A short post about women

New Zealand has no class struggle, no poor, no intellectual tradition, no overt group conflict, little self-awareness as a social entity and has sought for similarity rather than diversity in a restricted immigration programme; it is for these reasons that New Zealand has no sociology.

Jackson, William Keith, and John Harré.

New Zealand.

London: Thames & Hudson, 1969.

In the years following the publication of Jackson and Harré's book, much work was done by National and Labour governments to reverse these conditions, so that now New Zealand has an abundance of sociology. One might almost think that our governments were manipulated by the sociologists. I think we should be told.

But what, you demand to hear, about the architecture? And what about the pottery? Well, how about this?

The development of architecture and pottery demonstrates clearly that New Zealanders are capable of appreciating an aesthetic life more sensitive and more lasting than the ephemeral movements on a football field. Perhaps what these two art forms have in common with rugby is the recognition of physical vigour. If this is the case, and if therein lies something of the secret of the quality of all three, it is perhaps not surprising that poetry and the other visual arts have not succeeded to the same degree Nor is it surprising that the poet who has made the most impact is James K Baxter, projecting as he does an essentially masculine and physical image through the delicacy of his sentiments.

So, there you have it: architecture and pottery are like rugby, physical and essentially masculine. However, half the students in the School of Architecture and Planning at Auckland University today are female, as is the Head of School. As it turns out, women are good at pottery as well, and all those other arts.

Of course, women in the broader workforce are not paid as well as men, but apparently that is because they still have ovaries.

Despite this obvious disadvantage, one woman - Robyn Gallagher - has managed to keep a weblog running for fifteen years, while other women have learned to play musical instruments: