Faculty of Education - Theses
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ItemWomen in Collingwood in the depression of the 1930s( 2001)This thesis is about the lives of women in Collingwood during the Depression of the 1930s. They fought tirelessly to have their families fed and clothed, often sharing the little they had. Homes were primitive, bathrooms were uncommon and most houses had no water in the home. Shopping was done on a daily basis as there were no refrigerators. With constant childcare under these conditions, women were almost literally chained to the home. Even in the 1930s it was not accepted that women work outside the home. In some instances women would go without food to ensure that their children were fed, some women suffering from malnutrition. The Women's Hospital was where Collingwood women went for treatment. As there was no Medicare, doctors were unavailable to the working class. Marriage called for perseverance as divorce was uncommon. With the working-class wife heading the family, men, especially unemployed men, regarded this as a blow to their pride. A common occurrence for families unable to meet their rent payments was eviction. Eventually the Government gave a subsidy towards the rent for those who received an eviction order. Many people relied on charity, indicating just how desperate they were. Over 11,000 women out of 16,000 women in Collingwood were either unemployed or dependent on husbands' uncertain incomes. For many, charity was the only answer. Many of the remaining 5,000 women were domestic servants, barmaids, factory workers or shop assistants. Barmaids had a lowly reputation as their work was not regarded as respectable 'women's work'. Professional women, teachers and kindergartners came from the more affluent areas to work in Collingwood. Some women resorted to crime, shoplifting and even violence as a matter of survival. Others turned to abortion and prostitution, both outlawed at this time. Men were not neglected in this thesis. They suffered humiliation and degradation as they formed endless queues, and more often than not returned home only to report no job.
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Item'With a smile in her voice' : a life of Jean Lawson 1908-1986( 1996)Jean Lawson was born in England in 1908 and migrated to Australia with her parents in 1914. Educated in private schools and at the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, she had an exceptionally varied career for a woman of her generation, becoming a teacher, acting headmistress and school counsellor, a radio and stage actress and radio broadcaster, a senior officer in the wartime Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF) and a writer. She was also an active member of the Melbourne Lyceum Club and of the Christian Science Church and she participated in a range of voluntary community activities. With interests spanning the sciences and the humanities, she was a well known figure in Melbourne's educational and cultural circles. Her life offers insights into several aspects of twentieth century education, particularly that of women - the role of small private schools in the education of middle class women in the first half of this century, the experience of female students in science faculties in the interwar years, the wartime training of WAAAF airwomen and officers, the impact of educative radio for children in the 1940s and 1950s and the nature of career counselling for girls in the fast changing world of the 1960s and 1970s. Thus rather than providing a traditional account which would spotlight Jean Lawson, throwing her life into a kind of isolation, while endeavouring not to diminish her own contribution in a variety of fields, her life has been used as a focus for exploring the wider experience of women involved in similar events and interests. Given her ability to alter direction and reinvent herself as circumstances changed, her life has also been considered in terms of the formation of female subjectivity and since much of her writing was autobiographical, theoretical issues concerning biography and autobiography have also been central.