7 Replies to “Mazzy’s Musings: Veils, Halos & Shackles” (As originally posted.)
Nola says:
October 5, 2016 at 6:16 am
Great blog Mazzy. I wonder if Helen Reddy ever imagined the impact that song would have. I had the ‘Explosive Hits ’73’ album and played that track over and over.
Thanks for sharing your experiences as a bank junior in those days. Things have changed a lot since then, but my involvement with this anthology has reminded me that there is still a long way to go. Many women (and men) are still objectified, harassed, abused and disempowered. Hopefully this book will help raise awareness and facilitate positive change.
I’m looking forward to seeing what you’ve done with the visual presentation of your poem. Thanks for sharing.
Mazzy says:
October 5, 2016 at 10:06 am
Thanks for your response Nola. The Wikipedia article speaks about the impact of the song and quotes Helen Reddy as saying, “Women have always been objectified in showbiz. I’d be the opening act for a comic and as I was leaving the stage he’d say, ‘Yeah, take your clothes off and wait for me in the dressing room, I’ll be right there’. It was demeaning and humiliating for any woman to have that happen publicly.” It is disappointing that even today there is such a huge gap between what should be and what is. We must never lose sight of the tragic impact abuse of any kind has on each and every individual. As for the video presentation … the blog images provide a sneak peak. Technological challenges notwithstanding, I’m exciting about the way it is shaping up.
Jeanette O’Hagan says:
October 5, 2016 at 9:04 am
Hi Mazzy, It’s sad that the harassment you experienced is still a reality in many work places – and has taken on new forms with the unreal beauty standards, focus on image and proliferation of easy-access pornography which seems to have reversed many of the hard-won gains of the 60s, 70s & 80s. Hoping for change.
Mazzy says:
October 5, 2016 at 10:13 am
You are so right Jeanette. I’d venture to say it is not only sad; it’s an outrage. But positive change has occurred. Positive change is occurring. And positive change will continue as long as we keep speaking up about it, provoking it, insisting upon it and praying for it. Thanks for your comment.
Adele says:
October 5, 2016 at 10:17 am
Powerful blog, Mazzy. I have been fortunate to gain employment in environments where gender was never a determinant in workplace opportunity or respect. It can be easy to overlook the former struggles to establish that platform of equal recognition based on capacity and a job well done, irrespective of whether the worker is male or female. I’ve come to realise not everyone has had this fortune. Even in this day and age, there are people like yourself who have experienced demeaning work situations. To measure those experiences globally, we are reminded there are still many challenges in this area which require change.
Looking forward to hosting the V,H&S SE QLD online launch with you and Nola on Saturday.
Mazzy says:
October 5, 2016 at 1:12 pm
And I with you and Nola, Adele. It seems to me that generational turnover must influence the cycle of change for the better; hope arises as each generation chooses to shed the negative attitudes and behaviours of the former one. Consider this: In 1902, the Commonwealth of Australia gave women the right to vote. In 1942 the Women’s Land Army was formed to overcome labour shortages resulting from the progress (and ghastly male attrition rates) of World War Two. When the surviving men returned, women were expected to relinquish their employment positions to them. In 1982, when 39-year-old Queensland lawyer and academic Quentin Bryce (who would later become our governor-general) was appointed Convenor of the National Women’s Advisory Council, the National Times newspaper headline described her as “Brisbane’s best dresser”. Forty years on from that in 2022? Who knows? Perhaps this generation will finally get it right. Let’s give them every encouragement to do so.