Feminist Politics on the Farm: Rural Catholic Women in Southern Quebec and Southwestern France

Margaret Kechnie is head of the Women’s Studies Program at Laurentian
University and the co-editor of Changing Lives: Women in Northern
Ontario.

Feminist Politics on the Farm is a study of farm women’s work lives,
their participation in family activities, and interest in rural
women’s organizations. In 1988–89, the authors interviewed 389 women
living in the Bordeaux region of France and in the areas around
Valleyfield, Quebec. The authors were particularly interested in
examining issues of control and autonomy (or the politics of women’s
lives) and the extent to which farm women and farm women’s
organizations play a role in the advancement of women.

The authors found that the concept of the apolitical or passive woman
was at odds with the politically active and socially aware women they
interviewed. While the farm women studied did not consider themselves
feminists, they eagerly championed many feminist goals, were active in a
number of organizations, and were not afraid to engage in action around
issues important to them.

Although the number of women who were interviewed for this study is not
large, the work is important. The process of analysis is intricate and
the theories used in the authors’ analysis challenge long-held
perceptions of farm women, their work, and their commitment to
community.