U.S. rallies, forums and shows all part of Women’s History Week

Press, 3 November 1983, Page 16

U.S. rallies, forums and shows all part of Women’s History Week

Making it happen

Americans learnt more in 1983 about the contributions of women to society than they had ever learnt before

— thanks to the first National Women’s History Week.

Observance was during the week of March 8, International Women’s Day. Rallies, forums, panels, conferences, demonstrations, radio programmes, news media shows and school programmes were all part of 1983 celebrations of women’s rights and their contributions to the history and culture of the world.

Curriculum guidelines and suggestions for projects were developed and made widely available. There were puzzles, children’s games (such as Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railway to commemorate the woman who organised slaves to freedom prior to the American Civil War), and ideas for dramatic reenactments of history.

School students are now studying from books such as “Stereotypes, Distortions, and Omissions in U.S. History Textbooks.” A Women’s Rights Historical Park was opened at Seneca Falls, New York state, to preserve the homes of two great early feminists, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Amelia Bloomer, as well as the Wesleyan Chapel that housed the first women’s convention in 1848.

What began as an effort to encourage the study of women’s history in Sonoma County, California, in 1978, was first taken up independently by a number of other states.

A resolution proposing national <• observance was brought before the United States House of Representatives in 1982 by a Democrat congresswoman from Maryland, and to the Senate by a male Republican senator from Utah.

The resolution read: “Whereas American women have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural and social role in every Sphere of our nation’s life ... Whereas despite these contributions, the role of American women in his-

tory has been consistently overlooked and undervalued in the body of American history: Now, therefore let it be resolved that the week beginning March 6, 1983, is designated ‘Women’s History Week,’ and the President is requested to issue a proclamation calling on the people of the United States to observe such week with appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

After the presidential proclamation, requests for information flooded into the project task force. The idea was taken up nationwide by schools, civic and religious groups, women’s organisations, libraries and universities.

The week’s activities provided an avalanche of new material and ideas, and the project organisers are continuing to provide resources for groups who wish to seek and discover more about the historical heritage of women. Their address is: National Women’s History Week Project, P.O. Box 3716, Santa Rosa, California, U.S. 95402. Women's issues in social work Women students in the University of Canterbury’s new department of social work will have their consciousnesses raised by a lecture series on women’s issues. The lectures will take a feminist approach to why women are the majority of clients for social workers. Particular problems met by women social workers in a male-directed profession will also be discussed. With titles like Women’s Reality, Women as Clients, Women in Administration, Women and Policy and Where Do We go From Here?, the lectures are designed to prepare women social work students for the kind of conditions they will encounter in the field, according to Carolyn Konle, a lecturer in the department. - .J

Rape report Containing papers presented at the 1982 Rape Symposium in Wellington, a new report, “Rape In New Zealand” is now available from the Mental Health Foundation. The report contains addresses by the Minister of Justice, Mr McLay, and by ah Auckland psychologist, Ms Miriam Saphira, as well as papers giving legal, police and victim support views. In his summary of the present laws on rape, Mr Justice Jeffries recommends a careful study of recent changes to overseas laws, with particular emphasis on how the crime of unlawful sexual intercourse is to be defined. He favours a positive investigation of New South Wales’ experience with its new legislation. Recommendations for counselling centres for the victims of sexual assault are also favoured. These are specialised stand-alone units (such as HELP) in Auckland, where victims receive medical examinations, counselling, and can be interviewed by the police in a supportive environment. Food producers “Feeding people ... that’s the activity that links women together across all frontiers,” according to Gwenyth Wright, co-editor of “WAgMag,” the rural women’s newsletter, speaking at a recent farming seminar in Tauranga. Describing the aims of the Women in Agriculture Planning Group when it first met in 1981, Mrs Wright said that it wanted to change the prevailing stereotypes of women’s role in country life. “We wanted to change the prevailing stereotype of farmers always being men — you know the sort of thing, advertisements addressing Mr Farmer, no women . speaking for Federated Farmers (the Women’s Division is allowed to do. its thing somewhere else), and the men make the decisions — decisions affecting the lives of women as well,” Mrs Wright said.

She pointed out the numbers of times that farm wives or women farming partners are snubbed by accountants, bankers, lawyers and salesmen. “We all know stories like the one about the attractive young woman, married, but farming under her own name. She comes in to the farm machinery dealers to buy a tractor. A salesman joins her. ‘Hello, dearie, having a look round are you?’ ‘Yes, I want to buy a tractor.’ ‘Oh yeah,’ he laughs, ‘Pull the other one, but enjoy yourself. How about this little toy?’ He points out one of those small machines you might

use in a garden or glass house. She gives him a withering look, and buys a tractor down the street,” Mrs Wright said. The WAg group has put. together a kitset on how to run a seminar or field day. These are available to rural groups or women wanting to bring rural women together to improve their practical farming skills. Anyone wanting a set should write to Women in Agriculture, C/- State Services Commission, Wellington P.B. Parks boards Nominations are now being accepted for positions on the National Parks and Reserves Authority and regional parks boards, says the National Organisation for Women. “N.O.W. hopes that women will be appointed to all these boards,” says Mrs Betty Roberts, the N.O.W. co-ordihator. “We wrote to all Ministers inquiring about women appointees to committees under their jurisdiction, and were pleased to learn from the Minister of the Environment that women would be welcomed on the parks boards.” The parks boards in this area are West Coast, North Canterbury, Nelson/Marlborough and Aorangi. Nominations will close on November 25, and should be made either by individuals or organisations supporting the nominees. Nomination forms are available both from the Minister, or from the National Organisation for Women. Contact secretary, Ann Johnson, phone 559-895, or Betty Roberts at phone 327-774. Or write to P.O. Box 2720. Reward fund A big increase in rapes in the United States, particularly against older women, prompted a National Organisation for Women chapter to establish a reward fund. The first $lOO donation came from another group,. Men Against Rape. The N.O.W. president said that the fund could be a prototype for similar projects elsewhere. Quote “Once in Cabinet we had to deal with the fact that there had been an outbreak of assaults on women at night. One minister suggested a curfew; women should stay home after dark. I said, ‘But it’s the men who are attacking the women. If there’s to be a curfew let the men stay home, not the women’.” —Golda Meir Items for consideration in "Making It Happen” should be addressed to Mrs J. Steincamp, Home and People Page, “The Press,” P.O. Box 1005, Christchurch.