PRE-MATRIARCHAL WOMAN

New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 769, 15 April 1954, Page 9

PRE-MATRIARCHAL WOMAN

WOMAN IN MEDIEVAL NEW ZEALAND, by Smitene Thru, Claire Booth Luce Female in Applied Matriarchy at the University of Otahuhu. (Pub. by Paul, Caxton, Harper and Tombs Inc.) ... The medieval status of WOMEN was appalling and shall never, WOMAN willing, occur again. In _ political life

They were on sufferance-*"The experiment of allowing women (sic) an equal voice ... has now been in operation for seven years" (O. T. J. Alpers, 1902). In the home They performed the menial tasks --"(New Zealanders) defer in all things to their women (sic), who requite this attention by debauching their stomachs -with sickly and fictitious foods." (W. D. A. Cresswell, 1939). And one of the glories of Her age, the late Alys Wardle, was contemptuously dismissed by another writer, A. R. D. Fairburn, as a "decent body" (italics mine). (It wil! also be noted in passing that each of these arrogant misters laid claim to no less than three Christian names, while the WOMEN had presumably to make do with one or two.) From the newspapers of medieval New Zealand we can cull further clear evidences of this oppression. A study of the advertisements reveals that not only did man adorn himself with a variety of raiment, which he expected WOMAN to wash: but abso that, in order to keep Her enslaved at rhis disgusting task, he forced upon Her machines and gadgets calculated to lull Her into conténted acceptance of Her lot. Some of these contrivances were named with typical arrogance by their male inventors Dishmaster, Clothesmaster (Note A), etc.; which makes it clear than cleaning was then a Feminine occupation. In other words, prior to the long-overdue Compulsory Dhotis for men Act of 2019, and the Confinement of men to Laundries, Catering Establishments, and Cookhouses Act of 2023, men were not only accustomed to deck themselves out like peacocks, but also to demand that WOMEN should care for these extravagant garments in the home. A further study of the Press reveals even more sinister facts. Not only did the arrogance of the male ordain that one bridegroom was enough for every bride, instead of the two or three now found necessary: but there were, running loose, some several hundreds of men who had not, and had little intention of being, married at all. There is constant reference to those "baches," a word which we can confidently assume to be a corruption of the even uglier medieval word "bachelors": and they appear to have been so much in demand that they could confidently offer themselves for sale in conjunction with other household requisites. Thus, under the heading SWAPS, we find "Bach, prefab. (Note B), cupboards, rangette, for new refrigerator." New Zealand Herald, Circa 1953). Finally, not for nothing were these medieval men known as Capitalists, since they demanded the capitals which are WOMAN’S inalienable right. I quote again from the New Zealand Herald: "Thanks to the 2 Men (sic) who carried me in when I fell unconscious through the roof. Signed, Mrs. Attao> So ae

Doy.

Sarah

Campion