“…However, for rural women, it has been an association that "has endured with little questioning or change" (Little and Austin, 1996, p. 103). Midgley (2006) observes that as rural restructuring continues, accompanied by changing socioeconomic relations and available opportunities, an increasing number of women are participating within the formal economy, both in the labour market and as entrepreneurs. "Women's lives and their actions are becoming more economically visible through work conducted into rural women's economic roles, based primarily on levels of formal and informal employment, and the negotiation of this within household strategies and community life (Whatmore, 1991;Little, 1997;Shortall, 2002;Bennett, 2004)."…”