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y separately published work icon Refractory Girl periodical  
Issue Details: First known date: 1972... 1972 Refractory Girl
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Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1972
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Works about this Work

When the Personal Became Too Political : ASIO and the Monitoring of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Australia Evan Smith , 2018 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Feminist Studies , vol. 33 no. 95 2018; (p. 45-60)

'In the official history of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), there is only one mention of the women’s liberation movement, amongst a collection of other social movements that emerged in Australia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, alongside the anti-Vietnam War and Aboriginal rights movements. However, we know from files released by the National Archives of Australia that ASIO heavily monitored the women’s liberation movement in Australia, just as it did with most social and protest movements that existed at the time. Concerned about the crossover between the women’s liberation movement and other protest movements, ASIO were particularly worried about the entry of the various far left groups, such as Communists, Trotskyists and Maoists, into the women’s liberation movement, even though these groups were very much divided about the issue of women’s rights during this period. This article examines the ASIO files on the Australian women’s liberation movement and the anxiety that the authorities felt about the ‘threat’ of the personal becoming too politicised.' (Publication abstract)
‘Women’s Writing’ and ‘Feminism’ : A History of Intimacy and Estrangement Zora Simic , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Outskirts : Feminisms Along the Edge , May no. 28 2013; 'Women’s Liberation in Australia and elsewhere created feminist readers and writers. Consciousness-raising and reading and writing were intimately linked. Within the women’s movement, journals, magazines and newspapers were launched, small presses inaugurated and writing and reading groups formed. Subscription lists charted the explosion in new titles by, for and about women, and feminist bookshops stocked them. Women’s writers’ festivals, poetry readings and book launches were opportunities to find and promote new work, and to meet other feminists. Some women writers from the past were rediscovered and many contemporary female writers were championed. One of the most successful writers to emerge on the Australian literary scene in the 1970s – Helen Garner, whose debut novel Monkey Grip (1977) won the National Book Council’s Book of the Year award in 1978 – directly linked her ascendency to feminism. A specifically feminist literary criticism began to develop. More generally, feminism also helped to expand the market for women’s writing, so much so that by the 1980s major publishers were developing lists of women’s fiction and/ or subsuming feminist presses into their operations.' (Author's introduction)
Australian Women's History in Australian Feminist Periodicals 1971-1988 Mary Spongberg , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: History Australia , December vol. 5 no. 3 2008; (p. 73.1-73.16) 'This article traces the history of feminist periodical publishing in this country between 1970 and 1988 and its role in the development of Australian women's history. It show that a distinctly Australian feminist historiography developed within the pages of journals such as Refractory Girl, Hecate and Australian Feminist Studies. While most studies of the evolution of Australian women's history since the 1970s signal the importance of such journals, there has to date been no major study of their history or their influence within Australian historiography. Source: Mary Sponberg.
y separately published work icon Refractory Girl and Scarlet Woman: Contributions to Counter-Hegemonic Feminism Sue Williamson , Sydney : 1998 Z1307149 1998 single work thesis This comparative study of Refractory Girl and Scarlet Woman documents the history of these key feminist journals from commencement until the early 1990s when Scarlet Woman closed. Using the theory of Antonio Gramsci, it examines how the journals contributed to and reflected the 'second wave' of feminism, resulting in the women's movement becoming a powerful counter-hegemonic force in Australian society. The study identifies trends in the journals' content and ideologies, and assesses the development of social, liberal and radical feminisms as presented by each. The thesis includes a useful discussion of feminist publishing within a socialist political theory framework.
Putting the Heart and Soul into Feminist Publishing Julia Hancock , 1994 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , December vol. 6 no. 4 1994; (p. 20-22)
y separately published work icon Refractory Girl and Scarlet Woman: Contributions to Counter-Hegemonic Feminism Sue Williamson , Sydney : 1998 Z1307149 1998 single work thesis This comparative study of Refractory Girl and Scarlet Woman documents the history of these key feminist journals from commencement until the early 1990s when Scarlet Woman closed. Using the theory of Antonio Gramsci, it examines how the journals contributed to and reflected the 'second wave' of feminism, resulting in the women's movement becoming a powerful counter-hegemonic force in Australian society. The study identifies trends in the journals' content and ideologies, and assesses the development of social, liberal and radical feminisms as presented by each. The thesis includes a useful discussion of feminist publishing within a socialist political theory framework.
y separately published work icon Contemporary Feminist Journals in Australia: Negotiating Theory and Practice Amanda Lawrence , Melbourne : 1991 Z1308141 1991 single work thesis This thesis explores the historical development of feminist journals in Australia, their contributions to feminist debate and how they are used as structural sites for feminist polemic. It then examines the practice and politics of three Australian feminist journals: Refractory Girl, Hecate, and Australian Feminist Studies, and contrasts grass roots and socialist feminist publishing politics with the publishing politics of the academy.
Putting the Heart and Soul into Feminist Publishing Julia Hancock , 1994 single work column
— Appears in: Australian Women's Book Review , December vol. 6 no. 4 1994; (p. 20-22)
Australian Women's History in Australian Feminist Periodicals 1971-1988 Mary Spongberg , 2008 single work criticism
— Appears in: History Australia , December vol. 5 no. 3 2008; (p. 73.1-73.16) 'This article traces the history of feminist periodical publishing in this country between 1970 and 1988 and its role in the development of Australian women's history. It show that a distinctly Australian feminist historiography developed within the pages of journals such as Refractory Girl, Hecate and Australian Feminist Studies. While most studies of the evolution of Australian women's history since the 1970s signal the importance of such journals, there has to date been no major study of their history or their influence within Australian historiography. Source: Mary Sponberg.
‘Women’s Writing’ and ‘Feminism’ : A History of Intimacy and Estrangement Zora Simic , 2013 single work criticism
— Appears in: Outskirts : Feminisms Along the Edge , May no. 28 2013; 'Women’s Liberation in Australia and elsewhere created feminist readers and writers. Consciousness-raising and reading and writing were intimately linked. Within the women’s movement, journals, magazines and newspapers were launched, small presses inaugurated and writing and reading groups formed. Subscription lists charted the explosion in new titles by, for and about women, and feminist bookshops stocked them. Women’s writers’ festivals, poetry readings and book launches were opportunities to find and promote new work, and to meet other feminists. Some women writers from the past were rediscovered and many contemporary female writers were championed. One of the most successful writers to emerge on the Australian literary scene in the 1970s – Helen Garner, whose debut novel Monkey Grip (1977) won the National Book Council’s Book of the Year award in 1978 – directly linked her ascendency to feminism. A specifically feminist literary criticism began to develop. More generally, feminism also helped to expand the market for women’s writing, so much so that by the 1980s major publishers were developing lists of women’s fiction and/ or subsuming feminist presses into their operations.' (Author's introduction)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (6)

PeriodicalNewspaper Details

ISSN: 0310-4168
Subtitle:
Subtitle varies
Subtitle:
Issue 1 Summer 1972 subtitle: A Women's Studies Journal.
Subtitle:
From Issue 10 March 1976 subtitle: A Journal of Radical Feminist Thought.
Frequency:
Initially four time per year, but later irregular.
Range:
  • 1(1972/73)- 53(1999).
  • Publication suspended after no. 53, 1999
Size:
28cm
Price:
Initially $2.50 per annum
Note:
The Refractory Girl Collective: Sue Bellamy, Virginia Coventry, Ann Curthoys, Jean Curthoys, Lesley Gray, Eileen Haley, Dany Humphreys, Mary Murnane, Lyndall Ryan, Anne Summers, Sue Wills and Anne Winkler. Refractory Girl was conceived at the 1972 Sydney Women's Liberation Conference.
Note:
Contents indexed selectively.
Last amended 12 Nov 2012 09:30:45
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