LADY-HUSBANDS AND KAMP LADIES PRE-1970 LESBIAN LIFE IN AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND by Alison J. Laurie A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Women’s Studies Victoria University of Wellington 2003 Abstract This study explores pre-1970 lesbian life and lives in Aotearoa/New Zealand before the impact of women’s and gay liberation and lesbian-feminism, using written sources and oral histories. The thesis argues that before 1970 most women could make lesbianism the organising principle of their lives only through the strategies of discretion and silence. Despite apparent censorship, many classical, religious, legal, medical and fictional discourses on lesbianism informed New Zealand opinion, as regulation of this material was one thing, but enforcement another, and most English language material was available here. These discourses functioned as cautionary tales, warning women of the consequences of disclosure, while at the same time alerting them to lesbian possibilities. Though lesbian sexual acts were not criminalised in New Zealand, lesbianism was contained, regulated and controlled through a variety of mechanisms including the fear of forced medical treatment, social exclusion and disgrace, as well as the loss of employment, housing and family relationships. Class and race affected these outcomes, and this study concludes that learning how to read a wide variety of lesbian lives is essential to furthering research into lesbian histories in New Zealand. The study examined pre-1970 published and unpublished writing suggesting lesbian experiences by selected New Zealand women, within a context informed by writing from contemporaries who have been identified as lesbian, and oral histories from pre-1970 self- identified lesbians.. Many of these women led secretive, often double lives, and of necessity deceived others through silence and omission, actual denial, or sham heterosexual marriages and engagements. The lies, secrecy and silence of self-censorship has often meant the deliberate destruction of written records such as letters or diaries, by women themselves, or later by family members and friends. The study concludes that the private lesbianism of most pre-1970 lesbian lives cannot be understood in isolation, and that scholars must move beyond the women’s necessary masquerades to place their lives into a lesbian context in order to recognize and understand them. Each life informs an understanding of the others and by considering them together the study provides a picture i of lesbianism in pre-1970 New Zealand, with the stories of the narrators illuminating the written experiences. Silences should not be mistaken for absences, or heterosexuality assumed for all pre-1970 New Zealand women. The stories of resistance and rebellion told by the self-identified lesbian narrators indicate that the women whose lesbian experiences are suggested by their writings similarly resisted societal expectations and prescriptions. Learning how to interpret and understand these materials is essential for moving beyond superficial and heterosexualised accounts of their lives. Towards the end of the period, influenced by other social changes, some lesbians in this study began to resist the need for caution and discretion, providing the basis for the liberation movements of the 1970s. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract i Table of contents iii Acknowledgments ix Preface x PART ONE: THE FRAMEWORK CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Purpose 1 Scope and limitations 5 Organisation 7 Use of the term lesbian 11 CHAPTER 2: THE LITERATURE Introduction 14 Identity 14 Private and public worlds: the closet and the community 20 Lesbian history 24 Romantic friendships and lesbian sex 28 Cross-dressers 33 Criminal cases 35 Lesbian oral history and auto/biography projects 36 Summary 39 CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY Perspectives 41 Insider status 42 Who is this research for? 43 Auto/biography and written sources 45 Oral history 48 Ethics and method 50 Researching the context 52 Arranging the material 54 Summary 55 iii PART TWO: THE CONTEXT Page CHAPTER 4: REGULATING LESBIANISM: THE MAD, THE BAD AND THE DANGEROUS Introduction 57 Early background 58 New Zealand 61 An attempt to criminalise lesbianism in England 63 Regulating lesbianism in New Zealand 65 -Committee of inquiry into Mental Defectives and Sexual Offenders, 1925 67 -The Mazengarb report 1954 68 Medical theories and containment of lesbianism 71 Medical ideas and treatments in New Zealand 79 Summary 85 CHAPTER 5: THE OVERSEAS STORIES Introduction 88 Availability of overseas material in New Zealand 89 Gossip 93 Classical accounts 94 Biblical stories, influences and interpretations 97 Fiction 99 Theatre, film and television 102 Feminist writing on lesbianism 104 Post -WW2 popular magazine articles 107 Summary 107 CHAPTER 6: THE NEW ZEALAND STORIES Introduction 109 More overseas influences 109 Sexuality and sex education 111 Theatre, performance and fiction 115 The news media 117 Summary 123 CHAPTER 7: PRE-1970 CONDITIONS OF EXISTENCE AFFECTING LESBIANS Introduction 125 Maori women 125 Urbanisation 127 Nineteenth-century women 128 Education 129 Work 131 iv Social class 136 Marriage 137 Single women 140 Housing 142 Access to credit 146 Transport and communications 147 Summary 148 CHAPTER 8: LESBIAN EXISTENCE Introduction 150 Overseas communities 151 New Zealand lesbian culture 155 Recognising others: dress and language 163 Summary 168 PART THREE: RE-TELLING THE WRITTEN STORIES CHAPTER 9: LESBIAN GLIMPSES Introduction 170 Glimpsing Maori women 170 Cross-dressing women 171 Mary Taylor (1817 −−−1893) 174 The Richmond women 176 Anna Elizabeth (Bessie) Jerome Spencer (1872 −−−1955) 180 Marjory (Nicholls)Hannah (1890 −−−1930) 185 Mabel Howard (1894 −−−1972) 186 Edith Marion Collier (1885 −−−1964) 188 Ella Gladys Plimmer (1888 −−−1958) 189 An Eastbourne friendship circle 189 Seeking contacts 191 Tombstones 193 Summary 193 CHAPTER 10: ARTISTS AND LOVERS − FRANCES MARY HODGKINS (1869 −−−1947) AND DOROTHY KATE RICHMOND (1861 −−−1935) Introduction and background 196 Stories about Frances Hodgkins 197 Friends 198 Lovers 199 Letters to Dorothy Richmond 202 Letters from Frances Hodgkins 205 CHAPTER 11: CONSORT AND MOTHER −−− MARY URSULA BETHELL (1874 −−−1945) AND HENRIETTA DOROTHEA "EFFIE' POLLEN (1879 −−−1934) Introduction and background 212 v Stories about Bethell and Pollen 214 Bethell and Pollen’s relationship 216 The maternal constituent 222 Kathleen Taylor and the encouragement of heterosexual marriage 224 CHAPTER 12: AN EXPATRIATE, HER LOVERS AND HER WIFE KATHERINE MANSFIELD (1888 −−−1923) Introduction and background 229 Stories about KM 230 KM’s relationships with Maata Mahupuku (1890 −−−1952) And Edith Kathleen Bendall (1879 −−−1986) 231 KM − expatriate 236 KM and J ohn Middleton Murry (1889 −−−1957) 241 KM and her wife LM − Ida Constance Baker (1888 −−−1978) 242 CHAPTER 13: FEMINIST ACTIVISTS AND THEIR LOVERS ELSIE ANDREWS (1888 −−−1948) AND MURIEL KIRTON (1893 −−−1980) Introduction and background 246 Stories about Andrews and Kirton 247 Andrews’ relationships 248 CHAPTER 14: PETER, A LESBIAN ELIZABETH ‘PETER’ DAWSON (1894 −−−1986) Introduction and background 259 Stories about Peter 260 A lesbian life 260 Peter Dawson and Janet Frame 264 CHAPTER 15: OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY OF PART THREE Introduction 269 Information on lesbianism 269 Lesbian communities and connections 272 Lesbian identity and terms 275 Lesbian relationships 277 Work, family and independence 279 Medical treatment and punishments 281 A room of one’s own 281 Private life, discretion and deception 282 Summary 285 vi PART FOUR: TELLING THE SPOKEN STORIES CHAPTER 16: GLIMPSES IN SOUND, GOSSIP, RUMOUR AND REPORTS Introduction 287 Gossip and rumour 288 Sound bites 291 CHAPTER 17: FREDA’S STORY − “It suited me, that life” FREDA STARK (1910 −−−1999) Introduction and background 297 Freda’s story 299 CHAPTER 18: BEA’S STORY −−− “It didn’t have a name…we just were” BEATRICE (BEA) ARTHUR (1915 −−−2002) Introduction and background 309 Bea’s version of Betty’s life 310 Bea’s story 311 Their relationship 312 CHAPTER 19: EMILY’S STORY −−− “I knew there must have been others” EMILY (1921 −−− ) Introduction and background 316 Emily’s story 316 CHAPTER 20: KATIE’S STORY −−− “That’s what I am then, I’m a lesbian!” KATIE HOGG (1926 −−− ) Introduction and background 322 Katie’s story 322 CHAPTER 21: FRANKIE’S STORY −−− “It was an in-the-dark thing: the old hormones just drive you wherever you need to go” FRANCES KINNEY (1938 −−−) Introduction and background 330 Frankie’s story 330 CHAPTER 22: BUBS’ STORY −−− “We were the town’s tomboys” RAUKURA (BUBS) HETET (1940 −−−1993) Introduction and background 338 Bubs’ story 338 vii CHAPTER 23: TIGHE’S STORY − “I knew when I was five that it wasn’t socially acceptable” URSULA (TIGHE) INSTONE (1940 −−−) Introduction and background 347 Tighe’s story 347 CHAPTER 24: MORRIGAN’S STORY −−− “It was really nice to recognise someone else from the secret society…sort of secret squirrelish” MORRIGAN SEVERS (1942 −−−) Introduction and background 355 Morrigan’s story 355 CHAPTER 25: OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY OF PART FOUR Introduction 362 Information on lesbianism 366 Lesbian relationships 370 Lesbian communities and connections 373 Lesbian identity and terms 376 Work, family and independence 380 Medical treatment and punishments 383 A room of one’s own 385 Private life 387 Summary 389 PART 5: THE ENDWORDS CHAPTER 26: THE CONCLUSIONS 391 BIBLIOGRAPHY 396 viii Acknowledgements