The women's liberation movement: its aims and methods

Introduction

The women's liberation movement in Australia grew rapidly in a short space of time. It had a formal presence in specific organisations such as the Women's Electoral Lobby and the Women's Action Group. It also had a large informal presence among the many women who discussed and questioned their identity and place in society.

Many small groups sprang up around the country, especially in cities and large towns, that called themselves 'consciousness-raising groups' which would discuss all sorts of issues relating to women. Some of them focused on specific issues like education, health or work and campaigned to improve women's rights in these areas.

Methods

Some women and organisations followed the methods of their predecessors and felt that by changing unjust laws women would have an equal voice in society. They sought to increase women's representation in powerful institutions like parliament and unions. They also sought to increase the number of women in other powerful positions such as company management. The Women's Electoral Lobby surveyed attitudes towards women's rights of candidates for the 1972 federal election. They worked closely with government to achieve legislative change in areas such as equal pay and maternity leave.

But unlike the first-wave feminists who focused on changing laws to benefit women, much of the second wave focused on many different aspects of society and had many different methods and ideas for change. It was more 'grass roots'. These women kept away from what they saw as a male-oriented power base and sought to change things by operating differently. They felt that inequality between men and women was deep-rooted in society. They laid the blame on 'patriarchy', the way that society and life itself was defined by and for men. They attempted to redefine their understanding of society and themselves in ways which treated women as equally capable as men.

These women expanded their consciousness-raising activities in the form of demonstrations aimed at raising the consciousness of all of society. In particular, the International Women's Day and Reclaim the Night marches became well-attended, yearly events. Some women held more dramatic protests, such as that of Zelda D'Aprano who chained herself to the Commonwealth building in Melbourne to protest against lower rates of pay for women. See image 1

Aims:

Culture and education

Women also sought to raise consciousness through literature. Many magazines and books about women's rights were published throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch continued to have wide influence, as did Damned Whores and God's Police, a book about early colonial attitudes to Australian women, written by Australian academic Dr Anne Summers.

Universities took up the women's liberation movement in the form of women's studies courses that studied much of this literature. They also studied other literature from a feminist perspective. Gradually the feminist perspective came to be expressed through all forms of culture and the arts, including critiques of the media and popular culture's representations of women and men.

As well as university courses, women sought to improve education at school level. Partly they sought to change that which was taught in schools so that education was not as influenced by patriarchy, but they also sought to encourage girls to aim higher in their career choices. They sought to open up career paths for girls that had previously been seen as exclusively male areas, such as sport and science.

Equal opportunity

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Health

In the area of health, the women's movement sought greater access to contraception, abortion and protection from violence by men. They lobbied for greater research into and treatment of women's health conditions such as breast cancer. They lobbied for fairness in the court system in cases of rape and domestic violence, issues which had long been considered 'private' and beyond the responsibilities of courts and police.

Sexuality

Another area of focus for the women's liberation movement was sexuality. On the one hand, the contraceptive pill had given women more freedom in their sexual relationships. On the other hand, sex itself was now seen as a major area of men's power over women. Feminists explored alternative ideas of sexuality such as same-sex relationships or the choice not to enter into relationships at all. See image 2

Conclusion

The women's liberation movement, or second wave of feminism, was far more diffuse and varied than the first wave. It was expressed in a broad range of ways. Many aims were stated and many methods used to achieve them.