Turning Women Farmers into Housewives

Abstract

Helene Albers’ study of women farmers in the early 20th century is based on interviews, historical sources, and a wealth of previously-forgotten contemporary research. Albers has scrutinized an incredible range of literature dealing with recent history, ranging from historical studies about local mentalities to sociological and agrarian-sociological studies. The result of her impressive research shows that women farmers in particular have been the victims of agrarian re-structuring. With the emergence of modern agriculture, women farmers became systematically marginalised, finally losing their independence on the farms as farms became subdivided. In pre-industrial agriculture, women farmers ran their own farms, and were able to make a living as farmers. It was only between 1920 and 1960 that the women farmers in Westfalen-Lippe lost their independence due to agricultural reforms. The founding of vocational agricultural schools for farm girls after the end of WWII only represented the final step in a series of steps that had aimed to turn farm women into rural housewives and consumers. Once women were no longer able to gain a living of their own by engaging in farming, they turned their backs to living and working on a farm. After all, why should a young woman want to become a homemaker out in the middle of nowhere? Albers’ research was conducted (and financed) as part of a larger regional-historical research project (“Society in Westphalia, Continuity and Change from 1930 to 1960”). Therefore, Albers was not able to include an analysis of any post-1960 developments in farming—much to the regret of the reviewer!