A few days ago, I shared a post on reddit about AI art depicting women in rural Bangladesh. Today I want to share my own experience of living in rural Australia for over 4 years.
Firstly, a note about demographics. In Sydney, depending on the neighborhood, you can walk around all day and never meet a white person. However, rural Australia is predominantly white.
The second thing I noticed since day one - women work literally everywhere, not just in specific industries. I worked at a petrol station for a few years and we have always had women drive huge fuel-delivery trucks and single-handedly manage the plumbing to load fuel into our tanks. It’s not uncommon to see women work in road construction too. I used to see them operate drill machines and drive forklifts to clear up rubbish. If you ever visit a hardware store here, you’ll find women showing customers how to operate chainsaws, lawnmowers etc.
Thirdly, even in family-run businesses like farms and workshops, its the women who manage all the financial matters. Men typically handle the grunt work while the wife or daughter handles everything from customer service, cash handling to applying for bank loans.
Lastly, women in rural Australia, are amazingly fit. Most school-going girls play football and netball or take up swimming and surfing. This continues well into their adulthood. You’ll find mothers going on long bicycle rides or challenging mountain-hikes along with their children.
Moral of the story: If anyone tries to tell you what women can’t do, they are full of crap.
