Babyboomer Women Influenced by Women's Movement

Hi R, and other friends
R wrote - For some reason I have never been a good lister (is that a word?). Maybe it's because I don't like being told what to do, even by myself. Now my husband, HE likes lists, especially grocery lists. He also likes to dictate while I dutifully take the dictation. It must be the boss, secretary relationship between men and women that he revels in and I rebel against. Another problem with lists is I lose them. They just seem to disappear. Never the less, I will start a list of COG words for you.

Clara says:- Thank you. There is, as usual, so much of what you write which triggers my jostling ideas, but the winner today has to be the relationship between men and women, since I have just read another article re Germaine Greer, from SMH 'Call to a New Generation' - Gabriella Coslovich.

I would like to state my position re the Women's Movement. I am not a women's libber or against men, nor do I believe either gender is better or more important, just different. However, we were young adults in 1970 when Greer's 'The Female Eunuch' was published, and we lived and were no doubt influenced within this climate of change for women.

Paraphrasing this article - Germaine wanted the book to provoke, polarise and galvanise, "...if it is not ridiculed or reviled, it will have failed it's intention", she wrote in the introduction. She incited a generation of women, US, to ponder the significance of their lives, challenging concepts of marriage (domestic servitude), the nuclear family, the obligation to breed, and the culture of sexual harassment. She encouraged women to study, to become doctors, pilots and even fashion designers, stating that being successful was not incompatible with 'femininity'. 'The Female Eunuch' was then and has remained symbolically important, giving a generation of women, US, the impetus for change.

Greer monopolised the limelight with her brash behaviour but it was left to other second wave 70's feminists, such as Eva Cox, leading spokeswoman for the Women's Electorial Lobby, and it's current chairwoman, to effect changes such as domestic violence and sexual assault laws, equal pay legislation, no-fault divorce, unpaid maternity leave, child support and anti-discrimination laws. Cox says,"...she had her role to play and she played it well. Greer galvanised, others organised."

I now see how different we were from previous generations of women, but did we realise how different our underlying idealism and expectations were? How much influence did the movement have on our expectations of our men, who were probably bewildered by the difference from their motherly example of domestic goddess / slave and their wives, US!

Cheers Clara






www.shopatnextdoor.com.
< Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT

What a Difference a Day Makes...March 9th

Necklace of copper and jasper with shard pendant

What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours. I feel a song coming on. Necklace of copper and jasper with shard pendant.

Clara - Where has that sun gone? The background is wonderfully bleak and your piece very significant and bold in the foreground. What is shard?






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We've Come a Long Way Baby! But have we?

Hi R and other BB friends
R said - "Everyday in my store we spend hours helping women of all ages find the perfect denim jeans. The pair that makes their butt look great. The pair that slims their thighs. The pair that makes them look taller. The pair that minimizes their waist and on and on. It's a very serious business. What does this say about all of us? We've come a long way baby, but we have a long way to go?" ........... Perhaps this can be the topic for 2010.

Clara says - I keep wanting to tell you all about the new lipstick I have found which is kiss proof, coffee cup proof, with a little sparkle and is finished with lip gloss. Or how we had a fun time dancing at The Rowers last night.
But - other topics keep taking over.

The statement "We've Come a Long Way Baby" provokes me to respond now.

An article in today's www.theaustralian.com.au "Greer Failed to Understand Women" suggests that forty years after 'The Female Eunuch', that women have not borne out the author's vision.
Which to me is a relief - Nowra, an essayist and playwright, argues that Dr Greer must be disappointed in the world of contemporary women, for it does not resemble the model she envisioned. Women are, for the most part, married, live in nuclear families, in the suburbs, with a capitalist orientation. Nowra concedes that the book, "changed many women's lives dramatically" and that "countless women read it, and left their husbands. Re-reading it, he says, is like opening a time capsule - one is immediately struck by how much the Western world has changed for women. It's just not the way Dr Greer imagined."

Dr Greer wanted women to give up the "fripperies' - shoes, pretty clothes, and makeup - which they indulge in now more than ever.
Much more to follow about our Germaine.

Re - the Crown Jewels, which look sensational, especially when they adorn ......the easter bunny?

My grandfriend - male, 4 1/2 - after the discussion of how he came out of Mummy's tummy, said, "When did I come out of Daddy's eye?"
I'll leave to figure this one out.

Love Clara







Welcome to my journey as I photograph something I create everyday for a year... RRT



Crown Jewels...February 27th
Crown Jewels...Wire Bracelet with Quartz Charms

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