So the NY Times has a feature about women farmers up online. I read it because I, too, am a woman. And I like farms. (And because it’s been slow at work this week. I’ve been reading anything.)
The article…left something to be desired. Do you think a journalist would use the following sentence when talking about a male farmer? “[She] flits effortlessly between trimming vines and fixing the tractor, a farmer at heart.” Um, wouldn’t the fact that she’s trimming vines and FIXING A TRACTOR make her a farmer in actual PRACTICE, too? Seriously, “flits”? Come on.
And get this sentence from the intro:
“Whether raising heritage livestock, combing the woods for exotic morsels or coaxing delicacies from the ground, these women forge new bonds between field and table, strengthening the connection between things we love to eat and the stewardship that makes them possible.”
Awww, who knew farming was so nurturing? And did you know WOMEN are good at NURTURING and these are LADY FARMERS we’re talking about? God.
I would expect this from, well, a women’s magazine (with a little sidebar about “Get The Farming Look!” telling us to buy an Hermes headscarf); but not from a newspaper. Farming is hard work. I bet any of these little ladies could have told the reporter that.