Nicola Young: Two different styles shared same aim

DYNAMIC DUO: Rachel Stewart and Michele A'Court (pictured) made their mark on International Women's Day.

Gutsy, intelligent and fearless - those are the words I'm using to describe one of the two women I heard speak on International Women's Day earlier this week.

Columnist Rachel Stewart is a former Whanganui Federated Farmers president but now challenges the traditional Kiwi approach to farming, particularly the intensification of dairy.

Rachel is someone I've admired for her pull-no-punches style, backed up with solid facts and figures. She was a fantastic guest speaker at this month's Green Drinks, talking about her experience of being "trolled".

Trolling is a term for online bullying but in Rachel's case, it's been of a higher order - rape threats and death threats, dead possums in her mailbox, and other extreme and unbalanced criticism.

She admits she doesn't pull any punches with her writing but that's not a justification for responses that are sexualised rather than taking her up on the facts.

Outspoken men still get insulted, of course. Rachel highlighted the label Massey University's Dr Mike Joy was branded with when he raised concerns about New Zealand's 100% Pure slogan being undermined by the reality of our river health - he was called an "economic terrorist", as if economic treason was the worst insult a man could wear.

Later on International Women's Day, I had the pleasure of another honest, intelligent and this time extremely humorous woman - Kiwi comedian Michele A'Court.

As part of La Fiesta, Michele performed her Stuff I Forgot to Tell My Daughter to a packed audience of all ages who laughed until they cried.

My favourite part was the pleasant surprise that a good portion of Michele's show was a history of feminism - it was brilliantly sharp and educational. She answered the question: "Do we still need feminism?" with the statement that when men are equally asked: "Can you have a career and a family?", then maybe feminism has done its job.

As someone attempting to have a career and a family, I agree. I've had a few people suggest to me over the years that any more demanding aspirations I am entertaining should be curtailed until my children are older.

What age is old enough? When will my children no longer need me? Do I have to retire my personal dreams because I've become a mother?

Don't get me wrong, I find parenting and working fulltime tiring, without accounting for the other things I try to fit in.

But I want working mums to be supported to contribute beyond raising children. What is the alternative? Are we saying if you're a woman with children, there's no place for you in senior roles, in politics, in making decisions - get back in the kitchen?

Seeing two different yet effective styles of discussing women in society on International Women's Day was a treat. Sometimes using humour is really powerful and other times it's necessary to be confronting to bring attention to the critical issues.

But when it comes to the current consultation on our freshwater standards, I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. What does a standard of "wadeable" for our rivers rather than "swimmable" even mean? Is it a sick joke?

Check out Radio New Zealand for interviews with everyday New Zealanders concerned about the Government's proposed bottom line for rivers. The worst part about it is that we are already below a swimmable standard for more than 60 per cent of our rivers, based on Niwa reports.

If we want swimmable, we're going to have to change.

And if Rachel's direct approach isn't bringing change fast enough, maybe Michele might consider doing comedy about our rivers?

-Nicola Young has worked in government and private sectors in Australia and New Zealand, and now works in Whanganui for a national charitable foundation. Educated at Wanganui Girls' College, she has a science degree and is the mother of two boys.