Why do you think this was the case?

1. What was the role of women throughout the late 19th century and early 20th century? Why do you think this was the case?

2. This presentation will include the following: • Society’s expectation of women and why these were the expectations. • The lack of control women had in their very own lives and why this was the case. • The influence women had in society and whythis was crucial to the development of Australia.

3. Society’s expectation of women and why. • In a typical household, the man was the provider and the woman was the care-taker. of the home and children. • The expected occupations of woman were motherhood/wifehood. • ‘spinster’ was used as a derogatory term for women who could not find a husband. • A lot of women who did work were seen as ‘stealing’ the jobs from men. • Women’s wages were much lower than men. In 1928, the average male wage was £10 40s (shilling) a day whereas the average female wage was £8 80s. • Occupations for women included work that was seen to require no intellectual or muscular need such as waitresses, schoolteachers, secretaries or seamstresses and these would generally be unmarried women. • These women who did work were seen as ‘immoral’ by the rest of the community. • Upper class women would employ people to take care of domestic duties so they could socialize in the community, the socialization was the norm and expectation of these women. Poorer women were forced to work as well as take care of domestic duties. This was the case because women were seen as beneath males in every way apart from domestic duties. Even the women who did not follow the norm and held jobs were seen as immoral and wrong because the workforce was not a place for women, only the household was. The typical day for an upper-class woman was to interact within the community and socialize with other women to show the fact that they did not need to work or take care of domestic duties because they came from a wealthy family or were married to a wealthy man. Much more was asked of the poorer women because they were not given equal opportunities that were available to wealthier women, so where there was a hierarchy when it came to males and females, there was also one within the sector of women.

4. A typical wedding of the 1920’s and an event any ‘respectable’ woman would encounter in her life.

5. The lack of control women had in their own lives and why? • An unmarried woman could own property, make a contract, or sue and be sued whereas a married woman, defined as being one with her husband, gave up her name, and virtually all her property came under her husband's control. • It was not until 1902, that most women were allowed to vote in both federal and state elections of a country that they had to live in and abide by the laws of. • Even though the role of women was to care for the children, they were still not seen as the legal guardian of the child and in the very uncommon case of divorce, the man was always given full custody of the child. • If a married woman committed a crime, it was there husband that took the responsibility because he could not ‘control’ her, although he was not charged with the crime, society still placed the blame upon him. Even abortions who were committed by women were blamed (socially) entirely on the male that impregnated the woman. Women had a lack of control in their own lives because of society’s patriarchal order and social expectations. If a woman was married, she became one with her husband and lost what little rights she had to begin with. The fact that they could not vote in a country where they had to live demonstrates how little women’s opinions were valued. It was evident that women needed a man to tame, or control her through the use of the law that man took responsibility for crime because it was seen that women were not able to control themselves or intelligent enough to commit the crime without the assistance of a partner.

6. 4 women at Palm Beach in the 1920’s.

7. The influence women had in society and why. • As Australia prepared for war more jobs became available for women and it sparked a revelation that women could actually perform jobs that were not expected from them. • It is said that this new revelation was a contributor to the motivation for the feminist movements of the 1940’s/1950’s. • The suffrage was the first feminist wave and was prevalent in America, Australia, NZ and England. • The Australian Women's Suffrage Society was formed in 1889. The aims of the society were to obtain the same rights for women as were possessed by male voters. • The Society argued for equal justice, equal privileges in marriage and divorce, rights to property and the custody of children in divorce. • As more and more women stood for the fact that they were not seen as equals in the law, the stronger the fight for equal rights was. Upon the males return from war, there was little hostility felt towards the women for ‘stealing’ their jobs as the country embraced the fact that women could indeed work in a male dominated workforce which was a completely new way of life and changed the country entirely. The Australian Women’s Suffrage were extremely successful in their missions as they obtained the right for women to vote in 1910 and no doubt, helped women in the present day receive equal rights and opportunities.

8. The first leaflet produced for the Australian Women’s Suffrage.

9. Bibliography Books: Struggle Town by Janet McCalmanPublished 1984Hyland House Publishing • Websites:- http://www.skwirk.com.au/p-c_s-14_u-114_t-306_c-1035/wealthy/nsw/wealthy/australia-between-the-wars-1930s/varying-experience-of-a-group-in-the-1930s • http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/22711 • http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-suffragettes • http://www.abc.net.au/ola/citizen/women/women-power.htm • http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/1301.0Feature%20Article52001?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=1301.0&issue=2001&num=&view= Museums:Richmond Historical Society Old Melbourne Gaol