Furrowed brows as farmers’ social club rejects call to admit women
Society is a safe space for men to discuss mental health in industry blighted by suicide, members argue
LISA EDWARDS wanted to be one of the Lads: a member of the Liverpool Agricultural Discussion Society, an all-male group for farmers that meets monthly for dinner and to listen to a talk.
Instead, she has found herself at the centre of a sexism row which has pitted her and other female farmers against their male colleagues over entry to the 94-year-old society.
The group argues that all-male spaces are important because men need a safe space to discuss their mental health, particularly in an industry where loneliness, stress and financial problems can trigger depression.
Mrs Edwards, however ,views the policy as “discriminatory” and “outdated”, saying female farmers were being denied valuable networking opportunities.
Mrs Edwards, 53, and her husband Simon, 56, suggested to the group that it allowed female members and guests, after realising that if they had had daughters instead of sons, their children would have been barred from going to meetings with their father. However, the Lads voted against their proposal.
“If they want to run a farm they should have equal opportunities. They shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their sex,” says Mrs Edwards, who farms 900 acres of cereal crops and potatoes in Merseyside.
“Networking is so important, especially at the start of your career, and we wanted to make sure women coming into the industry would have that opportunity to network with other young farmers.”
She argues that while the rules might have made sense when the group was founded in 1928, in 2022 women are far more common in agriculture – her son’s cohort at farming college was divided 50/50 between men and women.
Mrs Edwards and her husband recommended two ways that the group could rewrite its 100-year-old rules: either women could become full members, or they could attend the dinners as guests.
But the proposals were defeated in a landslide, with 90 per cent of members voting to block female members.
“We thought they would vote to have women at least as guests, as a compromise,” says Mrs Edwards. “I didn’t expect it to be 90 per cent against.”
She expressed her dismay at the Lads vote on Twitter, leading to the backlash.
“I’m a little confused by all this,” replied Olly Harrison, a 41-year-old member, who farms cereal crops on the other side of Liverpool. “No one is protesting the @WomensInstitute.”
He says that single-sex environments can have a subtle effect on the group dynamics. Given no one can bring a female partner, members tend to come to the group on an even footing, no matter whether they are widowed, divorced or happily married.
“You can go to those meetings and not feel lonely [if you’re single],” he says, explaining that the group felt like a retreat to him when he split up with his partner of six years.
He also argues that women are barred for good reason. Despite the fact that its title suggests it is an “agricultural discussion society”, Lads is an important
‘Do they stop talking about their feelings when the waitress is in the room?’
group where men can meet for mutual emotional support.
“There are conversations that are different between men and women,” he says. “Men take their lives more than women, and in farming it’s even worse. To take away a space to chat is wrong.”
If it were called “Liverpool male farmers emotional support”, Harrison says, then men would feel too sheepish to come – but by getting together under the pretence of farming, the group can help men by stealth.
Mrs Edwards questions this line of argument. “There are waitresses and women guest speakers,” she says. “Do they stop talking about their feelings when the waitress is in the room?”
Plus, having a wider pool of potential members could be beneficial for the society – Harrison estimates that the average age of men in the group is 60, with each meeting usually including a minute’s silence for the latest member who has died.
“They will integrate or decline, sadly,” says Mrs Edwards.
Then there are the 10 per cent of Lads members who didn’t vote against the proposal. Mark O’Hanlan, 59, has been a member for 20 years, and says he can see the issue from both sides.
“It is a frightening time. We are often isolated. I work on my own and I can go weeks without seeing anyone apart from my close family,” he says.
“You don’t know if it is just you feeling like this, but the society allows you to share these issues with other blokes.”
“Who knows, in the fullness of time things might change,” he adds. “I’m sure they will.”