Renate Howe

Single mothers and their children : disposal, punishment and survival in Australia

1. Introduction: To have an unlicensed child 2.The mothers: a perfectly nice girl - an ordinary girl, perhaps your own daughter 3. Breaking the news: what are you going to do about it? 4. Pregnancy and confinement: medicos, midwives and morals 5. Death: very army of murderesses within our midst 6. Separation: now put this thing that has happened to you away, forget about it, get on with the rest of your life 7. Surviving: you must maintain your own 8. Illegitimacy: to punish the innocent child 9. Empowerment and resistance: speaking out publicly.

New Residents—New City. The Role of Urban Activists in the Transformation of Inner City Melbourne

This study of inner suburban residents’ associations in Melbourne in the 1960s and 1970s examines the role of social activism in shaping Australias urban dynamics. It argues that the focus on gentrification as an all-embracing explanatory concept in urban studies in Australia and elsewhere has detracted attention from the importance of structural change especially the de-industrialisation of the inner suburbs and the influence of urban activists and residents’ associations in this period. The article concludes that insufficient analysis of social and economic change and the limited recognition of the importance of diverse communities continue to limit inclusive policy responses to urban reconstruction in Australia.

Commentary on Stanesby et al. (2018): The importance of social change and trends in understanding increases in women's drinking in post-WWII Australia

Alcohol consumption increased in many countries during the post-WorldWar II period, particularly those with a history of a Temperance movement. In their paper, Stanesby et al. [1] explored sex and birth cohort-specific trends in alcohol consumption during this period, based on a sample of Melbournians born between 1920 and 1949. They found that the relative increase in consumption was far greater amongwomen thanmen, particularly higher for the younger cohort, those born in the 1940s, than those born in the 1920s or 1930s. In this Commentary, we offer some explanation for women’s increasing alcohol consumption during the post-WWII period in Victoria, and particularly Melbourne. Throughout recent history, attitudes towards alcohol have been influenced by Temperance movements and religious organizations. Methodism and the Temperance movement were particularly strong in Melbourne. While exerting significant influence on Melbourne’s licensing laws in the early 20th century, their influence declined from the late-1960s. Australia has experienced steady declines in middle-class church attendance and a softening of anti-alcohol sentiments among Methodists. From the 1970s, census reporting of ‘no religion’ increased and the gap between the sexes lessened and steadied [2]. These changes in religiosity meant that the drinking patterns of adult women were drawing closer to those of adult men. Changes in class and income during this time spread drinking behaviour up the class system and moderation down it. Women’s participation in the labour force has nearly doubled since the early 1960s [3]. Women born in the 1940–49 cohort were much more likely to be employed in the mid-1960s, their early adulthood, than those born in the 1920s and 1930s [3], and alongside the increased economic independence of Australian women came disposable income to spend on leisure, and leisure itself was linked to alcohol. These trends were reflected in the United States, where Schmidt [4] documents increasing consumption and experiences of alcohol-related harms among women as they gained economic independence from the 1970s. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a younger generation of well-educated women challenged the sex-segregation of the public bar as an obvious symbol of discrimination against women connected to the larger issues of unequal pay, women’s lower wages and unequal access to employment, particularly for married women. As Kirkby & Luckins [5] note: ‘these mainly middle-class women did not endorse the separatist drinking culture of the mainly working-class women in the ladies’ lounge; they were not concerned with the conditions of pubs or questions about their own respectability. They demanded equality with men, either as a political point or a given of their generation’ ([5], p. 84). In Victoria, hotel trading to 10 p.m. became possible from 1966, ending the notorious 6 o’clock swill. With this, the public bar became far less segregated, and women participated increasingly in public drinking occasions [6]. These and other social changes in Victoria, such as mass post-WWII migration, help to explain Stanesby’s finding about the changing patterns in women’s drinking patterns. These changes have important implications for alcohol consumption and it is important that quantitative epidemiological research take account of broader socio-cultural trends.

Book review : Challenging women: towards equality in the Parliament of Victoria

Challenging Women is a comprehensive study of the experience of women members elected to the Parliament of Victoria since 1972.Challenging Women is a comprehensive study of the experience of women members elected to the Parliament of Victoria since 1972. The book is an important contribution to the centenary of women’s suffrage in Victoria and to broader debates on the impact of women’s political involvement. The interviews with members of the Women’s Electoral Lobby (WEL) and eleven women members of the Victorian Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council*five Labor Party and five Liberal Party members and one from the National Party*provide important insights into the experiences of two cohorts of pioneering women members. The book identifies the importance of WEL in the politicisation of women, especially the surveys and interviews on women’s issues conducted by members before the 1972 Federal election. At that time there was only one woman member of the Victorian parliament. By 2008 there were forty women members and women had held the office of Speaker in the Legislative Assembly and President in the Legislative Council. Women had been appointed to a range of ministerial positions following the appointment of Pauline Toner as minister in the Cain Labor government. In 1990, Joan Kirner became Premier of Victoria. Unsurprisingly, the first cohort of women members found the ingrained male culture an enormous barrier to their participation. The Legislative Council, the historic centre of opposition to women’s suffrage, proved especially challenging. The staff, the parliamentary procedures, the portraits, the lack of facilities for families, the hours of sitting, the atmosphere of the dining room and Members’ Bar, were all constant reminders of a powerful male institution. The male culture of political parties was another challenge for women members especially the pre-selection process controlled by party machines and factions. Despite the dominant position of women in the Liberal Party organisation and the increased numbers of women leaders in the union movement and the Labor Party, women were largely unsuccessful in obtaining preselection for the safest seats. Factions in the parliamentary parties also controlled the distribution of ministerial positions. Women were generally assigned ‘women’s issues’ portfolios and the appointment of Jan Wade to the position of Attorney General in the Kennett government was a major breakthrough. Challenging Women reveals significant differences between Labor Party women and Liberal and National party women on strategic issues. Liberal Party women emphasised persuasion, education and mentoring for aspiring women candidates and were critical of affirmative action strategies. However, the phasing in from 1994 of the Labor Party’s Affirmative Action strategy and the inauguration in 1996 of Emily’s List to assist with fund raising and mentoring of women candidates have been effective in increasing the number of Labor Party women members. While celebrating these advances, the centenary gatherings revealed disillusionment at the limited achievements of women parliamentarians on women’s issues. The interviews reveal political differences on this issue with Liberal Party women arguing that legislation should be judged on policy merits rather than solely from a woman’s perspective. Interviewees recalled occasions when women within the same party were themselves divided on legislation affecting women. Madeline Grey concludes that gender identity does not override political identity, especially in Australia where party discipline is tightly enforced. However, women can come together across party lines when there is an open vote not subject to party discipline. It is also

Digging people up for coal: a history of Yallourn / Meredith Fletcher

Domestic Service in Australia. By B.W. Higman. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002. Pp. xiii + 358.

Saving the child and punishing the mother: Single mothers and the state 1912–1942

49.95 cloth. Our Bodies, Our Babies: The Forgotten Womens Movement. By Kerreen M. Reiger. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2001. Pp. 335.

Protestantism, social christianity and the ecology of Melbourne, 1890–1900

38.95 paper. The Cultivation of Whiteness: Science, Health and Racial Destiny in Australia. By Warwick Anderson. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002. Pp. xi + 352.

The Australian Student Christian Movement and Women's Activism in the Asia-Pacific Region, 1890s–1920s

34.95 paper. Invisible Invaders: Smallpox and Other Diseases in Aboriginal Australia, 1780–1880. By Judy Campbell. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002. Pp. 266.

The spirit of Melbourne: 1960s urban activism in inner-city Melbourne

49.95 paper. Pila Nguru: The Spinifex People. By Scott Cane. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2002. Pp. 260.

Protecting Asia's urban heritage: the way forward

45.00 paper. We Won the Victory: Aborigines and Outsiders on the North‐West Coast of the Kimberley. By Ian Crawford. Fremantle: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 2001. Pp. 336.