The rights and freedoms of women had changed dramatically in the post World War II era due to the Women's Movement of the 1970s. Prior the Women's Movement, women were still limited in their employment opportunities and were restricted and expected by the public to traditional roles of household wives. However the Women's Movement tackled those traditional ideas and fought for the rights for women. Through their persistence the government responded by the introduction of legislations to counter gender discrimination.
During the 1960's women were expected to have traditional roles of household wives. Australian women were denied the right to equal pay, to enter certain occupations and to apply for certain jobs. They were restricted from many benefits we now take for granted. Australian women encountered discrimination constantly during the 1960s. They had fewer opportunities, less choices, less pay and were under constant prejudice. The government of the time accepted these views and promoted it, as Mrs.
Smith Street, Warwick - no's 55 to 61 Smith Street
Women at work on bomber, Douglas Aircraft Company,...
Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, ...Smith states in the interview ". There was a lot of advertising and propaganda mainly from the government, this stereotypical image of the role of the Australian woman was everywhere." At that time women were not expected to participate in the workforce, it was a common generalization that women were to stay home, it was normal for women to be discriminated against because of sexist prejudice. Mrs. Smith had a lot of trouble finding a job as employers wanted men and were generally not interested in hiring women, ", when I finished school I had some difficulty finding a job. Most employers at the time were looking for bright young men who supposedly were more reliable then women." "Most weren't at all interested in employing a female and we had limited job opportunities."The woman's movement developed because of the inequity and injustice faced...