Damned Whores and God's Police (Winter 1985)

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Historically little attention has beenaccorded to women's contributionto the development of society andeven ess o the struggle for equality.In Australia, if one were to takethe majority of school textbooksliterally, one could almbst reachcollegebelieving hat prior to 1900there was only ohe woman on the

continent - Caroline Chisolm, thewoman whose face adorns the S5.00note and who describedthe femalerole as one of guarding the moralnature of men and children andotherwise performing the duties of

'God's Police'. Suffragistswerepresumably non-existent.

Australia has ong been surrounded

by a mythology negating women. Inpopular fiction, both within and out-side the country, it has been portrayedas a man's world, the hars h environ-ment supposedly giving rise to a race

of taII, bronzed beer drinkers, silent,stoic, and above all MEN and all thatthat implies. This breed carved a nationout of an inhospitable land, so thestory goes, forgetting to mention thesystematic slaughter and exterminationof more than half the land's indigenouspeople and other less romantic incidenLs.

Invaded by the British in 1788,Australia was to be mined for valuableminerals to provide the British withanother strategic colony in it's racewith France for territory, and to serveas a dumping ground for the prisonersfilling the overcrowded jails. And, untiltransportation ceased n 1840, thousandsof convicts, ineluding political activists

and Irish rebels, landed on Australia'sc.rast. Of this involuntary contingent20Vowere women,

DAMNEDWHORES

The plight of femares in this comm-unity was an inevitable one. Surrounded

by what was generally regarded as the

dregs of British society, hardened crim-

inals and the riff-raff of the armedforces, women were perceived asobjects solely for the gratification of

men. Indeed documents from the Brit-

ish Home Office indicates that women

between the ages of 18 and 45 appear-ing before the British courts were high-

ly likely to be sentenceci o transportat'ion for their crime, in order to narrow

the disproportionate number"of men to

to women. Whilst their term of im-prisonment was ostensibly seven years,

in reality they were condemned to a

Iife of rape, exploitation and enforced'whoredom'.

Whilst these crimes went on, the

blame was attached not to the perpetr'

ators of these crimes but to thewomen themselves. They were 'DamnedWhores', a stigma that neither a perman-

ent relationship nor marriage coulddispei.

Meanwhile hundreds of middle andworking class migrated only to find a

society ill equipped to place them.There were not jobs, few hostels and

an army of men with no Plans for

rnarriage.For those possessing o

Page20 - Anarchist Feminist Magazine

MNrI.

GOskills and little money, prostitution

or crime were the keys to survival:

Aboriginal women' however, did

not even have that. Their land was

rapidlv stolen from them, their kibal

community faced continual attack,

and they themselves lived with the

ever present possibility of rape, tor-ture

and murder, With no recourse to the

white man's Law, and regarded bY

the emancipists and convicts as easy

'game' and by the settlers as 'vermin'these people fought with a desperate

determination to preserve their culture;

a culture in which women are highlY

valued, from the onslaught of an ever

encroaching patriarchal society.

CHANGINGTHE IMAGEThe particular stereotype of WOMANAS WHORE prevailed in the systemas the exclusive image of womenuntil the 1840's when transportationceased and the local authorities wish-ed to gain self-government. Withinthis climate where it was importantto demonstrate respectability and toattratt labourdrs and investors, to

have the country labelled as a'hugebrothel' was clearly not in the inter-ests of those seeking to improvp thecountry's status. Similarly the eman-cipist and squatter wishing to emulatethe British middle classes shared thisconcern with morality: and as alwaysthe morality was judged by the be-haviour of and reputation of women

Ether than men. While this unitedfront was extremely significant in thechanging of stereotypes so too wasthe role of the church, the press andAustralia's famous Caroline Chisolm.

Chisolm, a middle class Britishemigrant, had been working toimprove the situation of women in

the colony since the 1830's. Shockedat the lack of provision made forsingle females she established a WorkRegistry to enable them to find

'decent' employment, assisted withaccomodation and endeavoured toarrange marriages and thus domesticatethe community. Not content withthese efforts she organised an Emigrat-ion scheme designed to help hardworking women and diligent young

couples reach Sydney, raising thestandard of settlers and providingthem with worthwhile vocations,thus changing the tone of the colony.But, though she did much to find

jobs for women she was staunchlyopposed to equal pay, arguing thateconomic independence would deterwomen from marrying, Women, shestated, were to be 'God's Police', thernoral upholders of civilisation and

A FILM BY

MEGAN

MARGO

MARGO

JENI TH

ELIZAB



WHW;

s PoucE

only as wives and, mothers, closelyguiding the actions of their lovedones, eould they be truly effective.

Financial necessity forced nearly athird of Australia's reomen into theworkforce where they received lesstban SOVo f the male wage workinga t2 to 16 hour day. These women,largely ignored by politicians and theChurch, experienced guilt for not ad-hering to the accepted soeial role.The meilia reinforced their discomfortby suggesting that alcoholism, crimeand juvenile delinquency were lheend product of women working out-side the sanctity of hearth andhome.

TRADEUNIONSTlade unions, increasingly active inthe latter half of the nineteenth cen-turt, adopted a similar perspective,refusing to combat women worker'sexploitation unless they felt theiremployment threatened by the pre-sence of women: in which case theyeither fought to improve women'$lot (believing that all things beingequal employers would prefer to hirea man) or alternatively, sought to barwom€n from those particular profess-ions. A notable exception to thesewas the Industrial Workers of theWorld/IWW, a union which organisedmen and women, aboriginals andChinese people, on an equal basis.Viola Wilkins was a renowned speakerand IWW organiser. She was arrestedmany times, and iecommended thatunemployed glaziers should solve theirmoney problems by breaking a fewwindows and taking what they found.IWW members resisted conscriptionduring the First World War, resulting

in the framing and imprisonment oftwelve members. (See Sydney's Burn-ing by lan Turner, published by AlphaBooks), Distinct and separate femaletrade unions did not make their pre-sence felt, and then only briefly,until 1890 and once again their malecounterparts obstructed their efforts.

SUFFRAGISTSThe struggle for enfranchisement inAustralia was not as violent as theBritish or as prolonged as the Americannevertheless possessesa colourful storyof its own. The fight began in the1860's with with Harriet Dugdale'scampaigns in 1868. Joined 20 years

later by Annette Bear, the two formedthe first league dedicated to femalesuffrage. Activists Rose Scott andVida Goldstein and writer Louisalawson likewise established feministorganisations, producing newspapers(The Women's Sphere and,Dawn}agitating for broad social change anddemanding the vote. Middle class inorientation their primary appeal wasto their social peers although theydid infrequently address themselvesto working class concerns.

Petitioning, rallying, lobbying,discussing, fighting...these early fem-inists were intent on improving theposition of women in Australian

society, a goal the more conservativebelieved would be accomplished withthe acquisition of the vote. The rad-icals, viewing the situation less optim-istically, were convinced that sustained,

Anarchist Feminist Magazine -. page 21

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; orworr<#J;J:H:liSiouase,resilience nd humour

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From age5c$-s3lqfOY OLLOWING the wholesale distrib-

:Eli ution of the "Arm Yourselves"hand-

e- : bills, carefuliy folded copies weremailed to Justice Weeks, Assistant DistrictAttorney Rorke, Detective SergeantGegan

and others.

"Workers of America," the handbills read'

"begii to ann y ourselaes and fight back in the

sarne nLanner as you are being attacked. The

bloody war of capitalhm through its gouem'

ment against the workers fs oz". And there was

much more to the same effect.

Mollie was shadowed, and on the aftemoonof Oct, 14 she was seenmailing some of her

handbills in a street letter box at Broadway and

SeventeenthStreet. The letter box was opened

as soon as she had hurried away, and the hand'

bills were found right on top of the heap inside.

So the next day Detective Sergeant Gegan went

over to the East Side and picked Mollie up.

She was turned over to the Federal Authorities

and committed to the Tombs in default of

,$5,000 bail. The complaint againsther was

made by P.O. Inspector G.A. Smith' and she

was held on a charge of inciting to murder,

arson and assassination.

As soon as the Federal Grand Jury had retum-

ed a true bill against her, Mollie's bail was raised

to B 10,000. The same East Side friends whb hadprovided the first F10,000 security came for-

ward with another F 10'000' and Mopie was

released. The immigration authorities immed'

iat€ly rearested her on a dePortation warant'

and Mollie went back to the Tombs. This time

her bail was set at F 15,000. Before her friends

could raise the sum she was taken to Ellis Isle

"to await deportation". When she went on a

hunger strike there, she was transferred back

to Blackwell's Island. Then the fifteen'year

sentence was confirmed by the higher courtg

and Mollie Steimer realized for the first time

that she had been fighting something more

powerful than herrelf.

Mollie's father died last vear. Her mother

broke down and cried when asked the other

day to tell something about Mollie. Mollie'stlrrec sisters are quiet and well behaved. Mrs.

Steimer is no longer young and much can

happen in fifteen years"

across the boardrstruggle was required.The winning of the franchise, in SouthAustralia in 1894 and the other statesshqrtly after, proved the letter correct,Nothing changed;

The herit age thepe women bestowedwas an inspiring orfe, but during theprosperous 20's, the turmoil of the30's, the war-torn 40's and the sub.-urban 50's, it was a heritage forgotten

by all but a few. Yet, despite the lackof organisation, individuals and smallgroups continued working for changebut their objectives were often of a

more moralistic nature; strengthening

the family and eradicating prostitution'

Whilst widespread, grassroots feminist

activity was restricted. During these

vears there were a number of struct-

irres introduced by middle class women

to both further the rights of women

through government legislation and-

encourage participation of females in

the political arena. These associations

including the Women's National

League, the Women's Political Assoc-

iationand the League of Women

Voters were often anti'socialist, some

sometimes racist and supported their

claims by frequent use of 'God's

Pplice' imagery, ie , women, being

rnore moral, could elevate political

and public standards.

Page22 - Anarchist Feminist Magazine

FEMIMSTSNot until the 1960's did Women'sLiberation again become an issue'

mirroring the dedication and enthu$-

iasm of the 1880's and 1890's...andreceiving a similar skeptical reaction

from the media. With little under'

standing and a great deal of malice

the popular press categorised feminists

as bra burning manhaters, wowsers(wet blankets), prudes - rarely did

they analyse the demands and com-plaints articulated by the group or

study the faetors that had given rise

to the second wave of Australianfeminists. To a large extent, the

social forces that had earlier given

birth to the American feminist com'

munity: women involved in left

organisations, radical student politics,

and the antiVietnam war strugglerealised that although theY were

fighting for social upheaval, within

their own groups theY remained

oppressed as a sex, as a class. Amer-

icin publications and leaflets describ-

ing the actions and theories in the

US inspired demonstrations and sim-

ilar lines of reasoning in Australia.Consciousness raising groups began

meeting - on campuses, in homes,

and in the suburbs. Feminism, like it

or not, had arrived.The early 70's heralded a Period

of immense activity. Women's shelters

Rape Crisis Centres, Health Centre's,

newspapers, journals, bookstores and

Womefs Advisors appeared. Women'sexploited position in the workforce,and within the home, was brought to

the nation's attention. Abortion, child'

care, rape and sexuality were issuesaround which women across the

country rose and organised.

And with the glowth and devel-opment of the movement came Pract-ical and theoretical arguments reflectingthe diversity of the women and theirbackgrounds. One very visible (and less

threatening) strand to emerge was the

Women's Electoral Lobby (WEL):

a collection of basically middle-classwomen believing in reform throughthe existing meehanisms. n L972,prior to the election of a Federal

Labour government, the first in 23 years,WEL canvassedpoliticians, recordingtheir responses on a wide range ofsubjects affecting women and thenpublished them nationally. The survey,

with its extensive media coverage, iscommonly believed to have been oneof the facfors which caused the Liber-al Party's defeat. (The Liberal party

belie their name - they are actuallyvery coru;ervative, representing monied

interests.)1972 to 1975 was, without doubt, a

time of burgeoning activity. With agovgrnment more supportive of women'sconcerns a series of Proposals andlegislation was initiated. Equal pay

for equal work became a (theoretical)reality, funding for feminist confer-ences and educational publications

materialised (though not in the hopedfor quantities) and a Women's Advis-or to the Prime Ministet was appointed.Piece-meal, band-aid action it may wellhave been but it was a small step in the

right direction. Unfortunately it ended

up all too sson with the retum of the

Liberals in 1975 and the subsequenterosion and cut backs to women'sservices and a marked decline in the

aftention given Women's Affairs.

AustralianIWW speaherViolu Wilhins speahingat a massmeet@ in Perth,Australia n August or September1939.



THE PRESENT

, Eight consecutive years of FederalLiberal government have taken theirtoll. Women's proglammes, healthcentres and agencies have faced harass-ment by politicians, right wing support-ers and occasionally the press, but mosthave survived, often struggling alongwith the help of volun0eers and donat-ions. The election of a Labour govern-ment in March.1983 has not changed

life for womeir. The Prime Minister,Bob Hawke is not only less socialistthan his predecessors but a miSogynist.

Within the broader Australiancor.nmunity it is sometimes difficultto believe that feminists are alive andactive, the media rarely portrayingthe day to day realities of womentsexistence and occasionally featuringarticles entitled 'Why The Women's .Movement Failed' or'Ten Years AfterWomen's Lib'. Reading these tems issimilar to reading one's obitua4r -exasperating and confusing.

But even with an adequate education,Anti-Discrimination legislation, EqualPay for Equal Work, and supposedaccessof opportunity, over-all, womenreceive two-thirds of the male wage,are in fewer promotional or managerialpositions, are subjected to sexualharassment. . , the list goes on, thecomplaints neither new nor confinedto .A,ustralia.The lot of the workingwoman is not an easy one and themedia increases that burden with itsaccusation that working women aredepriving the nation's youth ofemployment.

Uhions, once the bastions of themale worker, are slowly becomingreeeptive to the plight of women,the more progressive endeavouring to

increase female membership andencourage women to nominate forleadership positions. In some instancestokenism has resulted, in others it hasbeen regarded as a ploy to boost figuresbut there are also Unions, especiallythose representing a sizeable femalepopulation, that have appointedWomen's Advisers and adopted fairlypositive polieies in such areas as childcare, parent'.al leave and promotion,Much obviously remains to be alteredand, in this period ofrecession, it iscrucial that the issues not be subverted,as has happened when conservativedelegates have been elected and whenthe government has effectively turnedthe struggle for better wages and condit-ions into a fight for survival,

RACISMThe fight for survival is one the native

population know only too well, Forover 200 years black women have beenthe victims of rape, racism and sexism;they have been exploited by the ehurch,by employers and by artists; and femin-ists have largely ignored their battles.Individual white women have struggledbut in the main, Aboriginal womenhave organised alone, and because ofthe smallness of their numbers it hasbeen easy to forget the hand to mouth

existence confronting them or to not-ice the actions they are performingin retaliation, Their concerns are notnecessarily those of the white women'smovement - equal pay for equal v;orkis hardly an issue when the whole of

one's family is unemployed, barelysubsisting on the government,s muchbegrudged'handouts'. Unfortunatelythe most white feminists have done isto diseuss whether or not it is tokenismto have a black speaker at tnternationalWomen's Day rallies. But while immobil-ization has characterised white women,strong Aboriginal women such as BobbiSykes and Mum Shirl have emergedas spokeswomen, writing and speakingabout the needs of their people.

POLITICAL CTryISMThe 1980's with its high unemploy-

ment, esca-latingnflation and loom-ing militarism have influenced feministsconsiderably. On a national level thereare women intensely involved in theanti-nuclear movement, forming separ-atp women's gtoups to diseussmethod-ologies for subverting the menace anci toorganise - but also working in conjun-ction with men in rallies, demonstrat-ions arrd sit-ins, For example, in Novem-ber 1983, hundreds of women from al lover Australia gathered in centralAustralia at a US-controlled missiletracking station (or

so we're told that'sits purpose!), Pine Gap. Australiansare not allowed onto this installationyet women managed to storm the fencesand get a fair way into the grounds,amongst other disruptions, Pine Capremains an enigma to the anti-nuclearmovement as to its real purpose andwomen's action drew the world'sattention to its existence. Australiapossesseshuge deposit s of uranium,which is mined and exported, Australiahas become the recipient of massiveforeign investment. Politicians, ofright and left wing orientation, utiliz-ing every opportunity to publicize thepro-lobby by minimising the dangers

and maximizing the 'benefits'. haveheralding the mineral's desirability asan answer to the country's problems.The 'resources boom', always everdistant, will provide jobs and bolsterthe flagging economy - the women(and men) agitating against its develop-

ment thus become disruptive radicalsobstructing Australia's road to recov-ery. Despite the bad press the anti-nuclear movement is expanding.

ANZAC DAYANZAC Day (April 25) is regarded

by historians, soldiers, military officialsand the press as the anniversary ofAustralia's birth as a nation, On April15 , 1916 thousands of Australian and

New Zealand troops stormed the beachesof Gallipoli in an abortive, suicidalmission. The annihilation that resultedwas inconsequential as far as WorldWar One was concerned and irrelevantto the rest of the world - but, for manyAustralians, this day has become immoi-talised as a day of patriotism, eaehyear soldiers from past wars paradingthe streets. It has been on this day, iday usually ending in a great dealofdrunkenness, that feminists through-out the country have protested againstrape - in wars and in peace. The res-ponse to their peaceful demonstrationsand their attempts to lay wreathsin memory of women raped and mur-

dered has been explosive, State govern-ments even going so far as to hastilyqush through legislation preventingWomen Against Rape and SoldierJFor Peace marching. Outraged membersof the Returned Servicemen'sLeague(RSL) have accused eminists of slander-ing the reputation of,our boys, . . .bu t anyway, 'rape is part of war'. Whilemedia covering of the women's actionshas fequently been biased and distortedit has servedto bring the issueof rapebef-ore he usually apathetic publicand to elicit much discussionandcommentary in a way that ReclaimThe Night marches tave not.Witten by Pat Galtasch

from OFF OURBACKS, an American feministnewspaper.

'Dam.ned Whoresand Gods police'is the. itle of a book by Anne Summers,published in Australia.

Anarchist Feminist Magazine - page 23

Documents

Damned Whores and God's Police (Winter 1985)