THE CHANGING OF ABORIGINAL WOMEN’S ROLE IN
AUSTRALIA AS REPRESENTED BY THE FIVE MAIN
CHARACTERS IN MARIS’ AND BORG’S WOMEN OF THE SUN
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
Paulina Dian Maharani Student Number: 994214168
Student Registration Number: ---
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Finally I could finish this thesis; my first and deepest gratitude is for Father
in heaven, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, and Holy Mary. These recent years have
been the toughest time in my life and it is for Thy guidance I finally manage to get
myself up to complete this thesis and get on with my life.
I believe I could not have completed my thesis without the guidance and
great patience from my advisor Ni Luh Putu Rosiandani, S.S., M.Hum. Next, I need
to give a great abundance of gratitude to Drs. Hirmawan Wijanarka, M.Hum. as my
academic advisor and thesis co-advisor. Furthermore, I thank all lecturers and staffs
of English Letters Department for the time and assistance they share for many years
of my study.
Next, I would like to thank my beloved Dad and my late Mom who always
pour me unconditional love and guidance. Thanks for guiding me to grow up and
showing me the strength to face this unpredictable life. I also deeply thank Suci,
Kiko, Seba, Eyang Putri Wedi, and my Mom’s siblings, my cousins and Om Agung
and family for their love and support in joy and pain.
Next, my special thanks go to Melly, Leak, Rush2, Poer, Rion, Ableh, Boni,
Nugi, Iyut, Iin for their unbelievable flowing support and care; MoniXXX, Nay,
Deni, Rio, Wawan, Estu, Lina, Lucky, Petrus, all the girls in Parkit 5, and all Sing
99ers. I also thank Dius’ parents, Om momo and Mas Aan for welcoming me and
kindly letting me intrude their space to complete this thesis.
Finally, I thank my precious Claudius Cahyo Pulung simply for being him. I
would have strayed on another path without him entering my life.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. Background of the Study ... 1
B. Problem Formulation ... 4
C. Objectives of the Study ... 4
D. Definition of Terms ... 5
CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL REVIEW ... 6
A. Review of Related Studies ... 6
C. Review of Socio-Historical Background ... 17
D. Theoretical Framework ... 20
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 22
A. Object of the Study ... 22
B. Approach of the Study ... 23
C. Method of the Study ... 24
CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS ... 25
A. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun ... 26
1. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Towradgi ... 26
the Character of Maydina ... 31
4. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Nerida ... 34
5. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Lo-Arna ... 37
B. The Changing of Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented by the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun ... 38
1. The era before the White Men Colonialism ... 38
2. The Era of the White Men Colonialism ... 43
3. The Era of Post-Colonialism ... 47
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ... 51
ABSTRACT
PAULINA DIAN M. The Changing of Aboriginal Women’s Role in Australia as Represented by the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
Women of the Sun, a novel written by Hyllus Maris and Sonia Borg, is the object of this study. In this novel consisting of 175 pages, Maris and Borg try to reach the Australian people and tell the story of the Aborigines, especially about the Aboriginal women and what they have to experience and fight for during and after the British colonialism in Australia.
The study is about the changing of the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia. The problems to be solved in this study are: 1) How does each of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun that are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida and Lo-Arna reflect the Australian Aboriginal women’s role? 2) What kind of changing happens to the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia, as represented in the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun?
To solve those two problems, the writer conducted a literary research by gathering some information about the novel and Australian Aboriginal socio-cultural history. The thesis employs Feminist Approach in its analysis. This thesis also applies some theories on feminism, theories on character and characterization, theories on post-colonial study and theories on culture and society in literature. Those theories are applied in this thesis in order to aid the author understand about Aboriginal women’s role in Australia from each of the main characters and what happened towards the role through three different times of pre-colonialism, colonialism and post-colonialism in Australia.
The answer to the first problem is that each of the five main characters represents different Australian Aboriginal women’s role in social, economic, religious and marriage life and in parenting. The second is that within the white colonialism, which provokes cultural infiltration towards the Aboriginal culture and changes the Aboriginal society, the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia has experienced changing; they have lost many of their individual and social rights as a woman and as a human being and their role in every aspect of life has mostly degraded.
ABSTRAK
PAULINA DIAN M. The Changing of Aboriginal Women’s Role in Australia as Represented by the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University, 2008.
Women of the Sun, novel yang ditulis oleh Hyllus Maris dan Sonia Borg, adalah obyek dari studi ini. Di dalam novel yang terdiri dari 175 halaman ini, Maris and Borg mencoba untuk meraih masyarakat Australia dan memaparkan kisah kaum Aborigin, terutama tentang para perempuan Aborigin dan tentang hal yang harus mereka alami dan perjuangi selama dan setelah masa kolonial Inggris di Australia.
Studi ini mengupas tentang perubahan yang terjadi pada peranan perempuan Aborigin di Australia. Permasalahan yang harus diselesaikan dalam studi ini adalah: 1) Bagaimana masing-masing dari lima tokoh utama dari Women of the Sun karya Maris dan Borg, yaitu Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida dan Lo-Arna mencerminkan peranan para perempuan Aborigin Australia? 2) Perubahan apa yang terjadi pada peranan para perempuan Aborigin di Australia, seperti yang telah direpresentasikan dalam lima tokoh utama dari Women of the Sun karya Maris dan Borg?
Untuk menyelesaikan kedua permasalahan tersebut, penulis mengadakan penelitian literatur dengan cara mengumpulkan informasi mengenai novel tersebut dan mengenai sejarah sosial budaya masyarakat Aborigin. Studi ini menerapkan pendekatan feminis dalam analisisnya. Selain itu, studi ini juga menerapkan teori feminisme, teori karakter dan karakterisasi, teori studi post-kolonial, serta teori mengenai masyarakat dan budaya dalam literatur. Penggunaan teori tersebut pada studi ini bertujuan untuk membantu penulis dalam memahami peranan perempuan Aborigin di Australia dari tiap-tiap karakter utama dan apa yang terjadi terhadap peranan tersebut selama masa pre-kolonial, konial, dan post-kolonial di Australia.
Jawaban untuk permasalahan pertama adalah bahwa setiap karakter utama mencerminkan berbagai peranan perempuan Aborigin yang berbeda dalam kehidupan sosial, ekonomi, agama, dan keluarga. Jawaban untuk permasalahan kedua adalah bahwa di dalam era klonial bangsa kulit putih, yang memicu infiltrasi budaya dalam kebudayaan Aborigin dan mengubah masyarakat Aborigin, peranan perempuan Aborigin Australia telah mengalami perubahan; mereka kehilangan sebagian besar dari hak sosial dan individual mereka dan peranan mereka mengalami penurunan nilai.
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Literature is a work of written art. It can be formed as poetry, prose, drama,
short story, novel, etc. Reading a work of literature can bring enjoyment, and the
ecstasy of literary works will carry our emotion away as if we considered ourselves as
one of the characters. Most people shed tears when they read romantic love story;
giggle, read hilarious and funny novel; and gnash their teeth, read the invasion and
the discrimination in a story such as Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun.
Besides enriching our emotion, literary works can also enrich our
knowledge. In fact, they can even influence our point of view towards our belief,
culture, ideology, principle, etc. William’s statement in Response to Literature (1965:
7) supports the writer’s opinion.
Literature gives us a special knowledge of life that is not identical with that of real experience but provides a profitable supplement. In terms of intellectual and critical values, it is actually possible for a well-read person to make nature of life without having a great deal of experience.
Wellek adds that it is not only the readers that can get benefit from literary
works, but the writers can too. The writers can share their experiences and ideas with
the readers in literature (1956: 36). There are a lot of authors that speech their desire
followed by anyone reading them.
This sharing of ideology throughout literary works is somehow not difficult
to do because literary works in so many ways are the representation, the reflection of
human real life. Through literary works, authors pour their vision about how they see
the reality of human situations, problems, feelings and interactions (1956: 96). The
readers often find the stories told in literary works, whether the depiction of the
characters traits or the incidents happening to them and the society they are into,
similar to what they have been facing and experiencing in their real life, whether as
an individual or as part of a society.
Hyllus Maris and Sonia Borg wrote their novel based on the reality of
human story as well, which in this case is the experience of the Australian Aboriginal
females, about what they have been undergoing in their society through decades.
Their novel, Women of the Sun, first published in 1985, tells us about the life of five
different Aboriginal female characters in Australian continent from different eras,
showing how the Australian Aboriginal society has been changing from time to time,
before and after the white men invasion.
As Estelle B. Freedman stated in No Turning Back: the History of Feminism
and the Future of Women (2003: 1-3), women and their roles are one of the issues
that are widely discussed now and then, and there have been slow but significant
changes related to the development of this issue that occur through centuries in every
society in all nations in the world.
each society she lives in and concerning that each society has got different cultures
and been experiencing different changes too, she then must have been going through
different development related to her roles in her society. Thus, each society must have
got its own different issues on women and its own history about the changing of
women’s role that takes place in it for ages (2003: 9).
Women of the Sun vividly gives depictions of the pain as well as the pride of
the five female main characters in struggling for their life and their identity, not only
as an Aborigine, but also as a woman. Reading the novel, women somehow hold
quite important role in the Aboriginal society and are not positioned under men. As
native Aboriginal born, women are considered to have the natural sense about the
culture and the love and respect of nature, which is essential in their culture.
Moreover, the novel shows that it is important, even almost obligatory for them to
pass on their culture, their belief towards the nature and their native identity to their
children, as well as the pride of being born as an Aboriginal. A female in Aboriginal
tribe has significant role since she is the one that will carry on the knowledge to their
descendants. Yet, the novel also depicts some obstacles they are forced to face from
the prejudice against both the Aborigine and women that comes from the patriarchal
society they live in at that time, during and after the first invasion of the white men.
Thus, as Aboriginal women, their role in the society seems to have undergone
significant changes.
The novel, telling about the bitter life experiences of the five different
Aboriginal women struggle in it, as if trying to give in picture to the readers about
how Aboriginal women’s role in Australian Aboriginal society have been through
changing. Therefore, the writer is challenged to reveal Aboriginal women’s role and
how the changing they have been gone through in the Australian Aboriginal society
as represented by the story of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of
the Sun.
B. Problem Formulation
In this analysis, the writer has two problems as follows:
1. How does each of the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the
Sun that are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida and Lo-Arna reflect the
Australian Aboriginal women’s role?
2. What kind of changing happens to the Aboriginal women’s role in Australia, as
represented in the five main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun?
C. Objective of the Study
In this study, the writer will observe the story of the five Australian
Aboriginal female main characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun that are
Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida and Lo-Arna to learn how Australian Aboriginal
women’s role is before understanding how the changing of Aboriginal women’s role
The purpose of the study is, first, to reveal how each of the five main
characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun, as seen from the beginning up to
the end, gives depiction of Australian Aboriginal women’s role. The second is to
reveal the changing of Aboriginal women’s role in Australia, as represented by the
depiction of Australian Aboriginal women’s role that is reflected in the five main
characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun.
D. Definition of Terms
To make this thesis easier for the readers to comprehend, here is a brief
explanation of the terms that will be used.
1. Aboriginal
According to Hornby’s Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current
English (1987: 2), the term Aboriginal is an adjective form of a word to entitle race of
people that is known to inhabit a region from the earliest times, ever since the region
was first known.
2. Australian Aboriginal
Understanding the term Aboriginal as explained earlier above, the term
Australian Aboriginal then is an adjective form of a word to entitle a race of people
that is known to inhabit Australian region. In other words, Australian Aboriginal is
the adjective term that refers to the first, or the earliest inhabitant of Australian
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review of Related Studies
The story of Women of the Sun, that was originally a television series,
became famous because it lifted up the Aboriginal discrimination issue in Australia.
Alinta, the Flame had best represented the first fight of the Aborigines against the
white people who invaded their homeland. Yogi Yanuarto, in his undergraduate
thesis Post-Colonialist Characters in Maris' and Borg's Women of the Sun, stated
that the novel tried to represent the post-colonialism thorough its major characters
that are both Aborigine and women. These two factors –being an Aborigine and being
a woman– were both the object of colonialism; The Aborigine was discriminated
under the colonialism of the white people in their own land and women were
marginalized under the colonialism of the patriarchal society wherever they were
(2005: 5).
Related to what Yanuarto remarks in his study, there are some impacts
brought by the colonialism of the white men in Australia. Understanding this, the
writer is challenged to reveal the impact brought by the colonialism towards one
aspect of the Australian Aboriginal society, which is the Australian Aboriginal
women’s role as represented in the five Australian Aboriginal female main characters
B. Review of Related Theories
The theories to be reviewed here are those that are related to the character
and characterization, the post-colonialism, society in literature, culture and feminism.
They are:
1. Character
There are two meanings of character: character as a figure in a literary work,
for example, in this novel there are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida, and Lo-Arna;
and character as personality, which is the mental and moral qualities of a figure, as
when we say that X’s character is strong, or weak, or immoral, or whatever (Barnet,
Berman, and Burto, 1988: 71).
Kenney divides characters into two categories that are simple characters and
complex characters. The simple characters generally have just one dominant trait or at
most very few traits in clear and simple relationship to one another. Simple characters
often seem less representation of human personality since there is only one particular
attitude or obsession belonging to this type of character. On the other hand, complex
characters are usually more like human beings than simple characters since we can
see all sides of these characters (1998: 27).
Forster defines that characters can be divided into flat characters and round
characters. Flat characters are constructed round a single idea or quality. One great
advantage of flat characters is that they are easily recognized whenever they come in,
recognized by the readers’ emotional eye, not by the visual eye which merely states
remember them afterwards. Round characters tend to have more than one trait or
qualities. They are more complex and cannot be easily recognized. The readers
cannot remember the characters easily because they posses many attitudes and
behaviors like a real human being (1977: 45-47).
Characters, as figures in a literary work, are divided into two, namely main
or major characters and minor characters (Abrams, 1981: 20). A story usually has a
character who is the subject of the story. However, not all stories have one main
character only. Stanton remarks that main character is the one that is relevant to every
event in the story that causes some significant changes in him or her and gives effect
to the story development (1965: 17). It means that a story may have more than one
main character if the characters are involved in every event in the story and hold
important role in developing the story and also their own character development.
2. Characterization
Characterization is an important part in creating a literary work because it is
a way to portray characters in the story. Baldick (1990: 34) defines characterization
as a representation of person so that they exist for the readers as lifelike. The
characterization may include direct methods, which give the attribution of qualities in
description or commentary, and indirect (or dramatic) methods that invite readers to
infer qualities from characters’ actions, speeches, or appearances.
If the author does not give such clues or descriptions, we still can perceive
a. What the character says. But, be careful not to forget that the characters may be
hypocritical or may be self-deceived. We will have to detect this from the
context.
b. What the character does.
c. What other characters (including the narrator of the story) say about the
character. Those statements may be accurate or may be biased in one way or
another.
d. What other characters do (others may illuminate the figure that we are writing
about in the work, figures that do or do not engage in actions resembling the
actions of our figure). The other characters’ action may help to indicate what the
character could do but does not.
Abrams (1981: 21) gives two broad distinctions of alternative methods for
“characterizing” the person as a narrative. Those are showing and telling. First, in
showing, the authors merely present their characters talking and acting. This leaves
the readers to infer what motives and dispositions lay behind what they say and do. In
other words, “in showing” the readers must help themselves to interpret the
significance of the characters’ speech and action in the story. Second, in telling, the
authors themselves describe and often evaluate the motives and the dispositional
qualities of the characters. It will make the readers easily catch the motives and
3. Post-colonialism
Stephen Slemon, in Kambysellis’ Post-colonialism: The Unconscious
Changing of a Culture, remarks the term post-colonialism as “the need, in nations or
groups which have been victims of imperialism, to achieve an identity
uncontaminated by universalistic of Eurocentric concept and images”
(http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/poldicourse/mallya1.html).
Post-colonialism refers on the colonial influences, from the arrival until, and
even after the department of the colonist. It affects not only in the time which the
colonist no longer exist.
Leela Gandhi adds that:
…despite its interdisciplinary concerns, the field of post-colonialism studies is marked by a preponderant focus upon “post-colonial literature” … to those literatures which have accompanied the projection and decline of British imperialism… (1998: 141).
Ashcroft, in The Empire Writes Back, says that post-colonial literature:
…has in common beyond their special and distinctive regional characteristics … emerged in their present form out of the experience of colonializaton and asserted themselves by foregrounding the tension with the imperial power, and by emphasizing their differences from the assumption of the imperial center… (1989: 2).
Post-colonial literature describes the experiences set in the context of
societies that represent their ethnic groups. The societies have to deal with the
problems that emerge as the consequences of the existence of colonialism. It is
responsive to the historical condition of suppression, that is the condition when the
but also all aspects which embody the culture of both sides.
4. Society in Literature
A primary assumption about a novel is that it will report the actions of
individual characters with sufficient and abundant details to create an illusion of
authenticity when related to the material facts of the everyday world. That is why the
one word most often used to describe a novel is the word “realistic” (Rohberger,
1971: 29).
A novel is a literary work which is created as the means of the authors’
expression in responding to the contemporary experiences they undergo in their own
time. It expresses the essence or abridgement of those social processes the authors
have viewed through their own eyes (Brooks, 1952: 13).
As authors are member of society, their work can be studied as a social
document. Authors depict their society to speak truth about men and women are,
individually or communally, and what they might be (Langland, 1984: 221).
Wellek and Warren support this statement, saying “literature is not merely a
reflection of social process, but the essence, abridgement, and summary of all
history” (1963: 95). Literature cannot only be seen as a social document, but it
significantly has more values that the history implies in the literary work.
5. Culture
E.B. Tylor in Murray’s Introductory Sociology defines culture as the
complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, moral, law, custom, habit
generation (1946: 163-164). Those become foundation of what man as a member of a
society must and must not do. In other words, they become the group expectation.
Thus, the member of the same group expects that other members will act in a certain
way toward themselves under certain prescribed circumstances (Merril, 1953: 28).
The expectation in one group may be different from the expectation in the other
group.
Man may assume that his culture is better than other since his culture has
been stretching over generations and has become part of his life. He may judge the
other culture subjectively. Murray states that the lack of objectivity leads to the
assumption that a culture is superior to other cultures which is viewed with suspicion
and distrust. Such attitude is known as ethnocentrism (1946: 165).
Hunt states that when two different cultures come into contact, they will
collide, which then will come into conflict. The judgments of values of religions,
social life, and customs will be made in the perspective of values implanted in one’s
own society. In short, the judgment is made subjectively. The conflict when two
cultures collide is not always a physical conflict (1955: 31-32).
6. Feminism
Estelle B. Fredman in her book No Turning Back defined feminism as:
…a belief that women and men are inherently of equal worth. Because most societies privilege men as a group, social movements are necessary to achieve equality between women and men, with the understanding that gender always intersects with other social hierarchies.
feminist, unless they explicitly address justice for women as a primary concern, in a
patriarchal society. Thus, human rights or nationalist movements that insist on
women's human rights and women's full citizenship may be feminist, while those that
overlook or affirm patriarchal authority cannot.
Referred to Estelle argument, the idea of feminism, then, took place when
there is a person or event that (try to) defend the right of women as human being
equal to men, speak aloud for women’s equal competence to men's in social activities
or movements and also their ability to gain a better life and opportunity to have a
better career, and proudly declare that it is the justice for women that becomes their
primary concern.
As implied from Estelle argument, the roles that feminists (try to) pursue for
equality are those related to activities or movements in gaining a better life, both
socially and individually, such as politic, education, economy, marriage and
parenting.
However, as every women movement agrees to that idea of feminism, there
are some women movements who believe that there are more obstacles to face to
reach women’s rights in some society. Black, non-Anglo and Third World feminists
argued against the idea that gender was necessarily the most fundamental oppression.
They proclaimed that race and ethnicity, racism and colonialism were at least as
important in shaping women's lives.
White Western feminism was criticized for attempting to universalize the
countries, and for failing to engage with questions of racism. Race is gendered, and
gender is raced. Sexism and racism overlap and intersect, and this intersection is now
the subject of a rich and fertile feminist literature
(http://www.xyonline.net/racism.shtml).
Michael Kimmel in Men, masculinities and social theory describes a
confrontation in a feminist seminar between a white woman and a black woman, over
whether their similarities as women were greater than their racial differences:
"The white woman asserted that the fact that they were both women bonded them, despite racial differences. They shared a common oppression as women, and were both 'sisters under the skin'. The black woman disagreed. "'When you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror, what do you see?' she asked.
"'I see a woman', replied the white woman hopefully.
"'That's precisely the problem', replied the black woman. 'I see a black woman. For me race is visible every minute of every day, because it is how I am not privileged in this culture. Race is invisible to you which is why our alliance will always feel false and strained to me.'" (http://www.xyonline.net/racism.shtml).
At the simplest level, we must recognize that women of different ethnic and
cultural backgrounds have different experiences of gender diversion. 'Being a
woman' means different things in different cultures and among different ethnic
groups.
In 1990, New South Wales held its first Aboriginal Women's Conference.
The agenda was set by Aboriginal women from all over New South Wales and over
400 Aboriginal women participated in the conference. The conference addressed a
number of issues of concern to Aboriginal women such as housing, education and
For over 2000 generations our people have stood on this land. As women we had our own special relationship with the land. Whilst we had the same status as men, we still remained sacred and separate. We had rights as individuals. We were able to exercise well-defined rights of ownership of the inherited regions of our tribal territories. Inheritance was through the mother's side. We were recognized as being economically productive. Our work is valued because of our role as mothers and food gatherers. Women's labor provided consistent food for the whole group. We had our own magic. We had our own religion. We had our own rituals. We had our own ceremonies and corroborees. All to which men had no access (NSW Women's Coordination Unit, 1991: 8).
Aboriginal women face both racism and sexism. They do not always like the
idea of being classed as a feminist because they feel that to be this they have to leave
their men behind or leave their community, rather than recognizing the rights of
women as individuals. Before making judgments, it must be remembered that
Aboriginal women have additional barriers which non-Aboriginal women do not have
to face, stemming from a drastic and rapid change in lifestyle, changed roles and
responsibilities and a shift in power structures within communities
(http://www.schoolnet.ca/Aboriginal/issues/women-e.html).
It was, and continues to be, easiest for the new white population that invade
the land of Australia to force their own sexist and racist value system upon the
indigenous people of Australia. White women had their "place" determined by white
men. The assumption was that Aboriginal women would have the same, if not lower,
social position. The new population simply never considered that Aboriginal society
placed equal importance on all members of society. As a result, Aboriginal women
were denied a place in the new patriarchal society of white politics, power and
Aboriginal women have suffered in silence for generations against a
backdrop of race, class and gender in Australian history, and yet ironically, the
women movement in Australia has increased momentum and achieved many
milestones for Australian women. So, as non-Aboriginal women have been
organizing and fighting for women’s rights, the positioning of Aboriginal women has
remained stagnant.
The absence of Aboriginal voice in Australian feminism has a distinct,
historical context. According to Aboriginal writer, Bronwyn Lea Fredericks, gender,
in Australia, as elsewhere, is lived through racism, sexism, and class, and that
Aboriginal women have remained on the margins of feminist debates. Aboriginal
women generally find little comfort or support from the non-Aboriginal women in
Australia who are active participants in the marginalization and the denial of human,
civil, political, legal, sexual and Indigenous rights of Aboriginal women. Fredericks
states “their attitudes, like male attitudes, were and are forged within different race,
class, sex, colonialist, and neo-colonialist practices.” The Australian Women’s
Movement has not questioned its position of ‘whiteness’ and how this position has
impacted the discourse and knowledge of the Australian Women’s Movement and
how it has affected the Aboriginal women
(http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/content/issue18/oped/Aboriginal.php).
Aboriginal women find it hard to embrace the collective feminism in
Australia since non-Aboriginal women argue for something which Aboriginal women
of. It is only when non-Aboriginal women in Australia recognize and deeply
understand how race and class shape gender in Australia with concerted effort, and
with passionate intent that collective feminism will have a foot to stand on
(http://www.awid.org/go.php?stid=1454).
C. Review of Aboriginal Socio-historical Background in Australia
The Australian Aborigines are the native of Australia that first inhabited the
continent. As referred in An Introduction to Aboriginal Society, some anthropologists
affirm that the firsts of the Aborigines entered the northern Australia and spread
throughout the continent. However, there are some who argue that they first settled
the eastern seaboard before settled the inlands later on. There are also different
arguments about when the firsts of the Aborigines entered Australia, but the latest
study shows that the first arrivals approximately took place more than 40.000 years
ago. Australia anthropologists state that the history of the Aboriginal first inhabitant
in the continent is not quite clear since the Aborigines consist of many different tribes
that spread in almost every part of the continent, and there are some, which seem to
have different culture (Edwards, 2005: 10-15).
However, the diversity of Aboriginal tribes and culture was unified in one
belief system, which was called as The Dreaming (Edwards, 2005: 16). The
Dreaming was the center of all Aboriginal socio-cultural life that based their social
hierarchy, set of laws, traditions, rituals, and the way of daily living. In The
with the nature since all human were considered to be part of the nature as well as the
nature was part of human themselves.
This concept of harmony between humankind and the nature also meant that
human had no ownership of the land as part of the nature. Humankind was considered
to be attached to the land in the same way as how the animals and the plants were
being part of the land. In keeping the harmony with the nature, the Aborigines
foraged and hunted for food and water in adequate amount, enough only to provide
food for the whole clan in one day or two. They especially left sufficient water supply
for animals, even some water sites were sacred and were forbidden to use, to keep the
balance of the nature and other living creatures
(http://www.janesoceania.com/australian_Aboriginal_anthropology1/index1.htm).
As the white men’s first arrival in the Australian continent in 1788 and
moved inland furthermore, the Aborigines began to lose their hunting grounds, their
watering holes, and in fact their source of life. To the Aborigines, to whom the land
was part of their life and the future of their group, land was not something to be
bought and sold - it was not a commodity for exchange. But, the white men believed
that land could not only be bought and sold, but also taken to be exploited by
productive agriculture, and that those who carried out this obligation had some kind
of "moral right" to the land. They assumed that their ways were superior to those of
the Aboriginals, and that people who did not try to "improve" the land of their birth
by agriculture were not only inferior beings, but also deserved to have their country
The white men, especially the Christians, also believed that the Aborigines
were practicing satanic cult with all their totems, their rituals, and their dancing. The
Aborigines were forced to throw away their own culture and identity; their names
were changed into Christian names and they were forbidden to use their old native
names, even to speak in their mother tongue
(http://www.janesoceania.com/australian_Aboriginal_anthropology/index1.htm).
The Aborigines were considered to be inferior beings under the whites,
especially the Aboriginal women who were treated no more than slave and sex object
and were underestimated for their competency in nursing their own children. The
white men then separated the Aboriginal children from their parents and put them into
different institution of the youth Aborigines as to “civilize” those children from the
earliest age, away from their incompetent, “bad-influenced” parents, and to give them
proper training so they would be “useful” in the society. The girls were taught the
domestic duties and the boys were taught the laboring skill, especially skills needed
for cattle and farming
(http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2242/is_1655_283/ai_112095012).
Within more than two centuries after the white men’s arrival, there were
wars between the Aborigines and the new comers. There were massacres on both
sides, mostly on the Aborigines’ during that period. The settlers, having their cattle
stolen by the hungry Aborigines, often justified themselves to kill any of the
Aborigines in sight, even children. Even, in 1830 until 1832, there was money reward
And for those and many other reasons, the Aborigines took revenge and they would
soon be killed back by the white men also for revenge, and on and on that circle of
revenge went.
The government then tried to cope with the furious conflicts and tried to
gain control of the Aborigines by pointing a Protector of the Aborigines. They also
stated policy that killing was a crime for both the settlers and the Aborigines and that
both parties would be trialed and sent to jail committing it. However, that new policy
did not work properly since the trial was held by the white government and had
tendency to let loosen the whites than the Aborigines. And the massacres followed it
were the new kind of the law based ones since the killing were then mostly done by
the police officers. The condition suffered by the Aborigines was so terrible, that the
Anglican Minister Reverend E. Gribble stated that the natives in Australia were the
worst treated in the world
(http://www.natsiew.nexus.edu.au/chronology/info_fset.html).
That condition continued on to the next century, even after Australian was
declared independent in 1901. However, the supports stood for the Aborigines’ right
had been continuing to come more and the Aborigines started to fight without
violence. There were strikes and protests from the Aborigines for a better opportunity
in job, education, and housing and, most importantly, the admittance of secured
national citizenship and equal status for Aborigines. Citizenship rights for all
Aborigines were then recognized following a referendum on the issue in 1967, but the
(http://www.acn.net.au/articles/australianhistory/).
D. Theoretical Framework
There are two problems in the previous chapter in order to find the idea of
feminism in the Aboriginal culture. The first problem that questions how the five
main characters from the beginning up to the end of the novel represents Australian
Aboriginal women’s role will be answered by applying the theory of character and
characterization, theory of culture, theory of society in literature and feminism. The
findings then will lead the writer to learn about the role of Australian Aboriginal
women in their society, from the beginning up to the end of the novel, which also
means from before the white men invasion up to the time of the post-colonialism of
the white men in Australia. As to answer the second problem, that questions the
changing of Australian Aboriginal women’s role, the writer will organize the findings
of the first problem and then analyze them with the theory of post-colonialism, before
dividing them into three eras as represented in the novel. These three eras are the era
before the colonialism of the white men, the era during the colonialism of the white
men, and the era after the colonialism of the white men. Thus, the writer will be able
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
Women of the Sun, the novel used in this study, is written by Hyllus Maris
and Sonia Borg in 1982, who, in the afterwards of the novel, remarks it as a
permanent reprint of its original television mini-series in 1980s to preserve the
growing attention towards the Aboriginal issues brought up in it. The original
television mini-series was a booming in Australia at that time, that it had received
several national and international awards, bringing up the condition of the Australian
Aborigines that had to face discrimination and racial prejudice and also the struggle
of Australian Aborigines ever since the white men had invaded their homeland.
The writer uses the first edition of the novel, printed in 1985 by Penguin
Books, Australia. In their novel consisting of 175 pages, the authors present the story
in five chapters, in which each chapter tells the story about each of five different
Australian Aboriginal female main characters, and how they live and struggle for
their native identity during the colonialism in Australia. Each of these Australian
Aboriginal female main characters lives in each of five different eras of the white
men colonialism, started from the first time of the white men invasion in the
Australian continent in 1700s, continued to the time during the white men
story is told from the third man point of view in a serious, dramatic way that attracts
the sympathy and empathy to the characters and the issues brought up by the novel.
B. Approach of the Study
The approach used in this study is feminist approach. As stated in A
Handbook of Critical Approach, one of the goals of feminist approach is to expose
women’s role within a society:
Despite their diversity, feminist critics generally agree that their goals are to expose patriarchal premises and resulting prejudices, to promote discovery and reevaluation of literature by women, and to examine social, cultural, and psychosexual context of literature and literary criticism (Guerin et al, 1999: 197).
According to Guerin, feminist approach is used to analyze women position
in the patriarchal society as conducted in the literary works and to reveal the
prejudices and misperceptions against women within many aspects of their life as its
result. Goodman adds the point, stating that feminist approach is an academic
approach to the study of literature which applies feminist thoughts to the analysis of
literary text and the context of their product and reception (1996: xi)
The writer employs feminist approach to analyze how the Australian
Aboriginal women’s role actually is, before, during and after the white men
colonialism in Australia as represented in the five main characters in Maris’ and
Borg’s Women of the Sun, of which each reflects the Australian Aboriginal society
C. Method of the Study
In conducting the analysis, the writer applied a necessary research
procedure, which was divided into some steps. The first step, the writer chose a
literary work for this study. The novel was chosen to be analyzed further. The write
had the copy of Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun as the primary data and tried to
understand it. In this step the writer focused on the main characters and their
characterization. The second step was finding some books important to support the
topic chosen and browsing the internet to find and obtain some criticism, concept or
ideas about the chosen topic. Next, the writer drew the problem formulation.
Furthermore, the writer acquired the appropriate data from the library and the internet
to support the analysis. The data gained were considered as the secondary data. It
consisted of theories of literature, in this case theory of character and
characterization, theory of culture, theory of society in literature, theory of
post-colonialism, theory of feminism, and the Australian Aboriginal socio-historical
background. Next, the writer examined the primary data, which was the novel itself,
and the secondary data to answer the problem. In the last stage, the writer drew the
conclusion as the result of analysis. The conclusion would answer the two problems
stated in the problem formulation. First, it answered how each of the stories of the
five main characters from the beginning up to the end of the novel gave depiction of
Australian Aboriginal women’s role. Finally, analyzing the first findings, of which
were divided based on the three different eras where each of the main characters lived
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS
Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun is a novel based on the facts about the
Australian Aborigines and what they have been undergoing for centuries, from the
time of their early inhabitant in Australian continent before the white men arrival
until at the recent time of the publishing of the novel. Reading the novel, the writer is
interested in the depiction of Australian Aboriginal women and their role that is well
represented in it. From the novel, it seems that there are some changing that have
been taking place, related to the roles of Australian Aboriginal women.
In order to analyze the changing of Australian Aboriginal women’s role, this
chapter will be divided into two sub-chapters. In the first sub-chapter, the writer will
analyze Australian Aboriginal women’s role which is represented in the five main
characters and their characterizations in the novel. Then, in the second sub-chapter,
the writer will divide the findings of the first sub-chapter into three chronological
eras, in which each of the character lives. The three eras refer to the time before the
white men colonialism in Australia, the time during the white men colonialism in
Australia, and the time after the colonialism is over, which is the time after Australia
becomes an independent country. The findings of the second sub-chapter will then
lead the writer to find out about the changing about Aboriginal women’s role that
A. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Five Main Characters in Maris’ and Borg’s Women of the Sun
There are five main characters in the novel that have their own story written
in each chapter of the novel. They are Towradgi, Alinta, Maydina, Nerida, and
Lo-Arna. Each of them represents the role of Aboriginal women in Australia at their
time.
1. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of
Towradgi.
Towradgi is an old shaman who holds important role in her tribe and whose
wisdom is admitted by the whole tribe. She lives in the time before and during the
first arrivals of the white men in Australia. Being an elder woman, she masters all the
knowledge and the stories inherited from the Dreaming that are sacred to women, as
recited in the story:
...she was a woman elder of the Nyari people. They had great power, these women elders. They had the knowledge that was handed down from the Ancestors who walked the earth at the beginning of creation (p. 1).
Aboriginal women are acknowledged for having wisdom and may be considered
important in the society. Their knowledge is accredited to be increasing by years,
which means that their ability to learn and to get knowledge is admitted and
respected.
Towradgi’s wisdom as an elder woman is respected even by the elder men
in the clan. It is shown when the elders hold several meetings to decide the fate of the
The elders discussed what was to be done with them. Towradgi had kept silent until now, but at last she spoke, and her voice was loud and strident so that everyone could hear (p. 16) … They discussed this, and they called Towradgi (p. 19).
It shows that Aboriginal women’s thoughts are considered worthy to think about.
They are invited in the meetings to discuss important matters in the society and are
allowed to speak up their thoughts, whether or not their opinions will be the decision
to the issues. Aboriginal women, then, cannot be categorized as submissive or
dominant; they may speak and being involved in the process of decision making, and
their thoughts are listened and being considered by the men.
In addition, Isobel White in her study in Woman’s Role in Aboriginal
Society states that some Aboriginal women can accordingly influence men’s
decisions, and others allow their decisions to be influenced by men (White, 1970: 21).
Towradgi has two female pupils, who will replace her place and pass on her
knowledge to the generation after them:
As they grew up, they would learn from her many things… They would learn self-discipline, and the codes of conduct by which the people lived. They would learn about the mystery of creation and their place in it (p. 1-2) … All this she taught, and many other things, things secret to the women (p. 21).
Aboriginal women have the right to learn and to pass their knowledge on to other
people in the society. Mostly, they learn about Aboriginal laws for the women and,
later on, for the men.
In fact, Thomas in his study stated that the Aboriginal women are
for this duty (http://www.schoolnet.ca/Aboriginal/issues/women-e.html).
2. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of Alinta,
The Flame.
Alinta is a smart, full of spirit young woman who will replace Towradgi’s
place as a shaman in her tribe. She lives in the time of the first white men arrivals in
Australia.
…Alinta, the Flame, had been prepared to carry the torch of wisdom and of knowledge so that it could be passed on into the far distant future to those who would come after her (p. 2).
She is about to marry a young man from another tribe. It is a set up
marriage, but she takes it fine since she falls in love with the man. Even if she would
finally find out that he was not a good husband, she could go back to her family and
receive protection from them:
Some of the men were quick to beat their women. If he did, she would run away and come back to her own people (p. 12).
Aboriginal women at her time have their own place in the Aboriginal
society, differentiated from the men. They have their own rituals and sacred sites of
which men are forbidden to be involved in. However, their sacred rituals are as
respectful as men’s are and are considered as significant to the Aboriginal laws and
norms as the men’s are:
…Alinta’s and Wonda’s initiation was approaching, and … set out for the area that was sacred to women (p.24).
The cicatrices are a must for both men and women as part of the initiation to
Alinta’s and Wonda’s bodies were painted with sacred signs that were full of meaning, … Alinta felt as if her mind was floating in a sea where there was no past, no present, and she was very close to the Ancestors. And her body bled to show its ripeness (p.24– 25).
It shows that both men and women are admitted for their strength in bearing pain and
overcoming the fear of facing the pain itself. Thus, they are proud of the cicatrices
and are honored for having passed the initiation, as shown in the quotation below:
What was the meaning of these scars? …Were they cicatrices, showing that he had passed an initiation? If so, why was he ashamed of them? (p. 18 – 19)
And the proud goes to the women as well:
…After Alinta’s and Wonda’s initiation was complete…, the young men gave their pledge that they would protect and honour them. There was a celebration … Alinta was proud and happy. She was a woman now. A woman of the Nyari people. So was Wonda (p. 25).
Aboriginal women’s daily tasks are also different from the men’s. They are
tasked to forage for food: fruits, plants, small animals; while men are tasked to fish or
hunt bigger animals:
Alinta and the women would set off together to harvest food (p. 9) The men prepared their bark canoes because soon fish would be plentiful (p. 10).
Nevertheless, both are appreciated since the whole tribe meals depend on the food
gathered by both jobs. In addition, the quantity and the contribution of the food
foraged by women seem to be a more reliable source of food than the men,
considering that it is less likely that the hunting and fishing always bring reliable
This is also argued by Betty Hiatt in her study in Woman’s Role in
Aboriginal Society that the food gathered by the women is considered important since
it is a reliable source of food for the whole tribe (Hiatt, 1970: 2).
The Aboriginal men respect the women and do not see them as sexual
object. It is seen in the story when Man-from-the-Sea tried to rape one of the Nyari
women and as he was punished for that, one of the Nyari elder exclaimed: “How can
a man do such thing to his sister! …You have disgraced your clan and your people”
(p. 24).
Furthermore, the couples to be married are not allowed to have sexual
intercourse until they are formally married. Both men and women have to pass a trial
of self-discipline before marriage to prove that they are the master of themselves and
their lust:
They too would soon have to pass this test: to live together for three months in the bush, yet not to lie with each other during all this time (p. 26) …They knew they had to be the masters of themselves, their passions, if the people were to survive (p. 29).
It shows that Aboriginal women are admitted to have the same strength and weakness
as the men do, since the test qualifies for both the men and the women. Moreover,
since the test also requires the couple to survive in the bush together, with minimum
equipments (p.26 and p.27), it shows that the couple must live hand by hand in the
marriage. Thus, women are seen as partner in life and are not treated as cattle or
Aboriginal women are considered as partner, but more to junior partner.
White remarks that the status of Aboriginal women is not pawns or chattels of the
men, but rather as partner with junior role. Likewise, the women accept this junior
role for they alone are the one who is able to carry and give birth to a new life in their
body, and that the senior role of the men is validated because the men that enter the
spirit of the new life into women’s body. Therefore, since both men and women are
involved in the mystery of creation of a spirited child –of life, men and women are
partners in life, but with different roles (1970: 21).
3. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of
Maydina, The Shadow.
Maydina is a slave and is treated like a whore by the whaler who takes her
as his possession after killing her husband. Knowing that her daughter is to be sold to
another white man as sex slave, she runs for freedom and manages her way to a town.
There she stays in a Christian mission and has her name changed. The mission trains
her to do domestic duties and keeps her away from her daughter, as the little girl is to
be Christianized and “civilized”. She lives during the early years of the white men
colonialism.
The firsts of the white men who were sent to settle down in Australia were
mainly convict males and few females with the ratio seven to one. The male convicts,
seeing women of their race as inferior being than themselves, made prejudice of the
Aboriginal as lower race than their own; they consider the Aboriginal women to be in
Maydina is seen as sexual object and is treated as slave by the white man
who kills her husband. Even when she is welcomed in Balambool, Mrs. McPhee, the
woman who takes charge in that Christian mission, thinks of her to be witless and
stubborn, as any other Aboriginal:
Mrs. McPhee was pleased. “That’s good. It’s easier to train those who have white blood in them.” (p. 60) …there had always been something about Maydina that worried her – a certain pride, a stubbornness (p. 70).
Mrs. McPhee’s judgment, in this case, is mostly made based on her being a
strict Christian who thinks of the Aboriginal as sinners, embracing devil’s work with
their tribal dancing, ritual, even their native language. Still, she sees the Aboriginal as
inferior beings than herself:
She was convinced that it had been His specific plan that she and her husband come to this land – to civilize and Christianize the natives, so that their souls, too, might be granted entry to heaven (p. 60).
However, the Aborigines have no more separated sacred rituals between the
men and the women. In Christian religion, there is no sexual seclusion; both men and
women have the same role and the same right to attend the same rituals of
Christianity, which is usually done every Sunday. Yet, there is no chance for the
Aborigines to become the spiritual leader of this new religion, especially the women.
Having prejudice for Aboriginal, Mrs. McPhee forbids Maydina to raise her
daughter herself, even to sleep with her. She is afraid that Maydina would give bad
influence to Biri –Maydina’s daughter with the native thoughts that she considers as
Mrs. McPhee was relieved that the child was now completely in her charge … It was clear He had wanted her to take the child away from the mother’s influence (p. 70).
In the end, the authorities judge Maydina rebellious, trying to run away
from the mission to start a new life. Fearing that Maydina will give the same
influence to defy them, the authorities take Biri away from her to the Cootamundra
Training Home, a place the government set for Aboriginal girls to train them to do
domestic duties. They make sure that Maydina will not have the chance to get her
daughter back again:
… Johnston said: “Mr. Bligh and I have discussed the matter; we consider it best for me to take the girl to the Cootamundra Training Home...” … They pointed out that Maydina, knowing the children to be at Balambool, would escape from the government Mission … and was bound once more to kidnap them. … She – Maydina- must never know where the children had been placed. At the same time the sergeant and the constable seized the children and half dragged, half carried them away. Maydina found herself held by the troopers (p. 89).
As in a dream, a nightmare, she saw the children, bewildered and crying, put into the buggy. She called out to them, struggle against the hands which had grabbed her arms (p.90).
The Aboriginal women’s rights are being abandoned, even for their natural right and
duty as a mother. The white men judge Aboriginal women careless and can endanger
their own children. They are not allowed to nurture and raise their own children and
have them forcibly taken away by the government to civilize them.
On the other hand, the white men believe that they help the Aboriginal
women by making them domestic labors. They assume that they have lifted up the
Maydina, and other Aboriginal women in the mission, do domestic chores to earn
weekly rations: flour, tea, tobacco, sugar. Meanwhile, the men barely do anything in
the mission, unless if there are things need to be fixed. Mrs. McPhee and the
authorities think Maydina being ungrateful for being disobedient for all the things
they have done for her welfare (p. 60).
Diane Barwick also supports this from her argument in her study that the
white men think they have contributed a big deal for the Aboriginal women and rose
up their social class, making them the bread winner in their family since doing the
domestic chores earns the women more rations than the men, plus men labors do
seasonal job; within half of the year they usually unemployed (Barwick, 1970: 35).
4. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of
Nerida, The Water Lily.
Nerida is a young woman who, living with her aunt marrying to a white
man, is lucky enough to have proper education and has once worked as a book-keeper
in Melbourne. As she moves back to her hometown, she finds it hard for an
Aboriginal woman to find a work others than a domestic caretaker in the government
mission.
Nerida is underestimated for her knowledge and ability to have job as a
bookkeeper and not as a domestic labor when she sees the manager of Koomalah
mission to get a job. Mr. Felton, the manager, directly checks her to do the domestic
duties the moment she arrives without even considering if she may do or is capable of
In the previous place Nerida tries for a job interview, the manager even
kicks her out right away by the moment he sees that she is an Aborigine, just because
of his prejudice against the Aboriginal (p. 95). Sadly, even the white woman she
meets in the job interview treats her as inferior being, once she knows that she is
Aboriginal, despite of the fact that they have made nice conversation earlier and
talked about the harassment they have to face, being a woman (p. 95).
The white people judge the Aborigines, especially the women, to have lack
of competence to be anything else but laboring in domestic chores. Even in this task,
the Aboriginal women are judged for being incompetent, incapable of doing those
domestic chores in the right and proper way; they have their house inspected
regularly for the cleanliness and the tidiness. The white women also underestimate
the Aboriginal women, despite of the fact that they have been through the same
problem of gender inequality.
Mrs. Felton was the manager’s wife. Every fortnight she came round, checking all the houses – to see if the furniture had been dusted, sheets washed, blankets aired (p. 98).
This judgment has somehow affected some of the Aboriginal and made
them think, act, and feel that they are inferior. It is shown in the story when Nerida is
upset, watching the inspection and irritated most to see how her mother put herself
inferior to Mrs. Felton. The white authority has driven her mother, as other
Aborigines, to be submissive and to have lack of dignity - even in their own house
Nerida also receives sexual harassment from Mr. Felton, who thinks that
she, as other Aboriginal women, is sexually submissive to men, especially in trade of
more rations. He just does not understand why she has to be disobedient and thinks
that she only plays hard to get (p.108).
In the mission, Nerida gets the fact that Aboriginal women are being
separated from their children, as to forbid them to pass on the culture. Moreover, the
authorities just simply think that it is done to get the “blood out” of the children and
to give them better life.
Apprenticeship Training for Young Aborigines. It meant taking teenagers from their families and putting them into institutions where the girls were trained as domestics, the boys as station hands… It was a bit like cattle mustering …: you cut the young calves from the rest of the mob, loaded them, and away they went. There was always a big shindy when it happened, but after a while, things went back to normal (p. 110 – 111).
As the way it is described, the Aboriginal women’s right and role as a
mother is banished by the authorities. The authorities think that the women have lack
of the sense of mothering and nurturing their own children, believing that they will
soon get over their children and have their normal life back again, as if they do not
even remember to have any child in the first place.
It also shows how the Aboriginal women have their future fixed, as a
servant, if not a slave. Their right to receive proper education is abandoned, making it
impossible for them to achieve higher role in the society, or to reach a higher place in
5. Australian Aboriginal Women’s Role as Represented in the Character of
Lo-Arna, The Beautiful.
Lo-Arna is an educated girl raised up in the upper class white society. She is
half-Aboriginal, but is told to be half French-Polynesian. Having prejudice against
the Aboriginal, she is very devastated when she finds out that she is actually
half-Aboriginal.
Aboriginal women at her time still find it hard to get a descent job, since it
is very rare for them to receive high education, and they are underestimated for it.
Most of them are unemployed, if not working as servants or labors. Lo-Arna, on the
other hand, gets to go to college because her father is a rich white man who can
afford it.
Most Aborigines do not have high education, especially the women. Their
right to learn and achieve education is abandoned. With no proper formal education,
there are less fields of job available for them. This produce high criminal rate and
leads the Aborigines into poverty. It is impossible for the Aboriginal women to get a
better job, a career, even to achieve important role in the society. This is implied in:
“And they’d want you to fight their battles – because you’ve got an education! You are presentable…” (p. 166).
It implies that most of the Aborigines, include the women, do not have education,
more over, high education as Lo-Arna has.
Back in the colonial time, Aboriginal women are not given chance to learn
occupation they are allowed and able to do is domestic labor. As time goes by, this
condition made by the white men has led the Aboriginal women to be unqualified to
do other job than domestic worker and being prejudged for not having the ability to
learn more and to have formal education. This condition has also provoked poverty
since doing domestic chores does not earn much money to live nor feed the family,
moreover to pay for formal education. Thus, besides the racial judgment, this
condition makes them unable to fulfill the qualification to apply for more descent job
that may earn them more money. This causal-effect condition continues on and on
through years until the era of post-colonialism.
Aboriginal women do not have place in marriage, especially to the white
men. It is degrading for white men to marry Aboriginal women. Thus, they usually
keep Aboriginal women as sex partner, but they do not intend to marry them. This
condition is especially emphasized when the men come from an upper social class.
Having Aboriginal women as a wife means no open door in career and in social class
for them, as implied when Lo-Arna’s Aboriginal mother is dumped by her white
father when he knows that she is pregnant. He does not want to marry her, knowing
what he should given away if he does:
He wouldn’t have got as far in his career with an Aboriginal wife (p. 147).
Aborigines’ right in parenting is still being abandoned. Aboriginal women
are still unable to prevent the social workers from unreasonably taking their children
away without any notification. It is implied from how Lo-Arna is taken away from
