Image TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage TileImage Tile
Image size: 4608x6656 Scale: 35% - PanoJS3
Page overview thumbnail

Article text

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT.
What Should They Wear ?
In last week's issue of "The Western
Mail" there appeared a picture of Dr.
Marion Phillips, a member of a promin-
ent Melbourne family, who was elected
to the House of Commons at the last elec-
tion as a Labour representative for Sun-
derland. Dr. Phillips was wearing a uni-
form which she has invented for women
members, and which consists of a well-cut
overall of thick crepe de chine, lined with
bright silk, which buttons over her dress.
When shown the picture in her office
at the Trades Hall last week, Miss May
Holman, M.L.A., shook her boyish shingle
rather disdainfully. "Nobody expects men
to wear a uniform in Parliament," she
said. "They wear just what they like,
so why shouldn't women do the same?
When women go into Parliament they
just go in as women. Apart from their
party considerations, members are just
men and women, and there is no necessity
to put themselves in uniform. As far as
I am concerned, I just wear what I feel
like, and as a matter of fact (speaking
quite truthfully, but not quite seriously)
I think the men would prefer to see
women dressed in their ordinary women's
attire rather than in uniform.
"Whenever I wear something that the
men don't like," continued Miss Holman,
"they very quickly tell me so. If they
do not like my hat or my dress, they do
not hesitate to point out the discrepan-
cies. And if I wear a frock that is longer
than usual, they say 'You are not bandy,
so why the long dress?' "
As she spoke, Miss Holman was wear-
ing a smart ivory crepe de chine sleeve-
less frock touched with red, and having
the corsage embroidered in small eyelet
holes. Asked if she would wear a similar
frock to the House, she said, "Why, yes.
Whatever I happen to put on when I get
up in the morning I wear. After all, one
goes into Parliament to work, and there
is no need to worry about what dress you
are wearing. I have a sincere admira-
tion for Dr. Marion Phillips," she con-
tinued, "but there are more serious things
to think of than whether or not women
shall be marked out by uniforms. An
overall such as she advocates would not
be at all suitable for us, for the largest
part of our session is in summer when we
want to dress as coolly as possible. In
England, where they rarely get any sun-
shine, this might be a very useful dress,
but even then I think that Dr. Phillips
would have to wear it on her own."
MRS. JAMES COWAN'S VIEWS.
Mrs. James Cowan, O.B.E., the first
woman to enter an Australian Parlia-
ment, does not favour Dr. Marion Phi-
lips' suggestion that women should wear
uniform in Parliament. "It certainly is
not necessary for women only to wear a
uniform, because by doing so they would
be merely pandering to the sex-conscious-
ness of the men. Personally I am of
opinion that no notice should be taken
of the type of sex-conscious man whom
feminine dress affects, perhaps in a wrong
way."
Mrs. Cowan considers that if women are
to wear uniform in Parliament, so should
the men. She does not think that dress
has anything to do with the work that
goes on in Parliament, and that women
can do their work equally with the men
regardless of their attire. "We should have
had several women in every Parliament
in Australia by now," she said, "and if
it were not for the extraordinary under-
current of feeling amongst certain types
of unthinking business men and in militar-
istic circles against women, we would have
had. However, I feel sure that this form
of sex-conscionsness is on the wane and
that the younger generation now coming
on will be more broadminded.
"In Germany," continued Mrs. Cowan,
"there are a great number of women in
Parliament, and they are doing excellent
work. I think that Germany is the one
country at present that is benefiting spe-
cially by havmg used the influence of
women in its parliaments, as suggested by
the late Benjamin Kidd, and we do not find
that they consider it necessary to wear
uniforms and thus accentuate a sex-
consciousness that would be bound to fol-
low unless both sexes wore uniforms.
"Women do not wear uniforms on hos-
pital and other committees where they
work side by side with men, so why should
they do so in Parliament. We should do
everything possible to obliterate sex-con-
sciousness when dealing with the real and
bigger issues of life, and certainly to put
women into uniform and not men would
hardly lead to a satisfactory result. As
long as women do their work well, what
does it matter what they wear?"
$