INVENTING PERFECT AUSTRALIAN WOMANHOOD: THE MISS AUSTRALIA QUEST AND THE ROLE OF DISABILITY IN POSTWAR AUSTRALIA. The Miss Australia Quest articulated the concept of perfect white womanhood in the postwar era. Sponsored by a major charity, the Spastics League, the Quest sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood yet who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue. Bodily and moral perfection ran counter to the sponsoring organisation which dealt with the severely disabled. ....INVENTING PERFECT AUSTRALIAN WOMANHOOD: THE MISS AUSTRALIA QUEST AND THE ROLE OF DISABILITY IN POSTWAR AUSTRALIA. The Miss Australia Quest articulated the concept of perfect white womanhood in the postwar era. Sponsored by a major charity, the Spastics League, the Quest sought to locate representatives of conventional womanhood yet who had exemplary appearance, poise and moral virtue. Bodily and moral perfection ran counter to the sponsoring organisation which dealt with the severely disabled. With competitions held throughout the Commonwealth, the finalists were designated by their state of origin. Hence both regions and then states competed alongside individuals. The broadcast of the Quest was a major television event until 1986. An analysis of the Quest allows interrogation of the role of fundraising for charity, the construction of celebrity, the nature of idealised young womanhood and interstate rivalries. Scholarly articles and a book alongside a projected exhibition at the new National Museum of Australia are anticipated.Read moreRead less
Eureka's Women: An Intimate History of Sex, Class and Culture on the Victorian Goldfields. This project will be the first systematic study of the role of women in an iconic event in Australian history - the Eureka Stockade. The research will challenge the prevailing representation of Eureka as a hyper-masculine episode - male passions inflamed, male blood shed, manhood suffrage won - by providing a unique gender perspective to a familiar narrative. My hypothesis is that women were intimately and ....Eureka's Women: An Intimate History of Sex, Class and Culture on the Victorian Goldfields. This project will be the first systematic study of the role of women in an iconic event in Australian history - the Eureka Stockade. The research will challenge the prevailing representation of Eureka as a hyper-masculine episode - male passions inflamed, male blood shed, manhood suffrage won - by providing a unique gender perspective to a familiar narrative. My hypothesis is that women were intimately and inextricably involved in the events at Eureka, as they were more generally in the political and cultural life of the Victorian goldfields. The research findings will contribute to ongoing debates about the meaning of the Eureka story for Australian identity, citizenship and democracy.Read moreRead less
Dynastic Marriage, Courtly Politics and the State in Renaissance Italy. The search for an understanding of the processes by which political ideas and cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity change, and new genres of written expression emerge, is directly relevant to contemporary Australia. To study these themes in a period at once remote from one's own and yet, as the Italian Renaissance is, perennially fascinating to the public imagination, is to make an important contribution to ....Dynastic Marriage, Courtly Politics and the State in Renaissance Italy. The search for an understanding of the processes by which political ideas and cultural assumptions about masculinity and femininity change, and new genres of written expression emerge, is directly relevant to contemporary Australia. To study these themes in a period at once remote from one's own and yet, as the Italian Renaissance is, perennially fascinating to the public imagination, is to make an important contribution to our understanding of the historical roots of significant on-going debates.Read moreRead less
Citizenship, Governance and Gender: Chinese Women in Political Action. The project provides the first book-length analysis of Chinese women's involvement in politics in Greater China (PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ROC) since 1900. Currently, Chinese women's participation within formal, informal and civil society politics is poorly understood. My project examines crucial interactions between discursive notions of citizenship and gender in the Chinese cultural context. I also provide a comprehensive exa ....Citizenship, Governance and Gender: Chinese Women in Political Action. The project provides the first book-length analysis of Chinese women's involvement in politics in Greater China (PRC, Hong Kong, Taiwan, ROC) since 1900. Currently, Chinese women's participation within formal, informal and civil society politics is poorly understood. My project examines crucial interactions between discursive notions of citizenship and gender in the Chinese cultural context. I also provide a comprehensive examination of structural factors influencing women's political engagement. My project will be the first in Chinese Studies to adapt western notions of gender, citizenship and ideologies of governance to understandings of Chinese women in politics.Read moreRead less
Women and self-development in French history; implications for Australian women's experience. Our culture values individualism for all but assigns women more responsibility than men for caring for others. Women are caught in a double bind between two conflicting roles, self-development and self-sacrifice. We seek to historicise the development of the self for women in nineteenth-century France, a period which has had an immense impact on contemporary gender roles and the way we understand the ge ....Women and self-development in French history; implications for Australian women's experience. Our culture values individualism for all but assigns women more responsibility than men for caring for others. Women are caught in a double bind between two conflicting roles, self-development and self-sacrifice. We seek to historicise the development of the self for women in nineteenth-century France, a period which has had an immense impact on contemporary gender roles and the way we understand the gendered self today. We will produce an international comparative history of women's self-hood which demonstrates its importance for women today.Read moreRead less
Sentimental blokes: a cultural history of working-class masculinities in Australia, 1850-1929. For decades now, therapists, academics and activists have called for Australian men to be more emotionally articulate. This is necessary in part because stereotypes of Australian masculinity emphasise hostility towards emotion, especially sentimental emotion. By demonstrating the significance of masculine sentimentality in Australia's past, this project will help to change this. Drawing on the insights ....Sentimental blokes: a cultural history of working-class masculinities in Australia, 1850-1929. For decades now, therapists, academics and activists have called for Australian men to be more emotionally articulate. This is necessary in part because stereotypes of Australian masculinity emphasise hostility towards emotion, especially sentimental emotion. By demonstrating the significance of masculine sentimentality in Australia's past, this project will help to change this. Drawing on the insights of theatre and cultural studies and publishing in diverse forums, it will also bring a more interdisciplinary dimension to the history of Australian masculinities. Further, it will make Australian material relevant to international scholarship on emotional history, the relationship between class and gender, and gendered subjectivities.Read moreRead less
Being Famous in China: Celebrities, Heroes and Public Figures. This project furthers Australian understanding of our most strategically important neighbours, the People's Republic of China. The better we understand how it mobilises exemplars, and famous people for social cohesion or economic and political causes the more likely we are to be able to further Australian interests within this large market. Celebrity systems are integral to advertising campaigns, therefore the better we understand ho ....Being Famous in China: Celebrities, Heroes and Public Figures. This project furthers Australian understanding of our most strategically important neighbours, the People's Republic of China. The better we understand how it mobilises exemplars, and famous people for social cohesion or economic and political causes the more likely we are to be able to further Australian interests within this large market. Celebrity systems are integral to advertising campaigns, therefore the better we understand how celebrity is perceived the more likely we are to create effective marketing strategies for Australian exports. The project also enhances Australia's strong reputation as leaders in scholarship in Chinese Studies by producing research publications of high impact. Read moreRead less
The popular culture of romantic love in twentieth-century Australia. In western culture 'love' is commonly cited as the reason for cohabitation or marriage, yet 46% of marriages are likely to end in divorce in Australia today. This project examines how the culture of romantic love has changed over the course of the twentieth century as changing patterns of work and gender relations, consumerism and the supplanting of spiritual ideals by sexuality and the cult of the body modified representations ....The popular culture of romantic love in twentieth-century Australia. In western culture 'love' is commonly cited as the reason for cohabitation or marriage, yet 46% of marriages are likely to end in divorce in Australia today. This project examines how the culture of romantic love has changed over the course of the twentieth century as changing patterns of work and gender relations, consumerism and the supplanting of spiritual ideals by sexuality and the cult of the body modified representations of love in literature, film and periodicals. The popular discourse of romantic love has transformed expectation of love, placing different demands upon what it is supposed to achieve.Read moreRead less
Warriors, Patriots, Traitors and Opportunists: Chinese Women and War. This project furthers our knowledge of the workings of the political, military and security scene in one of our most strategically important neighbours, the PRC. The better we understand the PRC and how it responds in times of military disruption the more likely we are to be able to further Australian interests within this large market and ensure continued national security. The project also enhances Australia's strong reputat ....Warriors, Patriots, Traitors and Opportunists: Chinese Women and War. This project furthers our knowledge of the workings of the political, military and security scene in one of our most strategically important neighbours, the PRC. The better we understand the PRC and how it responds in times of military disruption the more likely we are to be able to further Australian interests within this large market and ensure continued national security. The project also enhances Australia's strong reputation as leaders in scholarship in Chinese Studies by producing research publications of high impact that present new perspectives on old projects. This project will keep Australia at the forefront of research in Chinese Studies.Read moreRead less
Precarious accounts: money, sex and power in the industrial revolution. This project aims to provide a historical perspective on contemporary debates around the uses of self-tracking technologies. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how practices for quantifying the self relate to significant social and economic change, from the industrial revolution, through to measuring the systems of big data that now shapes the world. It does so using a case study of Gilbert Innes, a banker know ....Precarious accounts: money, sex and power in the industrial revolution. This project aims to provide a historical perspective on contemporary debates around the uses of self-tracking technologies. The project expects to generate new knowledge on how practices for quantifying the self relate to significant social and economic change, from the industrial revolution, through to measuring the systems of big data that now shapes the world. It does so using a case study of Gilbert Innes, a banker known for his sexual exploitation of women and obsessive book-keeping. The expected outcome is a history of how accounting shaped identity and morality in the nineteenth century. Through improving our understanding of how quantification practices shape society, this research supports their effective use today.Read moreRead less