Merle Thornton interviewed by Maryanne Dever and Margaret Henderson [sound recording]
- Bib ID:
- 5055859
- Format:
- Audio
- Author:
- Thornton, Merle, 1930-, interviewee
- Online Access:
- National Library of Australia digitised item
- Access Conditions:
- Access open for research, personal copies and public use.
- Description:
-
- 2011
- 8 sound files (ca. 524 min.)
- Technical Details:
- Mode of access: Online.
- Summary:
-
Merle Thornton speaks about her early childhood and family history; her parents' interests; her family life as an only child; her school life; early experiences of gender discrimination; her father's lobbying for an improvement in women's working conditions at his work; attending the same school as Barry Humphries; her academic achievement and early interest in drama; Fort Street Girls' High School; becoming an atheist; the effect of World War II on her school and family; studying English and Philosophy at the University of Sydney; The Free Thought and Libertarian Societies; her experiences of gender discrimination; working as a clerk for the Department of Social Services; working at the Commonwealth Office of Education and the Australian Broadcasting Commission; her position as Correspondence Officer at the ABC; marrying Neil Thornton and concealing the marriage from the Public Service; the birth of her son Harold; the demands of motherhood; balancing writing and work alongside family life; Neil Thornton's family history; Neil Thornton's time in Japan during the Second World War; starting a Master's degree at the Canberra University College but deferring to have her daughter Sigrid; jobs in Canberra; moving for Neil's job at the University of Queensland; Sigrid's early theatrical experience; starting to write a novel; tutoring in Philosophy at the University of Queensland; becoming involved in feminist politics; leaving the ALP over its lack of opposition to the Vietnam War; joining the Aboriginal Advancement League in the early 1960s; the University of Queensland's Free Thought Society; being a working mother; focusing on the Women's Movement; the Regatta Hotel demonstration; the reasons for chaining herself to the bar; the rights of women in Australian society at the time; the Equal Opportunities for Women Association; Rosalie Bogner's background; the empowerment of women in relation to family size throughout history; the campaign by the Equal Opportunities for Women Association to lift the Public Service marriage bar.
Thornton speaks about writing a doctoral thesis on Philosophical Logic, rather than the preferred topic of Sex Equality; studying in England; her international travels; the 1969 International Congress for Women in Helsinki; visiting the Soviet Union in 1969; lesbianism and the Liberation Movement; introducing Women's Studies to the University of Queensland; introducing Sexual Inequality as a course through the Sociology Department; disagreements with the Roundhouse Women's Liberation group in London; consciousness-raising feminist groups in Brisbane in the 1970s; the evolution of language to describe women's experiences; Political Philosophy and its shortcomings with regard to women and life stages; the pace of feminist change; the lack of publicity for Aboriginal and Equal Opportunities for Women activism; including Aboriginal women's perspectives in the Women's Studies course; co-writing a film script; writing for the television series 'Prisoner'; working on the National Film and Sound Archive foundation committee; joining the Equal Opportunity Unit at the University of Melbourne; the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1987; creating a dramatised documentary to inform University staff about the Act; curriculum reform work; non-sexist reform work in the University's Baillieu Library; the registration of Boulder Valley Films in 1987; the 'Living Maths' project; writing and staging the play 'Playing Mothers and Fathers' in 1990; the problems of Aboriginal advancement as linked to those of Women's advancement; the derivation of women's identities from men, as a theme of novel 'After Moonlight'; her novel in progress about the Libertarian Movement of the 1950s; her involvement with the Women in Film and Television organisation in the 1990s; receiving recognition in the 1990s for feminist achievements; feminist celebrity; female political leaders; visions for women's careers and child-rearing; future prospects for feminist activism; culture and gender around the world; her reasons for returning to non-fiction.
- Notes:
- Recorded on 25-27 January 2011 in Melbourne, Vic.
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Timed summary (23 p.) and uncorrected transcript (typescript, 175 leaves)
- Subject:
- Occupation:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
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- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2081 [Created/Published Date + 70 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Sound Recording
- Published status:
- Unpublished
- Creation date:
- 2011
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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