Brazen Hussies

This outstanding feature documentary traces the Australian Women's Liberation Movement from its first stirrings in the1960s to its partial fruition in the early 70s in the Whitlam years. Opening scenes of the 1950s zeitgeist recall a time when a woman was referred to by her husband's name, and a time when married women were not allowed to work in the public service. Women in general were 2nd class citizens, prevented from working in all kinds of areas and when they were allowed, they were on a lower payscale. They weren't even allowed into pubs and we see footage of them being violently arrested when they tried to do so. This is an extension of the physical violence they were routinely subjected to without sanction by their husbands and other men. The women's liberation movement was characterised by many as an attack on men's rights, and ASIO was deeply engaged in monitoring these women and girls who were seen as a threat to Australian society.

Female activists were angry, not just towards conservative elements, but calling out phoney Australian masculinity also in their comrades on the left. Union bosses would come to their worksites and have a cup of tea with their bosses rather than support women's claims for a fair go. The film combines old footage with interviews from key activists from around Australia, then and now.

The film shows how women began organising around issues such as equal pay, reproductive rights, affordable childcare, women's refuges and rape crisis centres. They incited women to rebel. Issues of indigenous and gay representation arose, adding further complexity to the struggle, but all strands are woven artfully into this interesting and inspiring film. We see the movers and shakers of the time both then and now, and they are brilliant characters, including Elizabeth Reid who was women's adviser to the Whitlam government, a federal government swept to power with the support of the fledgling Women's Electoral Lobby. At the time, 1972, there weren't even any female MPs in NSW yet the Federal Labor government introduced equal pay, single mothers pension, no fault divorce and Medicare.

Brazen Hussies paints a confronting portrait of recent Australian values and of the brave young women who organized to make profound changes with lasting effects. Among them we meet Eva Cox, Anne Summers, Pat O'Shane, Biff Ward, Germaine Greer and Helen Reddy - outstanding.