Hear me Roar
The Women’s Politics Conference was a forerunner to many other women’s initiatives over the next four or so decades. Margaret Whitlam fiercely defended her husband’s commitment to women’s equality at the Conference. She also defended the male team running the show.
When asked why remote community Indigenous women were not invited and why no childminding arrangements were made for children of women invited to the conference, she stated that the budget for the conference didn’t stretch to paying for rural and remote women living great distances from the capital cities to travel. She said when she was young, she looked after her children without government support.
I was among the handful of women who turned our backs on her and started to walk away when she called after us, ‘Gough cares about women’s rights. He’s our friend!’ The obvious retort was given back, ‘With friends like him, who needs enemies’!
Thanks, Eva. I’ve maintained the rage. I’m still finding women-centred ways to empower other women to challenge the very active patriarchy.
8 March is OUR day! We can organise our own events and our own lives. We’re learning to sort out our own herstories from his. Listen to us roar!
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