The Butcher's Wife by Mara Klein

In Germany, butchery is still a male- dominated line of work, not least for the physical strength the job requires. Ulrike is one of the youngest female butchers in Germany. She initially wanted to be a police woman, but was 2cm too short for the job. Her second choice was the work her grandfather had already held before her. The images were taken in the butchery school where she trains young butchers in the making. I spend a lot of time watching her work and train young butchers, mostly male, mostly with little other job perspectives. During this time, what initially started out as a quest to explore the position of women in butchery is transforming into a more wider question on how manual professions such as butchery will change in the future, and how the work ethos and striving for “glamorous“ jobs and status has changed the interest in butchery as a serious profession.

commended at the Sony World Photography Awards 2018, category Portrait.

My mother was a saleswoman in ...n to the young people I teach.

My mother was a saleswoman in my family's butchery, which is women's traditional place within the business. But as soon as I started training, I knew - I wanted more. I started as an apprenctice and ended up studying to be a butcher and a master butcher at the same, something which has never been done before, especially not by a woman. The butchery association was shocked, to say the least. I was simply eager to learn. And this is what I want to pass on to the young people I teach.

Sure, it's a very male...butchers in Germany.

Sure, it's a very male dominated industry. We're 20 female butchers in Germany.

Initially, the men don&rsq...nfront him directly.

Initially, the men don’t take me seriously. I always pick the one with the biggest mouth, and confront him directly.

Many of the boys are lazy, don...ay. It's called skill.

Many of the boys are lazy, don’t want to carry a pig – it’s heavy. But then they look at me – “she doesn’t have strong upper arms, so there must be another way!” Sure, I say. It's called skill.

I’m one of the few f...cally demanding job.

I’m one of the few female butchers in Germany. But women are on the rise in the industry – machines make it less of a physically demanding job.

I see a tendency in the young ...ack the inner drive.

I see a tendency in the young people to become more and more disrespectful, lazy, unmotivated. In life, not just at the job. Why? Society’s doing too well. They feel too safe. They become butchers, because they can’t get anything else.

They’re not dealing with themselves; always looking at what others are doing, they’re just distracting themselves, have no goal. They’re not thinking farther than today or tomorrow. They never have to take responsibility. They’re being exploited, and then here at school they rebel. They lack the inner drive.

What I've learnt on th...er people’s opinion.

What I've learnt on the job? Not to care about other people’s opinion.

mara klein

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