Political Changes In Australia In The 1960s

Today, the availability of birth control is taken for granted. There was a time, not long passed, during which the subject was illegal (“Margaret Sanger,” 2013, p.1). That did not stop the resilient leader of the birth control movement. Margaret Sanger was a nurse and women’s activist. While working as a nurse, Sanger treated many women who had suffered from unsafe abortions or tried to self-induce abortion (p.1). Seeing this devastation and noting that it was mainly low income women suffering from these problems, she was inspired to dedicate her life to educating women on family planning—even though the discussion of which was highly illegal at the time (p.1). She was often in trouble with

Carl Djerassi was a chemist in Mexico city that created the first pill that synthesized hormones in 1951. In 1957 the FDA approved the pills for women with menstrual disorders but just three years later the pill was released for sexual protection. Some states still made this drug illegal and it went against many people’s morals. In 1997 the pill was expanded to treat acne (A Brief History 1-2). The pill has come a long way and is still continuing to form in this evolving society. Less than seventy years ago we didn’t even have an oral option for birth control. Today we are fighting over whether the pill can be available over the counter or not.

To the question “Why the Woman Rebel?” Sanger wrote “Because I believe that deep down in woman’s nature lies slumbering the spirit of revolt” and “Because I believe that through the efforts of individual revolution will woman’s freedom emerge”. Both highlight how birth control was not a mere technique to personal freedom, but an avenue to power. These quotes emphasize Sanger’s belief that the birth control pill would unleash the spirit of freedom amongst women. She did not argue for the open distribution of contraceptive to promote personal freedom. However, she believed that limitation on family size would free women from the dangers of childbearing and give them the opportunity to become active outside the home. In addition, Document 1 acknowledges birth control’s ability to bring about radical social class change. Sanger includes her belief that women are “enslaved by the world machine…middle-class morality”. Her idea of social change not only involved embracing the liberation of woman, but also the working class. It is believed that the birth control campaign succeeded as it became “a movement by and for the middle class”. Birth control provided middle-class women the opportunity to plan families without the stress of balancing growing expenses for a child that was not planned for. In The Woman Rebel Sanger introduces birth control’s larger mission of power and opportunity for women while incorporating the basis of social class.

In the mid-1800s American women united to participate in social reforms movements more than ever before. This movement’s involved: struggle to abolish slavery, outlaw alcohol, and ban child labor among others (Rupp, 1987). Despite the failure of the women's movement to attain one among its primary goals, the passage of the ERA , the movement overall accomplished an excellent deal. For several women activists, management over their bodies was a central issue in the campaign. Women needed to be liberated to explore and control their gender, while not being judged by society. An oversized a part of management during this arena concerned having access to birth control, or contraception ways (Fishman, 1998). The contraception pill, associate inoculant,

During his time in office, Gough Whitlam was able to determine and predict that in future times the Australian people would have to rely further on their Asian neighbours. Just two weeks after being elected, Whitlam officially recognised the communist government of the People's Republic of China and opened up diplomatic relations (Source 6) as well trading and cultural links. Within a year Australia had reopened its embassy in Beijing (Source 7) which had been closed in protest when the communist government took power. Whitlam wanted to change the racially charged thoughts of Australians which had prevented interactions in its own region. Relations between Australia and South-East Asia also improved after the abandonment of the 'White Australia' policy under the Whitlam government. Not only did that prompt the arrival of Asian refugees, it also allowed a larger range of people from Asian countries to obtain tourist and education visa’s. The Colombo Plan allowed Asian students to study in Australia. The Vietnam War and major Whitlam policy reforms brought Australians out of our Anglo-centric view and realise that we had a larger part to play in Asia. As a result of many new cultural, diplomatic, trade and tourist links to Australia, the Whitlam government was able to boost exports dramatically, change the racist face of Australian society and

This period of unpopular, draconian policies, widespread protest and the government’s voluntary manipulation and fearmongering of the Australian public formed the foremost historical factor in Vietnam War’s impact on Australian culture and society. The moratorium marches and widespread protesting lead to a general liberalisation of Australian government policy; the Vietnam era had directly helped shape a society in which the government’s actions could be questioned and try to change our nation’s international relations and

Why the 1967 referendum changed Australia Background/Introduction: The 1967 referendum improved Aboriginal rights in Australia. Aboriginal people were once when dined rights like the right to vote, the right to an education, the right to own land and other rights. Aboriginal rights activists wanted Aboriginal Australians to be counted in the Census and the federal government had the to control Aboriginal rights instead of the state governments. The 1967 Referendum was significant event in the Aboriginal struggle for rights, freedom, equality.

Before the introduction of modern birth control, gender roles emphasized the responsibility of women to conceive and raise children. Although this began to change in the in the mid-twentieth century, with the introduction of the first hormonal birth control pill, Enovid, taking place in 1960, it was not readily accessible during that time period (Buttar and Seward, 2009, p. 1-3). This did not change during the time period immediately following the introduction either; five years after the introduction of Enovid, there was still controversy surrounding the use of contraceptives. In the Supreme Court case of Griswold v. Connecticut, the legality of birth control on the market was debated, and the case concluded with the allowance of hormonal contraceptives, but it was limited to married couples only under the right of marital privacy (George and Lewis, 2016, p. 1). The controversy and secrecy that surrounded the use of birth control shortly after its introduction indicates that although it was certainly present and used in society during this time period, it still carried the negative social connotations of the past, which prevented it from being socially normalized. In contrast, the standardization of birth control in society took place decades later, from approximately the 1990 to 2010s.

Due to the influence of the Vietnam anti-war movement , it had resulted in the government to gradually withdraw their troops. The anti-war movement in Australia during the Vietnam war had an influential, positive and negative impact. The first main impacts that the anti-war movement had influenced was that they had put an enormous amount of pressure on the government. However, the Vietnam anti-war movement hadn’t only affected the Australian governments but also their people.

Australia was involved in the Vietnam War during 1965 and 1972. As Australia entered the war it generated numerous amount of support for the Australian troops to fight in the war. However, because of this support there were many groups who opposed of Australia’s involvement in the war. The supporters of the war included, Returned and Service League (RSL), the older generation and The Australian Democratic Party. The groups who opposed of the involvement of the war included The Trade Unions and The Protestant church. These points will be elaborated on through out this essay.

The idea of birth control has been around since before the eighteenth century. However, those in control of it have changed over time leading to several positive and negative effects including seeking underground abortions and disguised labeling of products for contraception.

There are few scientific developments more associated with feminism than that of the development of the birth control pill. While it was certainly not the catalyst for the liberation of all women, it opened up a world of opportunity for many who chose to take it. For my Simmons History Research Project, I chose to look into the availability of contraception at the school. In my initial search, I hoped to find out exactly when and exactly what forms of birth control were made available to students through the school. As my research progressed, I found that while the school is extremely forthcoming about birth control today, it took a very long time for this level of openness to be reached. However, once the school was able to legally able to

“I was profoundly embarrassed by it (the White Australia Policy) and did all I could to change it.” - Gough Whitlam quoted in Paul Kelly's 100 Years – The Australian Story published in 2001 (ABC, n.d.).

Oral birth control in the United States has a long history of controversy. For many years after it was legalized for married couples it was still considered taboo to talk about. So of course, Loretta Lynn, appropriately named Queen of Country, wrote and performed a song about it. This spunky, out spoken, record setting country goddess saw absolutely no qualm when it came to discussing, “the pill”. Although this ground-breaking song on the birth control forefront might seem revolutionary, it was nothing new for an artist like Lynn, who characteristically wrote songs about the hushed aspects of domestic life. Loretta Lynn’s song, “The Pill”, pushed social boundaries in the 1970’s by encouraging married women, especially in rural areas, to take control of their lives with the use of oral birth control. Lynn did so by informing rural women of the normalcy of oral birth control.

The birth control pill was the first form of oral contraceptive approved by the FDA in 1960. What began as a matter of population control and family planning for low income individuals grew into a massive feminist movement including upper and middle class women demanding oral contraceptives in the context of a sexual revolution in the 1960’s