Introduction
Woman in Australia have lacked rights and freedoms since Europeans founded Australia in 1788. They have been disadvantaged and lacked independence but specifically the lacked the right to fair pay, various jobs and were looked down upon in politics. However, during and after World War 2 in 1939, the outlook of women and what feminism symbolized changed.
Before WW2: Rights & Freedoms denied to women
Before World War 2 women were disadvantaged and deprived of numerous rights and freedoms. Politics, pay and jobs are just some of the many struggles they had to deal with. Women were dependants. They depended on the husband to work to support their family whilst they stayed at home looking after their children. Prior to marriage woman worked doing unskilled ‘woman’s’ jobs such as being a servant, teacher or nurse.
A ‘women’s’ jobs got payed considerably less than a standard ‘mans’ job that included being a doctor, mechanic or builder. If a women and her family were considered middle class, after marriage she was obliged to stop work and stay home while her husband worked to provide money and food for the family. If a woman’s family was deemed lower class then the woman would have to work to help the man take care of a family. The woman would do jobs in factory work, become a servant or work in…show more content… However, “some women could not vote in state elections, but because the new federal constitution allowed them to vote in federal elections, the States soon followed suit.” By 1910 majority of Australian women over the age of 21 were able to vote in both State and federal elections. Nevertheless, it was not until 1921 that the first woman was elected into Australian parliament and not until 1943 that the first federal female parliamentarian was elected. Even though women got the right to vote and started getting elected for parliament they were still not equal compared to men in the same