Popular Patriarchy in the 1950s: Ronald McKie’s Women’s Weekly Writing

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Author(s)
Taylor, Cheryl
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2016
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Show full item recordAbstract
Analysis of fictionalising techniques used by leading journalist Ronald McKie in his 1950s Women’s Weekly articles supports the transfer of Betty Friedan’s observations about American women’s magazines to this Australian publication, and exemplifies the seamlessness of patriarchal and capitalist ideology in the era. These techniques include McKie’s adoption of a mild, out-of-character writing persona, stereotyping of women, attribution of unrestricted judging rights to the ‘male gaze’, and faith in the invulnerability, benevolence and intelligence of male interviewees. Conversely, McKie’s interviews with women prioritise ...
View more >Analysis of fictionalising techniques used by leading journalist Ronald McKie in his 1950s Women’s Weekly articles supports the transfer of Betty Friedan’s observations about American women’s magazines to this Australian publication, and exemplifies the seamlessness of patriarchal and capitalist ideology in the era. These techniques include McKie’s adoption of a mild, out-of-character writing persona, stereotyping of women, attribution of unrestricted judging rights to the ‘male gaze’, and faith in the invulnerability, benevolence and intelligence of male interviewees. Conversely, McKie’s interviews with women prioritise nurturing and house-keeping skills, appearance, and above all consumerism, as means for reconciling Australian women to housework in the suburbs. Dilettante discussions of artistic and scientific subjects deflect women readers’ attention from formal education as a path to personal fulfilment and financial independence. McKie’s interviews with exceptional women, such as Leonie Kramer and Sadie Orr, further neutralise potential fissures in the Feminine Mystique and in the Beauty Myth, as retrospectively defined by Naomi Wolf.
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View more >Analysis of fictionalising techniques used by leading journalist Ronald McKie in his 1950s Women’s Weekly articles supports the transfer of Betty Friedan’s observations about American women’s magazines to this Australian publication, and exemplifies the seamlessness of patriarchal and capitalist ideology in the era. These techniques include McKie’s adoption of a mild, out-of-character writing persona, stereotyping of women, attribution of unrestricted judging rights to the ‘male gaze’, and faith in the invulnerability, benevolence and intelligence of male interviewees. Conversely, McKie’s interviews with women prioritise nurturing and house-keeping skills, appearance, and above all consumerism, as means for reconciling Australian women to housework in the suburbs. Dilettante discussions of artistic and scientific subjects deflect women readers’ attention from formal education as a path to personal fulfilment and financial independence. McKie’s interviews with exceptional women, such as Leonie Kramer and Sadie Orr, further neutralise potential fissures in the Feminine Mystique and in the Beauty Myth, as retrospectively defined by Naomi Wolf.
View less >
Journal Title
Limina
Volume
21
Issue
2
Publisher URI
Copyright Statement
© 2016 Limina. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Language, Communication and Culture not elsewhere classified
Cultural Studies
Historical Studies
Women’s Weekly
Writing
Ronald McKie
1950s