Women’s LiberationistsExperiences using a range of sources

Women’s Liberation Movement – Define it and its gaols.Women’s Liberation

was a second wave of feminist activism.

The first wave was the late 19th and early 20th century and focussed on;

The voteGetting women into

universities

The 2nd wave campaigned for;

Equal payEqual opportunitiesAnti-discrimination

legislationChild and maternal welfareDivorce laws ChildcareFreedom of choice –

education, employment, marriage, contraception and abortion

List some strategies adopted by feminists.The strategies adopted

includedWriting Books - Damned

Whores and God's Police by Dr. Anne Summers and The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer.

Marching – Equal Pay Protests

Running campaignsConferencesLobbying politicians –

Women’s Electoral Lobby

What else could be added to this list?

Who tends to make up the Women’s Liberation movement?The majority of

members of the women’s liberation and feminist’s movements are white middle class women.

Few indigenous and migrant women or men participate.

High profile feminists include Germaine Greer

Helen Reddy’s ‘I am Woman’ became a theme for the international women’s liberation movement

What does this source reveal about the Women’s Liberation Movement?I am woman, hear me

roarIn numbers too big to

ignoreAnd I know too much to

go back an' pretendcause I've heard it all

before And I've been down

there on the floorNo one's ever gonna

keep me down again

Oh yes I am wiseBut it's wisdom born of painYes, I've paid the priceBut look how much I gainedIf I have to, I can do anythingI am strong (strong)I am invincible (invincible)I am woman

You can bend but never break me

'cause it only serves to make me

More determined to achieve my final goal

And I come back even stronger

Not a novice any longer'cause you've deepened

the conviction in my soul

I am woman watch me grow

See me standing toe to toe

As I spread my lovin' arms across the land

But I'm still an embryoWith a long long way to

goUntil I make my

brother understand

The Women’s Electoral LobbyFormed in Melbourne in

1972By 1978 it was a

national organisation with over 2000 members

The major policy maker’s of the Women’s Liberation Movement

Aims to influence politicians and gain positions in government for women

The Women’s Electoral LobbyWELSurveyed politicians

about their ideasPromoted their views

through the mediaMade submissions and

reports to government bodies

Elizabeth Reid was active in WEL and was the first Women’s Advisor to the Prime Minister in 1973

Gough Whitlam and Elizabeth Reid – What does this source reveal?

International Women’s Day31 August 1975 Australia celebrates

International Women's DayThe Australian Government

held the first national conference from 31 August to 6 September in1975 on the status of women (Women and Politics) and committed Australia to celebrating International Women's Day with other member nations of the United Nations.

The first International Women’s Day March in Australia was in 1972

Using this source and your own information describe the actions used by the women’s liberation movement to achieve change.

Zelda D’ApranoIn 1969 she chained

herself to the doors of the Commonwealth building in Melbourne as a protest against the Commonwealth Arbitration Commission’s failure to achieve equal pay for women.

In 1970 she formed the Women’s Action Committee

Why is this source useful for studying women’s liberationists?

Zelda D’Aprano... We both agreed that something more than just

talking was needed to draw attention to the pay injustice meted out to women and more positive action was required. We began to fantasize women chaining themselves up like the suffragettes did, and jokingly asked ourselves, where could women chain themselves to make their protest effective?

I began to think seriously of the chaining up idea, then decided I would be prepared to chain myself to the Commonwealth Building … Little did I realize the effect this event would have in changing the entire course of my life. What issue is Zelda referring to in this source?

A popular women’s chant from the 1970s“Men like birds;Birds live in cages.They have done for ages,On second class wages.Women’s Liberation’s

going to smash that cage,

Come join us now and rage, rage, rage.”

What does this source reveal about the women’s movement?