointment is impossible under current selection processes. Disturbingly women who have gained access to positions of influence report overt and covert harassment from male colleagues. The paper concludes that changes to organisational culture are essential if women are to gain access to positions of influence.

This paper discusses the lack of women in leadership positions in Australian agriculture. Using a feminist framework, it examines the gendered nature of power and organizations and analyses the processes that operate to exclude women. The role of the state in supporting male dominance of agriculture is discussed, as is the role of Australian femocrats in seeking to overcome women’s disadvantage. The paper draws on the results of a 1997 survey of the chairs of 140 Australian boards associated with agriculture to demonstrate that those with the power to effect change are insensitive to the barriers women face when seeking leadership. Most choose to locate the reasons for women’s exclusion in real or imagined inadequacies of women ignoring gendered organizational structures and processes. The paper calls for action on the part of governments, industry leaders and women’s groups to address the lack of women in decision-making positions in agriculture.