The kind of images that form in our minds when we think of a word have a significant social meaning.  When the average person thinks of the word farmer, the image of a man plowing a field and gazing hopelessly at the sky comes to mind.  This image does not reflect women farmers.  This means that the farmer is a man in the sense of the word to a majority of people, not a woman, which is contrary to reality.  Agriculture has a history dating back thousands of years, and women have a very important role to play in this. It would not exist without women, because agriculture was invented by women.