The Rural Voice, 1983-06, Page 66RURAL LIVING
Farm women and Stress
by Gisele Ireland
Stress plays a significant role in the
life of farm women.
The definition of stress is as varied as
the kind of reasons that cause it. It is a
feeling, a state of mind, that is difficult
to explain and even more difficult to
diagnose.
Stress can be good; it urges you to
accomplish things that might otherwise
take longer without the added impetus.
From planting until the harvest is done,
meals and chores take top priority and if
you can't schedule them properly, you in-
convenience everyone else's progress.
Stress makes you perform with enthu-
siasm and purpose. Good stress is a
combination of high demands on your-
self coupled with a high degree of satis-
faction and personal control over your
objective.
There is another kind of stress which is
potentially harmful, short term stress.
This type of stress allows you to accom-
plish the seemingly impossible for a
short period of time. This type of stress
accelerates the heart beat, pumping
blood at a faster rate to brain and
muscles and allows you to function at
maximum levels for short periods of
time.
The survey conducted by the Con-
cerned Farm Women dealt at length with
what women deemed stressful in their
lives and the possible causes.
When women were unable to pay their
interest on loans, they had a strong
concern for the safety of their children.
These women felt their children under 16
years of age were not trained adequately
!o run some of the farm machinery. Since
they were unable to pay their interest it
would seem that insufficient funds would
not allow the hiring of help to do this
work and children were on equipment
they were not safely trained to handle.
The perception of safety for their children
was even more marked in the group of
women who deemed that they would lose
all or part of their farm in 1982.
Anger was felt by women unable to pay
their loan interest. The levels of anger
increased along with the levels of interest
paid since 1979. When anger was
compared to the type of farm the woman
was on, it was found that hog farm wives
had an increased level of anger and dairy
farm wives had a lower incidence of
anger perception.
The incidence of physical abuse in-
creased and use of alcohol increased but
anger levels were stable when the woman
or her spouse worked off the farm to
supplement the income.
Women who did not have an off farm
job felt more frustrated. Some were
raising families or were involved in an
intensive livestock operation. Others
could not find employment. Frustration
increased if the spouse had an off -farm
job and the woman was unable to
perform the chores required of her.
Communication between the couple
was affected when they were unable to
pay their interest. Half the couples com-
municated more with each other and the
other half communicated less. The
conversation between the communicat-
ing couples would be of an encouraging
nature rather than a blaming attitude and
the couples that talked less could
perhaps be ignoring the whole problem in
the hope that it will go away or be
reluctant to discuss something for which
they had no solutions.
When women were asked to rate how
they felt about their personal appear-
ance, the woman that was confident in
her contribution on the farm was also
confident in how she looked. She was
also very conscious of her appearance if
her husband was at home working with
her. Her regard for personal appearance
decreased when she felt her farm
financial situation was not favourable.
Women tended to cry more frequently
if their husbands worked off the farm.
This could possibly be attributed to the
fact they were left to handle things that
they had little knowledge about.
Depression was highest in the younger
women. As the age increased, the
depression level decreased. The depres-
sion perception was highest in those
women who felt they were unable to meet
their interest payments.
What is often perceived as the most
important bond in a marriage, the
physical closeness between spouses was
also affected unfavourably.
As the ability to pay their interest
decreased, the rate of sexual responses
increased. It would seem that spouses
comforted each other physically more
frequently when things were rocky than
when things were going great.
The ability to meet their financial
obligations seemed to affect farm women
greatly. Their sense of security was
threatened, and was manifested in anger,
frustration, crying, and depression. L7
The information in the above article was
taken from the survey results conducted
in 1982 by the concerned farm women.
The same results will be published in
book form in the future.
Don't go through Blyth
without stopping at
Yvonne's for
Homemade
Hamburgers
Milkshakes
Ice Cream Cones
Take -Out Dinners
(Also tables inside)
Hours: 7:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Mon. to Fri.
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
on Sat.
11:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
on Sunday
Yvonne's Take -Out
At the Sunoco Station,
in the centre of Blyth,
east side of Highway 4.
Winthrop
General Store
Open Monday -Friday till 9 p.m.
Saturday till 6 p.m.
Grocery and Hardware
Propane for vehicles
and cylinders
CEDAR POSTS
FENCE SUPPLIES
45 Gal. Steel Barrels
-Gas-
DOUG & GAIL SCHROEDER
527-1247
THE RURAL VOICE, JUNE 1983 PG 65