1 WHAT DID THE WOMENS MOVEMENT DO OTHER THAN BURN THEIR BRAS?

Jude Conways talk to the Older Womens Network in Newcastle for the celebration of International Womens Day (IWD) 7th March 2013

When told I was researching the womens movement in Newcastle, I was asked by a doctor in her late 30s, without a dash of humour: what did the womens movement do other than burn their bras? I told her a few achievements off the top of my head and from that day started making a list.

There has probably always been some form of womens activism bubbling away but I will discuss the outcomes of the womens movement that boiled over in the late 1960s.

Pre 1970 what was life like for women? A time when clichs such as its a mans world, education is wasted on girls, a womans place is in the home were indicative of the attitudes of the day. In 1939 an English medical committee considered whether or not women should have pain relief during childbirth. The male members the majority - decided no, as pain might be necessary to produce a mothers love for her child. The 2 females were in favour of pain relief. Unmarried pregnant girls had to leave home and hide for the birth, and were usually forced to adopt their baby. De facto relationships were not legally binding - a woman could have lived with a partner for years and receive nothing from his inheritance - as happened in Sweden to the 30-year partner of the late Stieg Larsson who wrote the Girl with the Dragon tattoo trilogy. The enormous profits from the trilogy have gone to Larssons father and brother - and I thought Sweden was progressive. Illegitimate children were socially, legally, religiously and financially stigmatised. Domestic Violence was considered a private matter, the police did not want to become involved unless the woman was nearly dead or dead. Women were paid 75% of the male wage in most jobs, earlier in the century it was 54%. Males 16 and over could apply for crown land but a female had to be at least 18. I know who I think is more mature at 16. I could go on and on.

2 So what did the womens movement do about these and all the other issues? Was there bra burning? In 1968 US womens libbers organised a protest against the Miss America beauty contest and planned to set alight bras and girdles. A New York Times story was headed Bra-burners and Miss America even though the protestors never got around to the burning. Feminists have been labelled bra-burners ever since The fact that many women did stop wearing bras in the 70s & 80s probably kept the urban myth alive, and I have been told of occasional bra burnings around the world.

What did the womens movement actually do? Organised groups; private and public meetings, meetings and more meetings; letters, phone calls and visits to politicians and the media; networked; organised conferences and seminars; held demonstrations and marches e.g. International Womens Day; participated in other marches e.g. May Day; fundraising; stalls at a range of events; wrote petitions and collected signatures; designed & printed posters, flyers, cartoons, badges, t-shirts, placards and banners; distributed feminist literature; wrote articles and submissions; put out newsletters, newspapers, magazines and journals; wrote books; donated feminist books to libraries; made films; wrote and performed plays; produced radio shows I used to love the ABC radios feminist Coming Out Show on Saturday afternoons which started in 1975. The ABC Chairman commented in 1979 that a lot of people dont like the program but they gave the girls a go.

What has changed because of the womens movement? Legal changes In 1968 a working class woman named Mary Gaudron studied hard and became a barrister in Sydney. She was trying to buy a room in the barristers chambers but the others all men - refused. She was told its nothing personal, its just because youre a woman. Mary Gaudron would speak about the law at feminist conferences and had the honour to be the first woman appointed to the High Court of Australia in 1987. Female law students increased from minimal numbers in 1970 to the majority. Female magistrates and judges have increased from nil to 30%. Australia-wide 20% of practising barristers are women but Newcastle barrister Cathy Henry informed us at the 2011 IWD dinner that in Newcastle of about 60 active barristers only 3 are women. There are 3 women out of seven judges on the High Court now.

3 The second woman appointed to the High Court in 2009, Virginia Bell, was a member of the radical Feminist Legal Action Group in Sydney in the 70s and 80s which lobbied on issues like women in prison for killing violent husbands. Consequently in 1982 the NSW criminal code was amended to recognise that provocation could build up over a number of years as in domestic violence (DV).

First refuge for women and children escaping DV, was set up in Sydney in 1972 by WL group. Legal reform on domestic violence in New South Wales in 1983 included: a range of offences to constitute domestic violence; protection orders where there is actual violence or a reasonable fear of violence; making the onus of proof the 'balance of probabilities'; extension of the protection order to cover children; making a breach of the order a criminal offence and automatic grounds for arrest, and importantly encouraging the laying of charges by police, rather than placing the responsibility onto the victim.

Other changes that were lobbied for: De facto relationships legally recognised by the new Whitlam government in 1972 With the start of the supporting mothers benefit in 1973 and more liberal attitudes unmarried girls could keep their babies. Adoptive mothers can now find out details of adopted children and vice versa. The Family law Bill in 1975 made it easier to obtain a divorce and custody of children to be in their best interests. Previously a woman applying for custody of her children could be considered unsuitable as a parent if she wanted to work or was a lesbian. The law now allow womens contribution as homemakers to be considered in property settlements in divorces.

Campaigning led to the abolition in the 1970s of: compulsory virginity-testing of girls charged for any reason by the Children's Court; the charge of 'exposure to moral danger'

and to the closure of the maximum security children's prison at Hay where punishment for rebellious girls was shaved heads, solitary confinement and daily humiliation.

A Journalist wrote in the Daily Mirror in 1975 Lie back and enjoy this film of a raped woman who goes to court for justice and gets humiliation.

4 Sexual assault changes The law used to focus on the victims prior sexual conduct not the event. A womens past sexual history is now deemed irrelevant. If a woman does not promptly complain of rape there is no longer an assumption at law that she was not raped at all. Law has been reformed to define what is NOT consent e.g. submitting to sex because of force or fear of violence is no longer considered consent and Judges can no longer get away with saying, as one Oz judge did when he found the rapist not guilty, that a young woman who hitchhiked and got raped was asking for it. Rape victims can now give testimony in court out of sight of the rapist. Police now trained in treating rape victims [need for improvement]; looked after by a female police officer where possible. Rape no longer legal in marriage In 1976 South Australia was the first state to introduce this in the English-speaking world, other states/countries followed. Because rape is no longer brushed under the carpet men are now more confident about coming forward to report sexual assault by teachers, priests, scout leaders Widespread rape in war was classified by the United Nations as a crime against humanity in 2001. Australian feminists marched on Anzac day against rape in war in the late 1970s and 1980s and Australian women lawyers were involved in writing the UN classification.

Sex Discrimination Act Using the 1977 NSW Sex Discrimination Act pilot Deborah Wardley fought for the right to fly Ansett planes and won in 1981. Planning to ratify the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women in 1983 prime Minister Bob Hawke was accused of handing over the power of making our laws to an international committee chaired by oh no - a Russian; and that employers would be forced to give jobs to women less qualified than male applicants.

The consequent federal Sex Discrimination Act was so controversial it was introduced into the parliament in 1984 as a private members bill by ALP senator and feminist Susan Ryan. Some of the areas it would cover were: Employment; registered organisations; education; accommodation; clubs; and superannuation.

5 Before it was passed a Tasmanian Senator said: ''men, by nature, are more likely to be leaders, providers and protectors. You can legislate all you like but you can't change ''nature''. Another Tasmanian politician told the House that the people who supported the legislation were likely the same ones who campaigned to save the whales and were anti-nuclear, pro-abortion, anti the flag and anti the dam.

After the bill was passed women were allowed to keep working when they got married or pregnant: paid and unpaid maternity leave is widely available, plus limited paternity leave - Paid parental leave up to 18 weeks for primary carer now.

Equal Pay Women campaigned for decades for equal pay. One protest I particularly like is when a group of women in Melbourne in 1970 (including Zelda dAprano) would only pay 75% of the tram fare because they only received 75% of the male wage

Whitlams government brought in equal pay for equal work and extended the adult minimum wage to women in 1972.

Employment In 1973 Melbournes tram drivers blocked efforts by conductresses to become trainee drivers by threatening stop work meetings. The union secretary warned if women are allowed to drive trams then the jobs of ticket examiner and inspector would be open to them! After much activism women gained the right to drive trams in 1975.

When a woman was first elected to the Victorian State Public Service Federation in the 1970s she was hissed and booed by male delegates every time she got up to speak. She was a hardy creature and in future decades was elected president.

Trade Unions dont try to keep women out of mens jobs anymore hopefully. Women can now rise to senior positions in trade unions in 1996 Jennie George became the first woman president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

6 There are practically no areas of the workforce from which women are now barred, plus men can be check-out chicks and nurses etc. The first male accepted to do nursing training at Royal Newcastle Hospital was in 1975 in the new era of equality. Everyone he met assumed he was gay. He wasnt.

Quirky employment examples NSW Public Service teaching manual for job of receptionist: Looking feminine is an essential part of the job of being a delectable creature of charm and magnetism Only withdrawn in 1978. Police women no longer asked for rostering purposes when they have their periods Women allowed to wear trousers/slacks at work In Queensland 18 year old males were permitted to operate a lift, females had to be 21 until 1972.

Ill finish Employment with a quiz. In 1976 the forerunner to the EU, told a particular member country that it had not yet implemented the agreed sex equality legislation. So that government advertised for an equal pay officer - offering 2 pay scales: a higher one for men and lower one for women. They received bags of indignant mail from all over Europe. Which country?i

Health changes The womens movement challenged many old-fashioned practices in health care. For example when having a hysterectomy a doctor no longer removes a womans ovaries unless agreed before operation. One woman joined the womens movement after having a painful miscarriage and her specialist choosing to only discuss it with her husband and ignoring her in the hospital ward.

Family planning finally became available to unmarried people in the 1970s and the 22.5% luxury tax was removed from the pill in 1973.

Pregnancy/Childbirth changes Pain relief was available for women when I had my son in 1969 at Western Suburbs Maternity Hospital but my husband was sent out to the waiting room when I was automatically shaved and snipped in case of tearing, he was only allowed back in after I had our son. Women started demanded a lot more options with midwives and birthing suites and homebirths and participation of the babys father in the process.

7 When Australian expert on raising boys Steve Bidulph was a newborn in Yorkshire in 1953, his father took him out in the pram for a walk. People were scowling and pointing at him and kids began calling out ''Your dad's your mum''. Steves father was a shy man and found it all too much - he headed home.

Men now join in ante-natal classes and stay with women in hospital while they are having the baby, push prams, be seen holding, feeding & changing babies, even raise children on their own.

Abortion changes Pre 1970 abortions were illegal but carried out frequently under the auspices of corrupt police. In the early 1970s abortion was decriminalised by test cases, then by legislation. The Whitlam government made the termination of a pregnancy a Medibank funded item and feminists set up counselling and referral centres. Could women breathe a sigh of relief no more deaths or infections from backyard operators? No, they couldnt relax, because frequent parliamentary threats to the legality, availability and funding of abortion have entailed constant lobbying to retain those rights.

Financial changes Single women are now eligible to get bank loans and home mortgages. Married womens income taken into account for bank loans. Wives no longer need their husbands signature for Hire Purchase. From 1979 a womens superannuation goes to her dependents if she dies. Divorced womens indirect contribution to ex-husbands super acknowledged in family law settlement. There is national superannuation now, rather than having to work at least 10 years in the same job which makes it easier for women who go in and out of the workforce.

All of the issues I have been discussing were campaigned and lobbied for.

Political changes In 1972 there were no women members of the House of Representatives. The womens movement many inspired women to stand for political office: now 30% in federal parliament are women and we have our first female prime minister though the criticism she has received has been far worse than any male politician would receive Anne Summers has labelled it as misogyny - hatred of women.

In local government the first woman ever elected as a mayor in Australia was Joy Cummings in Newcastle in 1974. She was a very popular mayor but she by her third term she was also receiving vicious insults from her opposition.

Remember Virginia Chadwick from Newcastle? She was a member of Womens Electoral Lobby. When she told a senior Liberal parliamentarian in 1975 she wanted to enter state parliament, she was told to go home and forget it as she was the wrong age, the wrong sex and from the wrong place. She was however elected a Liberal NSW Member of the Legislative Council in 1978 and in 1981 became first female Opposition Whip in the parliament. When the Greiner Coalition government was elected in 1988 she became first NSW Liberal woman to be a minister at federal or state level.

Newcastle has never just been the stereotyped mans town.

Education Gender equity in schools is considered a major initiative of 1970s and 1980s feminism: Girls staying on till year 12 at school at a higher rate than boys Wider range of subjects available to girls - like technics, and boys - like cooking Caning of boys was stopped in 1985 because of Equal Opportunity legislation Females going to university now higher than males The Rhodes scholarship, the most prestigious in Australia, commenced in 1904. Eligibility extended to women in 1977.

Sport changes Girls allowed to be ball boys at Wimbledon from 1977, later in Australia. Women allowed to be Surf lifesaving patrol members from 1980. Women now participate in football and boxing and go to gymnasiums. Police Boys Clubs changed their name to Police and Community Youth Centres (PCYCs). Women allowed to run a marathon and compete in shooting events in the Olympic Games for the first time in 1984. Football award ceremonies women invited for first time in Perth in 1981. A Sports columnist wrote The presence of women will destroy the spirit of comradeship that prevailed.

9 Remember how women were not welcome in public bars in hotels. I visited the bar of the Premier hotel in Broadmeadow in 1975 with a male friend and was asked to leave. Thats not that long ago.

What about Clubs? A Sydney alderman said in 1979 that it was natural that women should dine separately from men and only be associate members of clubs. The Newcastle Workers Club was reasonably progressive and allowed women to be full members in the 1960s. They even had a female member of their large board of directors in 1974. She was visiting Broken Hill and had a letter of introduction to the Barrier Social Democratic Club but when she tried to enter the bar she was roughly escorted to the footpath with a club employee at each elbow.

I was a staff member at the BHP computer centre from 1979-1982. The BHP Staff Recreation Club in Mayfield only allowed female staff to be signed in during certain hours. About 1981 they decided to vote on whether women should be members. I remember some of the mens objections we wont be able to swear, my wife will get jealous The yes vote won. After the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 public clubs had to admit women.

Service clubs: women allowed to be members of Rotary in the 1980s, Lions in 1986 and Apex not until the late 1990s.

Newcastles Gentlemens Club only allowed women to become members in 2002 entirely without rancour and almost unanimously the Newcastle Club website brays.

The Newcastle Club is adjacent to our beautiful Anglican cathedral. Youll love this: A report on women ministers to Melbourne Anglican synod in 1975 said: although a womans qualifications and ability may be undoubted, because she is not a man, her ministry must be more of the nature of a sheepdog rather than a shepherd.

Now we have women ministers and priests in Uniting churches and some Anglican churches in Australia. I went to the first Newcastle ordination of women priests in the Anglican cathedral in 1992. But Sydney Anglican church is still in the dark ages re women, and although women no longer have to promise to love honour and OBEY when they get married in church, in Sydney Anglican churches they promise to submit.

10 While Im discussing church ceremonies - David McNicoll wrote in the Bulletin in June 1978 that he was against women attending funerals. What the?? Did the men just want to get pissed on their own? That view would be laughable these days.

Prior to 1979 all cyclones had female names because of the clichd view that females caused trouble. Well maybe they were right. Women can cause trouble when they are determined.

To prove Im non-sexist Ill let a man sum up: Hugh McKay, Australias foremost commentator on our social mores, believes the influence of the womens movement changed the sharing of household dutiesii, child rearing, intimate relationships and mens identities as breadwinners, and that the changes are permanent.

None of the changes Ive mentioned were handed to women on a plate. All came about by activism and lobbying by the womens movement and women who believed in a just world, or emerged out of the consequent changed views about womens role in society. The changes have been felt unevenly by women in our country, in many cases not felt at all, or by women in less developed countries of the world.

There is still of course work to be done many jobs performed by women are still lowly paid, the number of reported sexual assaults where the perpetrator is not brought to court or not found guilty is still too high. DV is still widespread. In less developed countries women still have to battle to get educated. I could again go on and on.

There is no magic wand as my Timorese friends would say a luta continua the struggle continues.

i ii

Ireland. He did not say 50/50.