ABSTRACT

In the late 19th century, urban progressive women in Australia started looking to the land as a critical function of wider calls for independence, autonomy and equal access to labour and the profits derived from one's own hands. This thoroughly modern and middle-class movement emerged as a product of the progressive “New Woman”, who was awakened to a sense of capacity and duty beyond the confines of traditional domesticity. This call was also supported by the bourgeois belief in “vitalism”, which reinforced a passion for “Nature” and outdoor activities. This article draws on two case studies that span the late 19th century through to the end of World War I to consider suffragist Mary Sanger Evans, and later Ina Higgins, who saw the lighter branches of agriculture as a means of independence, autonomy and parity that could challenge prevailing notions of appropriate women's labour. Influenced by broader changes taking place around Federation, this article explores the varied experiences of ex-urban migration, bringing to light a small group of women who moved away from the cities, resulting in generations of smallholders and professional female gardeners benefiting from the New Women who went “home” in the early 20th century.

摘要

在 19 世纪后期，澳大利亚的城市进步女性开始将土地视为更广泛呼吁独立、自主和平等获得劳动力以及从自己手中获得的利润的重要功能。这场彻底的现代和中产阶级运动是进步的“新女性”的产物，她意识到超越传统家庭生活的能力和责任感。这一呼吁也得到了资产阶级对“活力”的信仰的支持，这增强了对“自然”和户外活动的热情。本文借鉴了跨越 19 世纪末到第一次世界大战结束的两个案例研究，考虑了女权主义者玛丽·桑格·埃文斯和后来的伊娜·希金斯，后者将较轻的农业部门视为独立的手段，自主和平等，这可能会挑战有关适当妇女劳动的流行观念。受联邦周围发生的更广泛变化的影响，本文探讨了移居城市的各种经历，揭示了离开城市的一小部分女性，从而使几代小农和职业女性园丁受益于新女性谁在 20 世纪初“回家”了。