by Anne Summers
5 This precedent was followed up in 1992 when Paul Keating, then prime minister, introduced amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in the House of Representatives.
6 The research and its findings are referred to in more detail later in this chapter, and were described by Prime Minister Paul Keating in a speech launching the National Agenda for Women on 10 February 1993.
7 Following the 1992 congressional elections accompanying the presidential elections that saw Bill Clinton elected, and which occurred in what was widely dubbed ‘the year of the woman’, the numbers increased to 52 (five senators and 47 members of the House of Representatives), but American women are still a far smaller proportion of elected federal representatives than is the case in Australia where women made up 12.5 per cent of the federal parliament.
8 See ‘Special Report: How women will elect the next president’, Ms., April 1988, pp. 75–9.
9 ‘The Borking of Bill’, New Republic, 17 May, 1993, p. 7.
10 See Marcia Cohen, The Sisterhood: The inside story of the women’s movement and the leaders who made it happen, Fawcett Columbine, New York, 1989, pp. 310–11.
11 ibid. pp. 336–7.
12 See, for instance, the anthologies edited by Robin Morgan: Sisterhood Is Powerful, Vintage, New York, 1970, and Sisterhood Is Global, Anchor Books, New York, 1984.
13 ‘On the Road’, Ms., May/June 1993, p. l.
14 In 1991, during a Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing to review the suitability of Clarence Thomas to be appointed to the US Supreme Court, allegations were brought forth that he had many years before sexually harassed Anita Hill, another lawyer and a colleague at the Equal Opportunity Commission where they both worked at the time. Professor Hill’s and Mr Thomas’s testimony to the committee – where she outlined the allegations and he staunchly denied them – were televised live in the US and gave the issue of sexual harassment an instant national profile.
15 The Macquarie Dictionary, 1988 edition. The dictionary that sat by my side as I wrote this book, The Concise Oxford Dictionary, 1964, offered ‘advocacy, extended recognition, of the claims of women’ but no hint as to what those claims might be. Today it is standard for dictionaries to have a more precise definition. For instance Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1987, puts it this way: ‘1. the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. 2. organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests’.
16 I am indebted for this information to Gavin Souter, author of the two authoritative and prize-winning volumes of history of the media company John Fairfax Ltd. See Company of Heralds: A century and a half of Australian publishing by John Fairfax Limited and its predecessors 1831–1981, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1981, and Heralds and Angels: The house of Fairfax 1841–1990, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1991.
17 Chris Ronalds, the Sydney feminist barrister who drafted the legislation, noted in an article that the legislation ‘unfortunately became known as “the Sex Bill”.’ See Chris Ronalds, ‘Government action against employment discrimination’ in Watson, Playing the State, p. 108.
18 Cited in Chris Ronalds, Affirmative action and sex discrimination, 2nd edn, Pluto Press, Sydney, 1991, pp. 16–17.
19 The Australian Institute of Family Studies was established by the federal government in 1980 with a brief to conduct research on the factors affecting marital and family stability. While the reasons for setting up the institute were obviously ideological, reflecting the political views of the Fraser Government, it has taken a distinctly broad approach to its mandate to work ‘with the object of promoting the protection of the family as the natural and fundamental group unit in society’ and in fact studies all kinds of family situations.
20 Reported in Family Matters (Australian Institute of Family Studies Newsletter), no. 20, April 1988, p. 37.
21 See, for instance, Sophie Watson, Playing the State; Marian Sawer, Sisters in Suits:Women and public policy in Australia, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1990; Anna Yeatman, Bureaucrats, Technocrats, Femocrats, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 1990.
22 Lyndall Ryan ‘Feminism and the federal bureaucracy’, in Watson, Playing the State, p. 73.
23 ‘National Agenda for Women’, speech by the Prime Minister, the Hon. PJ Keating MP, Bankstown Town Hall, Sydney, 10 February 1993.
24 Dale Spender, ‘Next time, ask a woman’, Sydney Morning Herald, 16 March 1993.
25 According to Channel 9/AGB McNair Federal Election Exit Poll data, 54 per cent of women aged 25–39 voted Labor compared to 46 per cent of men in the same age group.
26 See Sophie Watson, ‘Feminist cultural production: the Tampax mafia, an interview with Chris Westwood of the Belvoir Street Theatre’, Watson, Playing the State, pp. 225–6.
27 See Dale Spender, The Writing or the Sex? or, Why You Don’t Have to Read Women’sWriting to Know It’s no Good, Pergamon Press, New York, 1989, for an example of this complaint.
28 Cited in Victoria Rogers, Cora V. Baldock & Denise Mulligan, ‘What difference does it make? Women in the visual and performing arts in Western Australia’, draft of a report commissioned by the Australia Council and the WA Department for the Arts, January 1993, p. 20.
29 Rogers, Baldock & Mulligan, p. 23.
30 Rogers, Baldock & Mulligan.
31 ‘National Agenda for Women: Implementation Report’, prepared by the Office of the Status of Women, Canberra, September 1992, p. 125.
32 National Agenda for Women, speech.
33 Half Way to Equal, Report of the Inquiry into Equal Opportunity and Equal Status forWomen in Australia by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, April 1992, p. 177.
34 Half Way to Equal, pp. 107–49.
35 Women, Sport and Sex Discrimination: Guidelines on the provisions of the SexDiscrimination Act 1984, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Sydney, August 1992.
36 ‘The Women’s View: Market research study on women’s perceptions of themselves and government programs and policies’, conducted for the Office of the Status of Women by Consumer Contact, July–August 1992, p. 25.
37 Ben Sandilands, ‘The heartland speaks. What we want, what we fear’, report of first Australian Social Monitor survey conducted by AMR: Quantum, Bulletin, 28 July 1992, pp. 40–4.
38 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, AGPS 1991–92 Budget Related Paper No. 5, Canberra, 1991, pp. 408–9. It is salient that OSW includes such drug reliance in its measuring of equality; it is included in general health and is one of 14 Gender Equality Indicators regularly monitored by the office. Others include women’s workforce participation, access to child care, earnings, access to superannuation, life expectancy, and so on.
39 Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth: How images of beauty are used against women, William Morrow, New York, 1991, p. 185.
40 Germaine Greer, The Change: Women, ageing and the menopause, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1991.
41 ‘National Agenda for Women: Implementation Report’, p. 220.
42 Half Way to Equal, p. 90.
43 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, p. 296.
44 Sheila Browne, ‘The Great Divide: How women lose out after divorce’, SydneyMorning Herald, 18 February 1993.
45 ‘The Great Divide’, p. 174.
46 ‘The Great Divide’, p. 174.
47 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, p. 174.
48 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’.
49 ‘Equal Pay: A background paper’, Department of Industrial Relations, Canberra, n.d. (c. 1991), p. 7.
50 See Just Rewards: A report of the inquiry into sex discrimination in overaward payments, AGPS, Canberra, 1992.
51 Just Rewards .
52 Peter Passell, ‘Women’s Work: The pay paradox’, New York Times, 25 March 1992.
53 These figures, and those applying to TAFE enrolments, come from ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, pp. 154–63. It should be noted that the r
apid rate in the increase of female enrolments in higher education since 1985 has been due in part to the gradual transfer of nurse education from hospitals to institutions of higher education and, of course, the vast majority of nurses still are women, but even when these students are excluded from the calculations, women make up more than 50 per cent of enrolments.
54 Shaping Structural Change: The role of women, report by a high-level group of experts to the Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Paris, 1991, p. 14.
55 Shaping Structural Change, p. 7.
56 Eva Cox & Helen Leonard, From Ummm … to Aha! Recognising women’s skills, a research project seeking to record how women perceive and value the skills they develop in unpaid community work, conducted under the Women’s Research and Employment Initiatives Program, Department of Employment, Education and Training, AGPS, Canberra, May 1991 p. 5.
57 Shaping Structural Change, p. 19.
58 Quentin Bryce, ‘Unfinished Business’, The Pamela Denoon Lecture, International Women’s Day 1992, Canberra, 9 March 1992.
59 ‘Sex discrimination legislation: A discussion paper’, prepared for the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs, for the Inquiry into Equal Opportunity and Equal Status for Australian Women, January 1992, p. 11; Annual Report 1990/91 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Canberra, AGPS, 1991, p. 183.
60 Cited in ‘Sex discrimination legislation’, p. 4.
61 Cited in ‘Sex discrimination legislation’, p. 15.
62 Half Way to Equal, p. 259.
63 Speech by the Prime Minister, the Hon. P. J. Keating MP to the Inaugural Forum of the Coalition of Australian Participating Organisations of Women (CAPOW!), Canberra, 19 September 1992.
64 See Half Way to Equal, pp. 211–80 for an informed discussion of some of these issues; see also Ronalds, Affirmative action.
65 See Affirmative Action Agency, Quality and Commitment: The Next Steps, The Final Report of the Effectiveness Review of the Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986, AGPS, Canberra, December 1992.
66 There were many ironies to my chairing this committee, as this was not an issue that I had given much thought to before having this job foisted on me and I had mixed feelings about how big a priority I should make it. My militancy on the issue increased in direct proportion to the amount of resistance I encountered from the armed forces; the military men on the committee insisted on coming to meetings in full military regalia and delighted in being obtuse and obstinate every inch of the way. For me, the ironies involved reached their delicious zenith when I found myself one day shouting at these khaki-clad gentlemen, arguing for the right of women to be cooks in the Army. (They had argued that cooking for troops was combat-related and thus had to be excluded!)
67 ‘Women’s Budget Program 1986–87: An assessment of the impact on women of the 1986–87 Budget’, Canberra, AGPS, 1986, p. 62; the quotas in effect before the enactment of the Act were 10 per cent maximum for the Air Force and Navy, and 5–6 per cent for the Army. See Elizabeth Harvey, ‘From Camp Follower to Commander: Women in the Australian Defence Force’, South Australian Labor Herald, Summer 1991.
68 Harvey. The author was on the staff of the Minister for Defence, Science and Personnel at the time of the decision.
69 Harvey.
70 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, p. 142.
71 ‘Women to serve in subs and fighters’, press release by the Minister for Defence, Science and Personnel, Gordon Bilney MP, 18 December 1992.
72 Reported in the Sunday Telegraph, 6 September 1993. After the police force, the highest levels of harassment occurred in the NSW Art Gallery, the ambulance service, the fire brigade and the Maritime Services Board.
73 Audrey Vanden Heuvel, When Roles Overlap: Workers with family responsibilities, Australian Institute of Family Studies for the Work and Family Unit, Department of Industrial Relations, Canberra, 1993, p. v.
74 Selected findings from ‘Juggling time: How Australians use family time’, Canberra, Office of the Status of Women, 1991, p. 5.
75 Adele Horin, ‘Dawn breaks on a modern miracle’, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 1992.
76 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, p. 221.
77 Ryan, in Watson, Playing the State, p. 77.
78 ‘Women’s Budget Statement 1991–92’, p. 221.
79 ‘The Triple A List’, Affirmative Action Agency, Initiatives recognised by the 1991 Portfolio Affirmative Action Awards, Sydney, 1991.
80 Vanden Heuvel, p. 49.
81 ‘The Women’s View’, p. 49.
82 Compiled from police department annual reports. Note that definitions of rape vary from state to state, and have changed over time, so the figures are indicative of an apparent trend rather than strictly comparable.
83 Cited in National Committee on Violence, Violence: Directions for Australia, Australian Institute of Criminology, Canberra, 1990, p. 30.
84 Violence: Directions for Australia, p. 30.
85 Reported in the Australian, 11 January 1993.
86 Examiner, 14 January 1993.
87 The charges and Justice Bollen’s original instructions to the jury are contained in Director of Public Prosecutions Reference no. of 199 pursuant to section 350(1 a) and section 351 of the Criminal Law Consolidation Act 1935, the reference to the Full Court which Justice Bollen signed on 4 January 1993.
88 Office of the Status of Women, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, ‘National Agenda for Women Mid-Term Implementation Report on the 1988–92 Five Year Action Plans’, August 1990, p. 87.
89 Dame Enid Lyons, the first woman elected to the House of Representatives (in 1943) was a member of federal Cabinet from 1949 to 1951 although she was not a minister, but it was not until 1966 that Senator Annabel Rankin became the first woman minister.
90 Unfortunately, both premiers were defeated in their subsequent elections, Kirner in 1992 and Lawrence in early 1993. Kirner resigned the leadership in March 1993; at the time of writing Lawrence was Leader of the Opposition in Western Australia.
91 Half Way to Equal, p. 164.
92 Rod Cameron, ‘Feminisation – the major emerging trend underlying future mass audience response’, address to the 11th National Convention of the Public Relations Institute of Australia, 19 October 1990.
93 Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1982.
Introduction [1975]
1 Dr Herbert Lockyer, RSL, The Women of the Bible, Pickering and Inglis, London, 1967, pp. 134–5.
2 Professor Kathleen Fitzpatrick, during presentation of the Victorian Women Graduates’ Association Memorial Screen, Melbourne University Gazette, 1958, p. 9.
3 HA Lindsay, ‘The World’s First Policewoman’, Quadrant, March 1959, p. 76.
4 Article by Kay, in Liberaction (Newsletter of Hobart Women’s Action Group), nos 21–22, January–February 1974.
5 Sheila Rowbotham, Woman’s Consciousness, Man’s World, Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1973, p. xiii.
1 A sexist culture
1 Donald Home, The Lucky Country, Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1965, p. 30.
2 Craig McGregor, Profile of Australia, Penguin Books, Melbourne, 1968, p. 351.
3 Elizabeth Harrower, The Long Prospect, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1966, p. 196.
4 Both Germaine Greer and Elizabeth Reid, adviser to the prime minister on women’s affairs, have been subjected to this kind of public speculation, the former because of her outspokenness on female sexuality, the latter because she revealed in a press interview that her daughter was cared for by her estranged husband. Both women have been viciously attacked, mainly by other women, in the correspondence columns of daily newspapers, in letters that have questioned the right of these women to even claim identification with the female sex. One letter signed by (Mrs) Elizabeth Foss, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, 16 April 1973, said: ‘I realized qui
te early on that it would be too much to hope that Mr Whitlam would choose a “normal sort of woman” more in tune with what women in this country really want to say, and was disillusioned that once more we have a neo-academic talking for us. Miss Reid is not talking for me now and probably never will. Will someone happily married, who has reared a family through thick and thin, please stand up and be counted’.
5 Ronald Conway, The Great Australian Stupor, Sun Books, Melbourne, 1971.
6 For instance, Eva Figes, Patriarchal Attitudes, Faber and Faber, London, 1970; Kate Millett, Sexual Politics, Rupert Hart Davis, London, 1971; HR Hays, The Dangerous Sex, Methuen, London, 1966.
7 Maslyn Williams, ‘Dilemmas of liberation’, Sydney Morning Herald, 5 May 1973 (review of Jay Gilbert, Boy Peace).
8 In another review, Thelma Forshaw forsook any sympathy for the double bind in which women find themselves when she wrote, ‘As a man wrote Madame Bovary (and Anna Karenina, twice mentioned in Nell Dunn’s novel), so I expect only a man will have the deep insight, detachment and large compassion to write the tragic novel of the twentieth century woman who is being devalued in her deepest being during her enforced transition into some other sex’. Sydney Morning Herald, 31 July 1971 (review of Nina Bawden, The Birds on the Trees and Nell Dunn, The Incurable).