New research shows rural women are creating their own podcasts… Kirsten Diprose argues it's ironically driven by traditional rural inequality. Masu.
I've worked in mainstream media for nearly 20 years, and it's always been strange to me that in a predominantly female workplace, there are men in senior management positions and generally higher salaries.
Even in terms of who was featured in the news, there was a lot of male content. It continues to this day, with women being quoted in only 30 percent of news articles and men accounting for 59 percent of new article bylines.
But in rural areas, an interesting phenomenon is occurring using digital technology and independent media. Women are increasingly creating magazines, podcasts, online girlfriend communities, and other ways to connect and communicate.
And what's interesting is that for once, women have the upper hand. Women have historically been largely invisible and excluded from senior leadership positions in rural Australia. In fact, until 1994, Australian women could not even list their legal status as farmers.
Indeed, a lot has changed since then. However, the traditional division of agricultural labor, in which men work on the farm and women take care of the housework and books, still persists, and this has left women with either “part-time farmers” or lower-ranking positions in the business. This is why they tend to be seen as partners.
But there is one area where women have a significant advantage.
In general, rural women are much better than men when it comes to technology. This depends on her two main factors:
1) As a woman in charge of bookkeeping, I had to keep up with digital bookkeeping and tax filing.
2) The farmer wants a wife. Yes, TV shows contribute only a small amount to the statistics. However, it is mainly women who marry into farming, as only 10 percent of women inherit farms. When doing so, they often bring their corporate career skills and digital know-how with them.
So what we end up with is a bunch of marketing professionals, journalists (like me), business managers who are all saying, “This might be a little lonely out here, find some country women like me.'' “Shouldn't we have a connection?” '
A recent study by Dr. Maria Rey and I published in the Journal of Radio and Audio found that rural women are increasingly producing their own podcasts.
Most of the female podcasters we interviewed, whom we termed “bush podcasters,” started podcasting because they wanted to find rural women they could relate to.
for example, countryside compass The podcast will “help rural businesswomen feel less isolated and know they are not alone in their journey.”
After starting her podcast of the same name, Steph Tretheway founded Motherland, a national charity and online rural mothers' group. This year she was named the 2024 Tasmanian Australian of the Year.
“It is the heart of our community and motherhood has helped other women across the land feel less alone.”
Raising the voices of rural women is a key driver for many female 'bush podpreneurs'.Kimberly Furness, host A friend of mine and she makes the news The podcast wanted to rebalance a male-dominated space.
It's like, “Well, what should I do?'' [podcasting] I guarantee our voices are there,” she said.
I started a podcast. duck in the pondBecause I just wanted to hear some life and business advice related to how I live my life (i.e. I live an hour away from the city and my “ice bath buddy” woke me up at 4 a.m.) (I've stopped telling them to go to the gym) I have two young kids to go to school and a husband who is a farmer and leaves home at 6am! )
So before you picture a country woman baking scones on the kitchen stove, you should probably picture her recording a podcast in her home studio. She's changing her stereotypes… episode by episode.
Listen to the Duck Pond Podcast Episode: Becoming a Podpreneur in the Bush – How 6 Country Podcasters Built an Audio Empire
