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Monday Conference: Alvin Toffler discusses women's liberation, 1972

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A man sits in front of a studio audience
Monday Conference: Alvin Toffler discusses women's liberation, 1972

SUBJECTS:  Civics and Citizenship, History

YEARS:  9–10


How was Australian society affected by the women's liberation movement in the 1960s and 70s?

One issue, the struggle for women to access the same opportunities as men, caused much uncertainty about the future of the family.

In this clip, writer and futurist Alvin Toffler offers his unique take on women's liberation and what it could mean to the modern family.


Things to think about

  1. 1.How does society define 'family'? How do you think this definition might change during your lifetime? How might factors such as work, money, and changing values influence our ideas of what a family is? Imagine a time when women were not expected to join the workforce, and, when they did, it was for less pay than men. What questions might people ask when they saw the movement towards a more equitable position?
  2. 2.In what ways does Alvin Toffler believe that the nuclear family ('a mother, a father and … 2.8 children') is designed to drive and support the economy? What 'mainstream' principles of the women's movement does Toffler applaud?
  3. 3.In the early 1970s, when this clip was made, some people were concerned that women's liberation would bring about the end of the family. How did Alvin Toffler respond to these concerns? What benefits did he believe women's liberation would offer the family?
  4. 4.In recent years, there has been a lot of political debate about an issue that redefines what we mean by family: same-sex marriage. Locate at least three sources that present arguments from different perspectives on this topic before answering the question: 'How might same-sex marriage challenge what it means to be a family?'



Date of broadcast: 4 Dec 1972


Copyright

Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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