There is a saying that if prostitution is the rental of the body, then marriage is the sale. There is no better way to describe the campaign initiated late last year by the National Farmers Federation and a yet-to-be-named national women's magazine to find wives for lonely farmers.
The "Find a wife for a farmer campaign" was profiled by ABC Radio National's World Today on November 20. The program centred on the "dilemma" faced by rural men unable to find "suitable brides" for a life on the land.
The compere began by explaining that "finding love in the outback isn't easy if you're a bloke. There just aren't enough women". Panel participants included a NFF representative, someone from Australian Women in Agriculture and the manager of a Brisbane dating agency, who explained that part of the problem was that "women these days are well educated and they are looking to further their career".
The underlying theme of the campaign is that women have created the crisis for rural men by choosing not to stay in isolated rural and regional areas and that they can help solve the crisis by being encouraged to come back.
Two weeks later, Rockhampton's Morning Bulletin ran an explicit but honest article headlined, "Bush wifehunt". The NFF had by this stage distanced itself from the campaign, but the article interviewed "single bush bloke" Ian Charlton, a NSW Farmers Association youth week committee member. Charlton said, "I don't think anyone expects [wives] to cook and clean and stay home anymore. It's not necessary for them to work on the farm. I know lots who work in town."
Charlton described the campaign as "a bit of a lighthearted look at the serious problem of social isolation".
Convincing women to settle for less choice and freedom than they're entitled to is not a light-hearted issue. The campaign is a blatant challenge to women's right to choose where and with whom they live, and whether or not they choose to pursue a career. What is most disturbing about the campaign is the way in which women are commodified, referred to in the same way as farm machinery.
Social isolation in rural areas is brutal, but it is not only a problem for men. It will not be solved by brazenly luring women into the lonely confines of these regions.
Women who live in rural areas experience high levels of sexual assault, domestic violence and oppression, a predicament magnified by isolation and the paucity of support services for women. Add to this a pervasive and misogynist culture among the rural population and the problem snowballs. With more cuts to women's services every year, women in rural areas are increasingly left stranded.
Having lived in a rural area my whole life, I have witnessed the intimidation and hopelessness that many women face. That this campaign is getting national coverage, including a link from the ABC's web site, reflects how benignly the campaign has been viewed. It also reflects the relentless nature of the backlash that the women's movement now confronts.
The only lasting solution to the problems of rural isolation is for a massive reallocation of government funds to allow the rebuilding of services in regional and rural Australia. Only when regional communities become diverse and thriving places to live will more women choose to stay, and — perhaps, or perhaps not — find a man to marry.
BY ERIN CAMERON
[The author is a member of the Democratic Socialist Party in Rockhampton.]
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, January 23, 2002.
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