Category: Politics

Politics, Source, Women's History

Suffragettes and Tea Rooms

WHN / September 24, 2012

Even as late as 1911 a woman’s presence still caused consternation in some places of public refreshment. Kate Frye, staying in a hotel in a small Norfolk market town while organizing suffrage meetings, notes in her diary:

22 March 1911 ‘Had my lunch [in the hotel dining room] in company with four motorists. It is funny the way men come in here and, seeing me, shoot out again and I hear whispered conversations outside on the landing with the waitress. Then they come in very subdued and make conversation one to another and try not to look at me. Awfully funny – they might never have seen a woman before – but I suppose it does seem a strange place to find one.’

Event, General, Politics, Women's History

‘As a Woman I have no Country …’

WHN / September 16, 2012

Why it is that US First Ladies are held in such reverance and high esteem, with a prominance not extended, generally, to ‘political wives’ in other countries – Britain, Australia, Aotearoa/New Zealand, France, Germany, the USSR (as it was) was not addressed by the presentations, yet it remains an issue for historical and cultural exploration and analysis.

Biography, Politics, Source, Women's History

From the Bush, to Sales, to the Airforce – Reflections on the Beginnings of a 20th Century Life

WHN / September 9, 2012

… As a junior, I didn’t serve any customers for almost 12 months, because that was the seniors’ job. Juniors weren’t allowed to speak to a customer. We had to run the messages and tidy up … The seniors at Farmers were trained in what we’d now call customer relations. The juniors were trained too. When I first went there, even though it was only for three weeks, for a sale, I had two days training before beginning in the department. I was paid to be taught where the items were in the store, how to write out dockets, how to speak to people …

Biography, Politics, Source, Women's History

Not According to the Calendar

WHN / August 26, 2012

One cadet, David Hill went on to become executive producer with Channel 9’s “Wide World of Sports”, then Murdoch took him over to Britain for Sky Channel. Many years later at a party I tapped him on the arm and said: ‘David, do you remember the day I threw you out of my classroom for giving me …’ He recognised me immediately, and took me around the room to meet his children. He told them: ‘This lady taught Daddy.’ The children looked at me as if I were the pyramids.

General, Politics, Women's History

History, Law & Violence – For Women & Children, 17th Century Notions are Alive, Well & Inexcusable

WHN / August 18, 2012

… during the Roman occupation of Britain, England – like other occupied nations – incorporated the occupiers’ pre-Christian Roman law into their legal system. The Romans had a legal principle that a father or master had absolute dominion over his household, including the power of life and death over his wives, children, servants and slaves …

Event, General, Politics, Women's History

Porno-Chic and Advertising in Women’s Magazines

WHN / August 12, 2012

Despite the reconfiguration of gender roles experienced in the West over the last half century, advertising has remained anchored within a conservative and sexist frame. On the one hand, advertisers have attempted to devise campaigns addressing a self-sufficient and independent woman, while on the other they have repeatedly argued that society demands from them the display of nude women selling themselves through a pornographic lens.

Event, Politics, Source, Women's History

Captured by Germans – WWI Women Seafarers

WHN / July 29, 2012

German crew … wondered at the women’s calmness. ‘Aren’t you afraid of being shot?’ they asked. After all, Edith Cavell had been executed by firing squad just seven months earlier. ‘“We are Englishwomen” was considered sufficient reply,’ claimed the women’s company magazine …