“Woman in a mans field.” This Tiktok trend circled the world for a hot minute, mostly as a joke. Although when you truly consider the meaning behind it, your eyes open. What started as a genuine laugh has allowed me to ponder on women who work in male dominant areas of agriculture. Those gals who are saddling up in the early mornings, driving tractors for hours on end, or even the ones welding in the July heat. It makes me wonder, could their mental health potentially be significantly poorer than a males?
I have now worked for two different cutting horse trainers in the position of a “loper” (you will most likely hear/read a lot about my experiences as a loper in the future). This job is not for the weak! Waking up way earlier than everyone else just to try and please the trainer and make their job as easy as possible, can be quite mentally draining. Despite my personal struggles, I have met some of the most amazing people within this industry. Most of these individuals are other female lopers who let me lean on them throughout tough times, and I let them lean on me as well. I do not work with them anymore; however, we do call often to stay caught up, and I would consider them some of my best friends.
Okay… I know you are sick of this rant on friendship, and you are probably thinking “Get to the point lady”. A few weeks ago, one specific gal I worked with gave me a call to catch up on life. This girl works for a rope horse trainer and we were simply just giggling about some of the random things that happen in the ranch world, but then she got serious with me. She said “I have been struggling with the fact that I work with men only. It is not that I can’t handle working with them, but they genuinely have an advantage and it makes me have to work ten times harder for less opportunity.” Listen to me when I tell you this gal is NOT afraid of hard work and long hours, but putting in so much effort and knowing you cannot get back near as much as the men do can be stressful. I am not going to say that she does not get opportunity, because she does. I am going to say that it is a lot harder for her to prove herself.
That was just a simple example of a conversation, but I even put a survey out on my social media accounts asking the outside world what their challenges may have been. One response in particular struck my attention, I never would have thought that being a women in Ag would prevent you from the work you truly want. By that statement, obviously without females we would not have agriculture, but some of their known duties affect their ability to go work in more money efficient areas. This goes especially to the ladies out there being the soul source of income for their family, and not being able to find fair pay as a woman for what their time is truly worth. This takes a strike on mental health and can cause serious thoughts of self doubt.
Finding respect as a woman in agriculture can be difficult, life altering, and yet so rewarding. Despite all of the challenges there are several fierce women out there making a mark and blazing trails. Do not let the times of doubt affect your drive to continue trying. Without those who fight for what they want, we would not be anywhere near where we are today as a society. It is because of both men and women who dedicate their all to production, that we can live in this world with more ease to our minds. Therefore, do not be afraid to be a cowboy lady, it has more meaning than you would think.
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