MATERNITY, WHITENESS AND NATIONAL IDENTITY
2006; Routledge; Volume: 21; Issue: 50 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/08164640600736068
ISSN1465-3303
Autores Tópico(s)Gender, Feminism, and Media
ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes *. Research for this article was conducted in part with the support of an Australian Research Council Discovery grant. Thanks to Miranda Morris and Andrea Collis for research support and to the two anonymous Australian Feminist Studies readers who made useful suggestions for improving the article. 1. Until the arrests in Perth, WA, in 1998 the most recent arrests of medical abortion providers had been in Queensland in 1985. For an historical overview of abortion politics in Australia see Stefania Siedlecky and Diana Wyndham (1990 Siedlecky, Stefania and Wyndham, Diana. 1990. Populate and perish: Australian women's fight for birth control, Sydney: Allen & Unwin. [Google Scholar]); for more detail on Tasmania, Queensland and South Australia see Ryan, Ripper, and Buttfield (1994 Ryan, L., Ripper, M. and Buttfield, B. 1994. We women decide: Women's experience of seeking abortion in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania 1985–1992, Adelaide: Women's Studies Unit, Flinders University. [Google Scholar]). 2. For a comprehensive discussion of the issues related to maternity leave see Pocock (2003 Pocock, Barbara. 2003. The work/life collision, Sydney: Federation Press. [Google Scholar], 212–37). For up-to-date accounts of government policy regarding single parents and family law see the website of the National Council for the Single Mother and her Child (NCSMC) National Council for the Single Mother and her Child (NCSMC) . n.d. Available from http://www.ncsmc.org.au [Google Scholar]. 3. For some of the key texts published on race and right-wing politics see Geoffrey Gray and Christine Winter (1997 Gray , Geoffrey , and Christine Winter , eds. 1997 . The resurgence of racism: Howard, Hanson and the race debate . Melbourne : Department of History, Monash University . [Google Scholar]); Ghassan Hage (1998 Hage, Ghassan. 1998. White nation, Sydney: Pluto Press. [Google Scholar]); Carol Johnson (2000 Johnson, Carol. 2000. Governing change: From Keating to Howard, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press. [Google Scholar]); Robert Manne (2001 Manne, Robert. 2001. In denial. The stolen generations and the right, Melbourne: Black. [Google Scholar]); Peter Mares (2002 Mares, Peter. 2002. Borderline: Australia's response to refugees and asylum seekers in the wake of the Tampa, 2nd ed, Sydney: University of NSW Press. [Google Scholar]); and Suvendrini Perera (2005 Perera , Suvendrini . 2005 . 'They give evidence': Bodies, borders and the disappeared . In The body politic: Racialised political cultures in Australia (Refereed proceedings from the UQ Australian Studies Centre Conference, Brisbane, 24–26 November 2004) , edited by Tseen Khoo . Brisbane and Melbourne : University of Queensland's Australian Studies Centre (ASC) and Monash University's National Centre for Australian Studies (NCAS). Available from http://www.asc.uq.edu.au/bodypolitic/ [Google Scholar]). The key text so far on the religious right is Marion Maddox (2005 Maddox, Marion. 2005. God under Howard: The rise of the religious right in Australian politics, Sydney: Allen & Unwin. [Google Scholar]). 4. For a global picture of the abortion see the special issue of Reproducing Health Matters (10 (19), 2002 Reproducing Health Matters . 2002 . 10 : 9 . [Google Scholar]). For the claim that the framework for the provision of abortion in Australia is more restrictive than in comparable countries, see Dianne Proctor and Rachel Ingwersen (2001 Proctor , Dianne , and Rachel Ingwersen . 2001 . Reproductive health—Who is setting the agenda in Australia . Paper presented at the Australian Society of Reproductive Biology, 1 January 2001, for the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance . Available from http://www.arha.org.au/papersandarticles/ASRB%20Sept%202001.pdf [Google Scholar]). 5. See David Walker's discussion for early twentieth-century popular understanding of the threat from the North and of the progress of the occupation and possession of Aboriginal land (1999 Walker, David. 1999. Anxious nation, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press. [Google Scholar], 121–25). 6. For the origins of the White Australia policy see James Jupp (2002 Jupp, James. 2002. From White Australia to Woomera: The story of Australian immigration, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 8–10). 7. See, for example, Tim Rowse (2005 Rowse , Tim , ed 2005 . Contesting assimilation . Perth : API Network . [Google Scholar]). 8. See Julie Wells (1991 Wells, Julie. 1991. A woman's work: Assimilation policy and housework in the Darwin area in the 1950s and 1960s. Journal of Northern Territory History, 2: 1–15. [Google Scholar]); and Srebenka Kunek (1993 Kunek, Srebenka. 1993. Brides, wives, and single women: Gender and immigration. Lilith, 8: 82–113. [Google Scholar], 63). 10. Aileen Moreton-Robinson makes this argument across the board for feminism in Australia in Talkin' Up to the White Woman (2000), and in particular in relation to the feminist politics of sexuality and reproduction (see pages 165–71). 11. Governor-General Jeffrey has previously publicly endorsed the policy of assimilation of Aboriginal people (see Anna Haebich 2003 Haebich Anna . 2003 . Bridging the gap: Aboriginal women, assimilation and the home . Paper presented at A Rugged Path? Family and Gender in Australia and Tasmania , 26 July , Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, Hobart . [Google Scholar], 1). The figure of 100,000 abortions, introduced into public debate by Tony Abbott, has been contested. Record keeping in Australia does not easily allow an accurate account of the number of abortions performed annually except in South Australia, where State-based legislation mandates compulsory notification. 12. Large parts of this speech reappear in Turnbull's inaugural speech to federal parliament one year later. See Turnbull's website (http://www.turnbullforwentworth.org.au). 13. See Doris Buss and Didi Herman (2003 Buss, Doris and Herman, Didi. 2003. Globalizing family values: The Christian right in international politics, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], 68). 14. The idea that race can be reproduced is present in feminist Leslie Cannold's account of the likely 'national disintegration' of Italy, where the low birth rate means that 'in 100 year's time, there simply won't be any Italians left!' (2005 Cannold, Leslie. 2005. What, no baby? Why women are losing the freedom to mother, and how they can get it back, Fremantle: Curtin University Books. [Google Scholar], 36; emphasis added). Malcolm Turnbull expresses this as the likelihood that 'great cultures', including Italy, could become 'functionally extinct within a century' (Turnbull 2004a Turnbull, Malcolm. 2004a. "It's the birth rate, stupid! Facing up to fertility". In Australia's population challenge: The National Population Summit, Adelaide: Australian Population Institute (SA) Inc. [Google Scholar], 80). This sentiment, sourced to another speech, is quoted exactly in another feminist book, Deirdre Macken's Oh No, We Forgot to Have Children: How Declining Birth Rates Are Reshaping Our Society (2005 Macken, Deirdre. 2005. Oh no, we forgot to have children: How declining birth rates are reshaping our society, Sydney: Allen & Unwin. [Google Scholar], 13). 15. This does not mean, however, that abortion services are necessarily sensitive to cultural differences among women. See Mitchell, Nugent and Arbon (1996 Mitchell, D., Nugent, M. and Arbon, V. 1996. "'Shame and blame': How sexuality and confidentiality feature in urban Australian Aboriginal women's discourses about experiences of health institutions". In Women, sexuality, culture: Cross cultural perspectives on sexuality, Edited by: Spongberg, M., Larbalestier, J. and Winn, M. Sydney: Women's Studies Centre, University of Sydney. [Google Scholar]). 16. For this argument in relation to Australian feminism see Moreton-Robinson (2000 Moreton-Robinson, Aileen. 2000. Talkin' up to the white woman, St Lucia: University of Queensland Press. [Google Scholar]). 17. A newspaper article in March 2004 was sub-headed 'Both sides of the abortion debate agree that the number of terminations in Australia is too high.' It quoted several women's health practitioners and advocates who express the desire to bring down the number of abortions (Dunn 2004 Dunn , Amanda . 2004 . At the heart of the issue . The Age , 'Insight', 20 March: 3 . [Google Scholar], 3). 18. See Katharine Betts (2004 Betts, Katharine. 2004. Attitudes to abortion in Australia: 1972 to 2003. People and Place, 12(4): 22–28. [Google Scholar], 22–28). The Australian commissioned a Newspoll survey in December 2004 which showed overwhelming public support for a broadly defined women's right to choose (Karvelas 2004 Karvelas, Patricia. 2004. Majority stays pro-choice. The Australian, 29 December: 2 [Google Scholar]). 19. Hage defines 'whiteness' as 'a fantasy position of cultural dominance born out of the history of European expansion. … Whiteness is an aspiration' (1998, 20). 20. There is a brief comment on the parity of women having abortions in the NHMRC's An Information Paper on Termination of Pregnancy in Australia (1996, 42). 21. I acknowledge the report of an anonymous reviewer of this article for raising this issue. 22. For a thorough account of all three debates and the respective new Acts see Barbara Baird (2006 Baird Barbara . Forthcoming 2006 . The future of abortion In: Women making time , edited by Elizabeth McMahon and Brigitta Olubas . Perth : University of Western Australia Press . [Google Scholar]). 23. As well as relief and a sense of achievement when the laws were passed, many who fought hard for these latter reforms also thought they were only the best outcome at the time. For a description of the WA law as 'the most liberal abortion regime in the country' see Chip Le Grand (1998 Le Grand, Chip. 1998. Victory at midnight. The Weekend Australian, 23–24 May: 29 [Google Scholar], 29). 24. Many Australian women will engage with (at least) two doctors as part of their process of seeking an abortion, especially when the first doctor they consult refuses to refer them to an abortion provider. A woman's GP, or a family planning clinic practitioner, will often be her first contact and will then ideally refer her to a specialist abortion service where another doctor performs the abortion. Some well-informed women will, however, go directly to a specialist clinic, or to a doctor who will perform the procedure. The legal requirement of two doctors constructs a mandatory legal structure around the situation. 25. For Rogers v. Whitaker see Loane Skene and Scott Millwood (1997 Skene, Loane and Scott, Millwood. 1997. "'Informed consent' to medical procedures: The current law in Australia, doctors' knowledge of the law and their practices in informing patients". In Health care law and ethics, Edited by: Shotton, Leila. Katoomba, NSW: Social Science Press. [Google Scholar]); and Freckelton (1999 Freckelton , Ian . 1999 . The new duty to warn . Alternative Law Journal 24 ( 1 ): 17 – 21 , 29 . [Google Scholar], 17). 26. See Sally Sheldon (1997 Sheldon, Sally. 1997. Beyond control: Medical power and abortion law, London: Pluto Press. [Google Scholar]) for an intricately detailed Foucauldian analysis of the consequences of the privileging of the authority of the doctor. Her account refers to the UK abortion law but is entirely applicable to Australia. 27. For Reproductive Choice Australia Reproductive Choice Australia . n.d. Available from http://www.reproductivechoiceaustralia.org.au [Google Scholar] see http://www.reproductivechoiceaustralia.org.au. For a report of the new anti-abortion group see Natasha Robinson and Samantha Maiden (2005 Robinson, Natasha and Maiden, Samantha. 2005. Abortion lobby wins over MPs. The Australian, 1 February: 5 [Google Scholar]). 28. See Dennis Glover (2005 Glover, Dennis. 2005. Howard's secret abortion agenda. The Age, 11 February: 11 [Google Scholar]) for an insightful account of Howard's tactics in the abortion debate. 29. In the context of the post-2004 election debates see, for example, Marie Coleman (2004 Coleman , Marie . 2004 . Sound and fury on abortion belies the facts . Canberra Times , 12 November. Available from http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/search.asp (accessed 5 April 2006) . [Google Scholar]); Wendy McCarthy, quoted in Emma Kate Symons (2004 Symons, Emma Kate. 2004. Ready for a choice dispute. The Australian, 13 November: 27 [Google Scholar]); sexual health youth worker Karen Molhuysen, quoted in Clair Konkes (2004 Konkes, Clair. 2004. Politicians stir up abortion argument. Sunday Tasmanian, 7 Novmeber: 7 [Google Scholar], 7). 30. I have no opposition to women seeking abortions (or anyone) being provided with counselling if they want it, as part of the range of health care services that should be offered. No doubt, counselling services for all manner of problems are currently inadequate. I do not, however, support the legal mandating of such counselling. 31. For background to the issue and the proposed removal of this special power from the minister and the placement of mifepristone (RU486) in the realm of the Therapeutic Goods Administration see the relevant documents on the Senate Community Affairs Committee Senate Community Affairs Committee, Parliament of Australia . 2004 . Available from http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/index.htm [Google Scholar] website.
Referência(s)