"Women Can Go Anywhere”

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31753, 9 August 1968, Page 2

"Women Can Go Anywhere”

If a woman was really determined to get through a particular door in Britain today she would probably do so, said Lady Venables in Christchurch last evening. She could even become Prime Minister.

And Lady Venables sees no reason why a woman should not lead the British Government, if she has the necessary ability, the toughness and the willingness to take the responsibility. “After all, Mrs Gandhi has done it in India," she said. The point had been made in Britain that a woman had the right to the life she chose as a human being. “My own feeling is that women are accepted anywhere in Britain now, even in top leadership,” she said. “They have proved themselves.” Two Roles The woman who married had two roles to fulfil, as a mother and as a person. Her problem now had nothing to do with the attitude of men or the rest of society. She had to adjust to both roles to suit herself best What she did with “the person” was for her to decide, whether her choice was a paid job, voluntary work or sitting at home reading or writing. Lady Venables, a Ph.D. in psychology from the Manchester University, is an educationist who has worked and studied most of her married life. She has four children. “Any prejudice about the children of working mothers becoming delinquent is poppycock," she said. “There are good mothers and bad mothers, irrespective of whether they work or not I don’t think it matters a hoot to a child who makes his bed or washes the floors, so long as he knows his mother loves him and she is there to answer his questions.” It was an enrichment for a child to be cared for by other people from time to time, rather than being tied to his mother always. Lady Venables feels that society should accept more widely the idea of part-time work for married women and adapt working hours to suit the housewife’s dual role. “If we run society for the benefit of human beings, then things should be organised to give women the opportunity to make their fullest contribution to society,” she said. “This is already being done in teaching, nursing and social welfare. It should be extended.”

Sir Peter Venables, ViceChancellor of the University of Aston in Birmingham, and Lady Venables came to New

Zealand at the invitation of the Technical Education Association of New Zealand, to attend its recent congress In Auckland. Both read papers on aspects of education. In Auckland Lady Venables also gave talks to the local branches of the New Zealand Federation of University Women and the Marriage Guidance Council. They will leave for Australia today to attend meetings of the Commonwealth Universities Congress in Melbourne and Sydney.