Rural feminism, err, what's that?

[LiveFastDieOld2]

I don't think I have ever heard the word feminism spoken in my rural backwater. We seem to be stuck in the Middle Ages with little potential for change. Virtually all the money and assets (very much not the same thing BTW in farming) are controlled by men with zero interest in giving up male control.

I am the only girl in my immediate friendship group who will inherit the family farm! All around me its going to be an older brother or a younger brother who will gain control of the farm. All my friends will get will be a few, sometimes a very few, tens of thousands of pounds in cash while the sons will inherit hundreds of thousands or even millions of pounds of assets.

How much publicity does this injustice receive? Almost none!

Another problem is the extreme isolation of many girls in rural areas. If I'm working on Home Farm the only ladies I will see in a day will be my Mother, my younger sister and the two grooms. Once a month when I'm off seeing the tenant farmers it is slightly better because it is the Farmers' Wives that usually do the paperwork. The sons usually go the Fathers to market once a week, the daughters seldom if ever go.

How can the feminist movement move forward against this background.

Thank goodness for your foster parents FF.

It wasn't Mike's death or supporting me that was top of FIL and MIL's "to do" list. It was what was going to happen to the farm! Various male members of the extended family ganged up on me even before the funeral to urge me to sign away what Mike had left me. In the end somebody from my last foster family stayed with me pretty much 24/7 to keep them away. The best offer Mike's parents came up with would have given me £200 per week and one room in exchange for 1/3 of the farm.

"Various male members of the extended family ganged up on me even before the funeral to urge me to sign away what Mike had left me"

So they knew full well the value of what you were entitled to and also a bedsit apartment - with restrictions - was an insulting exchange.

I am glad it is working out for you although it sounds as if you still have issues regarding your In-laws in your home, and on your property.

FightingFarmer I will I could say that I was shocked or surprised at your sad story. But I'm not because it seems to prove the point that several of us have made in this thread that the farming system is never biased against men but quite often is biased against ladies.

I hope you are still getting good legal and family advice and support!

My MIL and FIL will not move out of my house claiming they have nowhere else to stay. My MIL and FIL will not pay rent for living in my house claiming they have no money either, despite buying a new tractor recently. My MIL and FIL continue to use my farm buildings without payment claiming they have nowhere else to store machinery or house livestock. My MIL and FIL continue to arrange deliveries to a property that they don't own, accessed via a track they don't own, to be stored in buildings they don't own and paid for using money they claim not to have.
(Summary of a recent letter from my solicitor to them)

I'm sorry to hear you are going through this.

We, of course, do not not know what your full family history or current relationship is like with them, however, you may consider something along the lines of an Occupation Order.

You could repost in MN Legal and ask your solicitor for further information.

I wish you luck.

Can I ask a question to those posters who have defended the currently predominant system by saying "You can't break up the farm" - what happens when a family has, say, two, three or even four sons, all who take an equal interest in the farm? Presumably then the parents see the inequity of only leaving to one son?

But if they have three sons and one daughter, it's OK to exclude the daughter?

Marking place to read later :-)

Parakeet. Most of the locals don't find the idea of leaving virtually everything to one son and almost nothing to the rest strange. Even fewer would even think of making make equal provision for any daughters. That's why so many daughters see education as the way they will escape - why the should I work for years if X (fill in the brother's name) is going to get the lot. A degree or A levels will give me my own money and my own life.
As I said a while ago it is like living in the middle ages. My blog will explain it better frequencyofblogs.blogspot.co.uk