Macquarie University

Currency Lasses and Chesty Bonds: Gender in Australian History - MHIX245

Gender shapes how we think, feel and act. It influences society at the broadest level: our economy, culture and politics are all gendered in different ways. This unit explores the historical dimensions of gender in Australia. We look at the gendered nature of convictism and the colonial frontier; the Creole and complex societies that developed with the forced appropriation of Aboriginal land; the mapping of the continent; the establishment of grazing and agricultural industries; and the racial mixing that evolved especially in the north. We move to first-wave feminism and the masculinist context of Federation. We consider the ANZAC male, flappers, lifesavers and popular culture in the interwar years. Parenthood in the twentieth century is explored as the advent of youth culture. Women's liberation is considered in terms of its impact on society and the ways that masculinity responded to it. The unit concludes with a review of gender in film and history, and the recent rise of the metrosexual and the mainstreaming of porn stars. It provides a foundation for understanding present day Australian society.

All enrolment queries should be directed to Open Universities Australia (OUA): see www.open.edu.au