Zonta address by Mrs Margaret Whitlam

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ZONTA CLUB OF ADELAIDE SYMPOSIUM THE REALITIES OF EQUALITY OF THE AUSTRALIAN SCENE IN INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S YEAR THROUGH MRS. MARGARET WHITLAM'S EYES, ADELAIDE..:, 19. APRIL. 1975... SOCIAL ASPECTS All of us here today are convinced that we are - or should be - equal persons with men. We cannot, and would not, mostly, be identical but Who am I to speak? Is my view different from yours? Is it better? Is it worse? Is it jaundiced - and is it real? Mine is no academic aspect. There is no philosophy which describes my own personal feelings or my own feelings of inadequacy, true, I do look on rather than in. You probably envy me. You say to yourselves - there she goes with nothing to worry her and nothing much to do. It's not true you know. This exalted position brings little magic. There is no section in it to provide for utter equality sometimes I feel there's none to provide for reality. I suppose I'm Mrs. Everybody really. It has been said that speakers with a positive approach to the aims of I.W.Y. can offer a service to the community. I do have a background of social work and I do have contact with people of all walks of life. ZONTA is already as old as I internationally but only a little older than my grandson nationally. Other speakers will have already given or are planning to give you the lowdown on the sexual, political and legal aspects of the question before us. I can only speak here as a member of the National Advisory Committee for International Women's Year - that Committee which is happily able to prevent saggy services from collapsing, to initiate others believed to be of wide benefit and to assist people who can't or won't promote themselves.


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