‘It was the beginning of feminism’: how higher education paved the way for the women of Albury-Wodonga

<https://theconversation.com/it-was-the-beginning-of-feminism-how-higher-education-paved-the-way-for-the-women-of-albury-wodonga-183535>

"Regional women are too often forgotten in Australia’s political movements. The
“big teal steal” focuses on the independent candidates from Melbourne and
Sydney, forgetting that independent Cathy McGowan stole the seat of Indi from
the Liberals a decade earlier.

This forgetfulness applies to the Australian women’s movement from the heady
1970s, with the accepted history centring the women who led the movement from
the cities.

This neglect of regional women was driven home to me in a series of interviews
I conducted with past students of the Albury-Wodonga Study Centre of the
Riverina College of Advanced Education (now Charles Sturt University).

The women I interviewed had all been mature-age students of the Study Centre in
the 1970s. For all of them, this education offered them a new life.

What stuck out to me in these interviews, was when asked what undertaking study
meant to them, many responded “it was the beginning of feminism”."

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics