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April 15, 2014

Perhaps tea and scones are OK: the CWA and feminism today

By Sharon Crozier-De Rosa

Next month the Country Women鈥檚 Association (CWA) of New South Wales whether or not to put one of their most valuable assets, their Potts Point headquarters, up for sale. The prospect of the sale has caused concern among some members that the CWA is signalling it is a dying institution. It seems a good time, then, to reflect on the history of the CWA and how it fits in with the modern world of feminism.

Conservative women鈥檚 groups in feminist narratives

As a politically conservative women鈥檚 association, the CWA retains an uncomfortable place in modern narratives of feminist progress.

The group鈥檚 promotion of a model of womanhood based on a conservative notion of domestic femininity combined with a strong dose of civic-mindedness has had less feminist appeal than that promoted by her more radical sisters.

Compounding this lack of feminist attraction has been the group鈥檚 historical motto of 鈥淗onour to God, Loyalty to the Throne, Service to the Country, Through Country Women鈥� 鈥� an awkward reminder of white (conservative and radical) women鈥檚 complicity in the colonising process in this country.

 Therefore, until fairly recently, feminist historians have tended to either ignore or sideline conservative women鈥檚 organisations while highlighting those espousing aims that were less complicatedly feminist, such as those advocating in favour of women鈥檚 suffrage or gay rights. The increasing incorporation of histories like that of the CWA into feminist narratives challenges any perception that there has only ever been one face of women鈥檚 activism.

A brief history of the CWA

The CWA has an auspicious history.

It began with the founding of the CWA of NSW in 1922. After that, other states formed their own CWAs. In 1945, a national body, the Country Women鈥檚 Association of Australia, was established. It reached the peak of its popularity in the decades immediately after the second world war.

It forged both national and international connections by being affiliated with one of the largest international organisations for rural women, the , which today boasts around 9 million members across perhaps 70 countries and has consultative status on some UN committees (including the Economic and Social Council).

The fact that the CWA was (and is still purported to be) the largest women鈥檚 organisation in Australia is indicative of its past and present relevance. 

The CWA has always had the welfare of Australian country women and the bridging of country and town/city at the heart of its agenda. It has prioritised attempts to reduce the rural woman鈥檚 isolation by providing places for meeting for social and educational purposes.

It has also prioritised the provision of accommodation facilities (like that at Potts Point) for women and their families who have to visit the metropolitan centre for social, business and medical reasons.

Not all of the association鈥檚 intentions and activities have been considered so benign, however.

Its attempts to draw Aboriginal and migrant women into the CWA fold, in line with post-war Assimilationist policies, have been viewed with scepticism given the association鈥檚 continued image as a white woman鈥檚 group.

The iconic CWA tea rooms may have been places where social and class distinctions disappeared 鈥� but the same cannot be argued of racial divisions, as Jennifer Jones' into the CWA鈥檚 racial practices shows. The image of a privileged white elite body is one that overshadows some of the CWA women鈥檚 activism at the time, including advocating equal pay for men and women and being outspoken on environmental issues.

Today, while still politically conservative, the CWA has proved itself responsive to changing social, cultural and environmental conditions. For instance, while still advocating environmental reform (water protection rates highly), and making significant donations to disaster-relief programs here and abroad, the organisation鈥檚 activities also range from lobbying for the banning of energy drinks to championing efforts to increase the male intake into the nursing profession.

Reclaiming the domestic: feminism today

And yet, in all of this, it seems that I have omitted to mention the proverbial 鈥渢ea and scones鈥�. Isn鈥檛 this the image of the CWA that is best-known and most derided? Where do those elements fit in?

Well, the tea and the scones are just another feature on this uneven terrain that is early-21st-century feminism.

Today, debates abound about whether or not feminism is dead. Has the f-word any relevance for younger generations of women entering into universities and workforces? Aren鈥檛 we equal anyway? (I know that I have a tough time trying to introduce my students to the notion that this may not actually be so!)

On the flip side, many women who have benefited from feminist advancements and who are juggling demanding jobs and family duties and social lives are now professing to find themselves attracted to some aspects of conservative femininity. Taking time out for tea, jam and scones 鈥� even showing them at fairs 鈥� is seen to be a worthy retreat from the fast-paced world of the modern woman.

Perhaps now more than ever, tea and scones 鈥� reclaiming aspects of the domestic ideal 鈥� are being seen as an acceptable part of the feminist woman鈥檚 repertoire.

This article was originally published on . Read the .

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