NELSON NELSON MODERNHISTORY MODERNHISTORY NELSON MODERNHISTORY WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS Nelson Cengage has developed this series Age of Imperialism for Australian senior secondary students of Australia 1918–1950s WOMEN’S Modern History. The series includes titles China and Revolution that encompass the period from the 18th century to the contemporary world and Civil Rights in the United States of America they explore the social, cultural and political Decolonisation developments that shape the 21st century. MOVEMENTS Germany 1918–1945 Written by experienced educators and India experts in their fields, each book builds on Recognition and Rights of Indigenous Peoples a narrative framework to incorporate recent research and historiography, primary and Russia and the Soviet Union secondary sources, and learning activities. The American Revolution These key features combine to support the The Changing World Order development of historical knowledge and The Enlightenment understanding and historical skills that will enable students to interpret and reflect on The French Revolution the experience and developments that have The Industrial Revolution created the world in which they live. The Struggle for Peace in the Middle East United States of America 1917–1945 Women’s Movements Women’s Movements In 1891, a petition calling for women to have equal voting rights with men was presented to the parliament of Victoria. Named the Monster Petition because of its size, it included signatures of approximately 30 000 women and was roughly 260 metres long. The signatures were gathered by members of the Victorian Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the Victorian Women’s GALBALLY Suffrage Society. While Victorian women did not get the vote until 1908, the petition is an important reminder of the campaigns for women’s suffrage. The Monster Petition is now held by the Public Record Office Victoria. Petitions were also used by the women’s suffrage movements in other Australian colonies, New Zealand, the United States and Great Britain. ISBN: 978-0170244022 Vida Goldstein (1869–1949) A prominent Victorian campaigner for women’s rights, Vida Goldstein’s first involvement with the suffrage movement MARYELLEN GALBALLY was to gather signatures for the Monster Petition. SERIES EDITOR: TONY TAYLOR Read more about Vida Goldstein in Chapter 1. 9 780170 244022 For learning solutions, visit cengage.com.au womens_sb_44022_cvr_gatefold_finalart.indd 1-4 20/10/14 10:08 AM Women ought to have representatives, instead of being arbitrarily governed without any direct share allowed them in the deliberations of government. Eric Hobsbawm Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States 9780170244022 iii CONTENTS About the series iv Series editor acknowledgements vi Author acknowledgements vii 001 Introduction 090 CHAPTER 4 Rising militancy, surveillance and victory 1907–1928 008 CHAPTER 1 The woman question 116 CHAPTER 5 New opportunities: The Second World 038 CHAPTER 2 War and beyond Citizen mothers 140 CHAPTER 6 068 CHAPTER 3 A new militancy The rising tide: How British women fought for the right to vote 172 Conclusion Index 177 9780170244022 ABOUT THE SERIES Using Women’s Movements Women’s Movements has been developed especially for senior secondary students of History and is part of the Nelson Modern History series. Each book in the series is based on the understanding that History is an interpretive study of the past by which you also come to better appreciate the making of the modern world. Developing understandings of the past and present in senior History extends on the skills you learnt in earlier years. As senior students you will use historical skills, including research, evaluation, synthesis, analysis and communication, and the historical concepts, such as evidence, continuity and change, cause and effect, significance, empathy, perspectives and contestability, to understand and interpret societies from the past. The activities and tasks in Women’s Movements have been written to ensure that you develop the skills and attributes you need in senior History subjects. KEY FIGURES AND ORGANISATIONS, KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS, KEY DOCUMENTS feature brief biographies, profiles, definitions and summaries of key documents as a ready reference for learning and revision. INQUIRY ILLUSTRATED TIMELINE QUESTIONS is a bird’s-eye view of the topic are listed at and summarises the major the start of the developments of the period. chapter. These questions provide a focus for you as you read each chapter. CHAPTER INTRODUCTIONS provide a context to the issues that are addressed. SOURCE STUDIES of visual and text primary sources and secondary literature appear frequently through the text and are combined with questions and SIGNIFICANT INDIVIDUALS activities to aid your evaluation are biographical profiles and assessments and interpretation of evidence of key historical figures and frequently from the past. include questions and activities. 9780170244022 v 158 The formation of gender identity In consciousness-raising groups, women told stories that highlighted experiences of how they were brought up as girls in their families – how, as Simone de Beauvoir had said, ‘One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman’. They analysed their upbringing, the custom of women changing their family name to their husband’s, and of putting girls in pink and boys in blue. They discussed the fact that some school subjects were identified as being for girls and others (such as science and mathematics) were seen as being boys’ subjects. They also discussed the fact that occupations such as secretary, teacher and nurse were considered as being for women, while those of doctor, lawyer and tradesperson were for men. Girls were often encouraged to be teachers because they would be at home with the children after school and on school holidays. In the selection of children’s toys they noted that there was a clear divide between the sexes. Other methods used by the WLM to draw the public’s attention included choosing one day in INFORMATIONa year to march or to celebrate a cause. One example BOXES was the adoption of the International HISTORIAN BOXES DIAGRAMS AND Women’s Day (IWD) march. In 1978, a march called ‘Reclaim the Night’ was established to raise awarenesscontain of and protest extended against violence against discussions women. This march started inof America as ‘Take introduce key historians and schools TALKING SOURCES Back the Night’ in 1975 and was adopted by Belgium in 1976. In Australia, a ‘Reclaim the Night’ march was held in Sydney and Perth in 1978, followed by Melbourne in 1979. keySocial activism events, was always a conceptscentral part of the WLM. and Women historicalacted to provide assistance of interpretation as a way of making are used to visually summarise where the government had not and where there was a need. Rape crisis centres, childcare centres, halfwaydevelopments. houses and refuges for women wereMany established alsoin each state, include organised by collectives historiography clearer. complex ideas and events. of questionswomen. and activities. Some of the rights women lacked in the 1970s + Married women had no right to credit. + Women had no right to equal pay. + Women had no right to continue to work in the Commonwealth public service or as teachers when they married. + Abortion was illegal. + Spousal rape was not a crime. 9780170244022 WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS CHAPTER SUMMARY AND CHAPTER REVIEW ACTIVITIES conclude each chapter. They include a brief precis of the topic, suggestions for further reading, and a range of learning activities that consolidate knowledge and understanding of the chapter’s content. These tasks incorporate a range of historical understandings and skills. THE CONCLUSION summarises the topic and includes a series of activities to consolidate your knowledge of it. More importantly, these final tasks will help you build an understanding and interpretation of this period in history. Beyond this book The Nelson Modern History series includes numerous titles on a range of topics covered in senior History courses around Australia. For further information about the series visit: www.nelsonsecondary.com.au. 9780170244022 Getty Images/De Agostini Picture Library 1 9780170244022 KEY FIGURES AND ORGANISATIONS ZELDA D’APRANO EDITH COWAN VIDA GOLDSTEIN (1928–) (1861–1932) (1869–1949) D’Aprano was an Australian unionist A social activist and reformer elected Goldstein was a key figure in campaigns and women’s liberationist. As a in 1921 to the Western Australian for women’s suffrage in Victoria from staunch advocate for equal pay she parliament. Cowan was the first 1890 when she gathered signatures for a chained herself to the Commonwealth woman to be elected to an Australian petition to the Victorian parliament. She Building in Melbourne as a protest. parliament. She was responsible for stood for election five times. At her first She founded the Women’s Action introducing The Women’s Legal Status attempt, in 1903, she won 51 497 votes. Committee, whose members Act that allowed women to become She was the first woman to stand for protested by paying 75 per cent of a lawyers. parliament in the British Empire. tram fare because they were only paid 75 per cent of a male wage. SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR DAME MILLICENT GARRETT GERMAINE GREER (1908–1986) FAWCETT (1847–1929) (1939–) Simone de Beauvoir was a French A feminist and suffragist, Fawcett Australian Germaine Greer is of feminist whose book The Second led the largest suffragist society in The Female Eunuch, an international Sex analysed the history of women’s Great Britain – the National Union of best seller that created an enormous oppression and argued that girls’ Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) – controversy when published in 1970. lives were shaped by their culture. from 1897 to 1919. Under her Greer argued that women’s liberation She rejected any ideas about women leadership membership rose to was based on sexual liberation, and being born with particular attributes. 50 000 before the First World War. that by being repressed sexually The book caused much debate when She believed in long-term change by through marriage and a consumerist published in English in 1953.