Representing Women:

This paper examines the way in which women elected to Australian parliaments between 1921 and 1981 perceived their role in relation to the representation of women and the way in which they responded to the conflicting expectations they encountered. The comments of these women indicate that improved representation is unlikely to be achieved simply by the election of more women to legislative bodies. Women must be elected who are committed to the pursuit of women's interests, but this is unlikely to be sufficient without a change in the male established priorities of legislatures so that women's interests and those who pursue them are no longer regarded as marginal.