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Article: 'Only teachers, nurses and wives': women on Methodist missions in Arnhem Land.
- Article from:
- Hecate
- Article date:
- May 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Hecate Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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'I don't think we had many women missionaries in North Australia. Only teachers and nurses.' (1)
'On Elcho Island, to tease us, our husbands used to say to us, 'Oh, but you are only a wife!" (2)
'Only' was a pejorative term used to describe the personhood, the lives and the work of women on the Methodist missions in Arnhem Land (which ran from 1916-1975). The term 'only' reflected the gender hierarchy that operated on the missions, which automatically placed women in a subordinate relationship on the basis of gender, not merit. (3) The mission system failed to acknowledge the large participation rate of women in the operation of mission functions and ...