Farm He Had a Wife Ontario Farm

¶ … Farm He Had a Wife

Ontario Farm Women and Feminism, 1900-1970"

Monda Halpern

When we read a book that raises important issues, we suddenly find ourselves in the company of a more knowledgeable and learned partner who challenges our pre-conceived notions and urges us to think a little more deeply. This is exactly how I felt while reading Monda Halpern's And On That Farm He Had a Wife- a book about Ontario farmwomen who have popularly been categorized as indifferent souls who were largely uninterested in the feminist movement.

Historians have mostly discussed them with hidden contempt or indifference as if accusing them of passivity and inactive participation which some believed negatively affected the feminist cause. The book has been written to counter such allegation as Halpern maintains that historians didn't do justice to the role of Ontario farmwomen because they "either avoided the subject of Ontario farm women and feminism or quickly dismissed the connection" (p. 3).

Halpern emerges as a responsible detail-oriented historian with the mission to refute some negative observations made but historians about the role of farmwomen in feminist movement. She believes that contrary to popular belief, farmwomen were highly progressive females who advocated 'social feminism' instead of 'equity feminism'. Halpern define both terms in the best way she could but many readers like myself would still remain rather confused as to how the too terms differed in practice. Their meaning is absolutely clear in theory but whether they were really distinct in practice is one question that largely remains unanswered throughput the book.

Social feminism, in her view, is a form of feminism, which propagates the notion that women are given unequal treatment because of gender bias existing in the society and not because of biological differences. Equity feminism, on the other hand, is the less aggressive variant of feminism as it advocates greater equality within existing male-dominated social structure. Halpern believes Ontario farmwomen were social feminist who "sought for women to remake, not simply fit into" existing social structures (p. 12).

Halpern has paid careful attention to documentation of women activities before and after they won the right to vote. To finally get the right to be considered "persons" was certainly a huge achievement for women but this was not their final destination. Most women continued working for various causes even after this monumental victory. Halpern devotes a whole chapter to political and social activities of women after voting right but her argument is based around the accuracy of historians' claim that these activities were feminist in nature.

The author seems to agree with other historians who maintain that all women activities can be categorized as feminist activities. She doesn't appear to acknowledge that there exists some difference, however minute, between feminist movement and women movement. While all activities geared at empowerment of females can be termed feminist in nature, the technical definition of feminist activities doesn't acknowledge this similarity. Feminism demands that all activities undertaken in its name should be categorically defined as feminist activities instead of women activities. Halpern doesn't clearly indicate her stance on the subject but presents the conflict clearly and lets her readers decide whether women and feminist movements were the same things.

In the book, we come across a detailed discussion on the home economics movement and how Ontario farmwomen played an important role in its success. Home economics movements began much before the First World War and gave women a formal chance to come together and express themselves. Since farmwomen had always been active in home-related activities, home economics movement wasn't something alarmingly unfamiliar to them and they readily embraced it. For the first time in their lives, they got an opportunity to highlight the significance of their household responsibilities.

Home economics movement played a crucial role in the feminist movement that emerged later. It was the first movement of its kind and focused on empowerment of women. Their feelings, their problems and their issues received validation in the home economics movement. It was basically a women-centered and women-oriented movement that paid close attention to women issues including the ones that most political and social activists would ignore. Prior to home economics movement, there was no platform available to women where they could voice their opinions on the largely neglected issues like household duties, unpaid labor, lack of educational facilities etc.

But Halpern vaguely suggests that home economics movement could be categorized as feminist movement. However this is not a valid argument because HE movement focused on providing women with female-centered employment so they wouldn't have to compete with men in male-dominated fields. Feminist movement is essentially connected with re-creation of social structures, something that home economics movement didn't endorse.

The author goes on to make a case about Women's Institutes and farmwomen being feminist but fails to focus on the nature of feminism that these institutes advocated and Ontario farmwomen supported. This kind of feminism was grounded in the theory of women being nurturers. However this was essentially an anti-feminist theory in disguise. Halpern fails to notice the distinction between feminism of WI's and real feminism of modern world.

By failing to address and explore the true nature of the form of feminism endorsed by farmwomen, Halpern risks her credibility as an expert on the issue. She has focused largely on explaining social feminism and how Ontario farmwomen upheld its values. But this approach to the issue fails to bring forth some other related problems that plagued the lives of farm women. The author should have focused more on political beliefs of farm women as this would have helped in measuring the extent of their role in feminist movement.