Feminism helped power the tide of change carrying Gough Whitlam to power in 1972. What were his government’s historic achievements for women? And what do Australian women need to fight for next?
Helen Garner on stage in Betty Can Jump at The Pram Factory in 1972.
Photo courtesy of the Betty Can Jump collective
In 1972, 5 women – Helen Garner, Claire Dobbin, Evelyn Krape, Yvonne Marini and Jude Kuring –spent 5 months workshopping a play. Frank, angry and explicit, it was a beacon of 1970s women’s liberation.
Mary Kay Ash’s legendary love for the color pink symbolized her determination to be a business success by “thinking like a woman.”
Colin McConnell /Toronto Star via Getty Images
In his 1972 novel The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin powerfully dramatised women’s suburban alienation and men’s resistance to feminist change. Michelle Arrow traces its enduring influence.
Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and courtesy SEARCH Foundation
As women’s relationship with work and career has changed, so too has the relationship with parenting. What women need now is more targeted support in raising children.
Women’s Liberation supporters staging a sit-down protest in Trafalgar Square Post Office after a rally
Keystone Press/Alamy