Feminist Movements - 11 MHS - How the Australian feminist movement was impacted by world events

A lesson (PPT) designed for use early in the unit which establishes context for how Australian women were treated during WW1-WW2. This helps to establish the inequalities that women were beginning to campaign against which leads into a depth study of the Second Wave of Feminism.

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to answer the following questions:

• 1.What viewpoints did Australian women have about World War One?
• 2.How did gender role expectations impact the lived experiences of women during this era?
• 1. What challenges did Australian women face during The Great Depression?
• 4.How did the role of women on the Australian home front change during World War Two?

It begins by showcasing taken-for-granted values and assumptions during this era. It then looks at the work performed by women on the homefront during WW1. There are some clips from the ABC TV series ‘ANZAC Girls’ showing the experiences of nurses stationed overseas during the war. This is followed by information about an organisation which actively discouraged women from taking on more than a supportive role (The Australian Women’s National League). Subsequently, the goals and motives of The Women’s Political Association are explored as they were one of the more ‘radical’ groups at the time. 2 sources discussing the significance of WW1 on beliefs about the roles of women in society are provided for discussion. The second portion of the lesson explores the impact of the Great Depression and utilises clips from ABC TV series ‘Further Back in Time for Dinner’ (https://iview.abc.net.au/video/CK2033H004S00) to allow students to empathise with the experience of families during this decade. The final third of this lesson is looking at the experiences of women during WW2 and the opportunities for war-related employment which emerged. Sources including propaganda posters promoting working for the Australian women’s land army, a Land Army volunteer’s personal recollections of her service and a table showing the pay disparity between men and women in between 1939-45 are included on the slides. Issues around having access to childcare, equitable pay and sexual freedoms are introduced.

Resources designed for the new senior Modern History syllabus (implemented in QLD in 2019). Designed as part of a unit entitled Women’s movements since 1893 which has the scope to span from when Women’s suffrage in New Zealand became law to the present. Our school decided to focus on the Second Wave of Feminism for our assessment (while briefly touching on the other waves of feminism).The other resources are also available in my store - Aussie_Resources. The end of term assessment for this unit was an essay under exam conditions.