ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines not only the discrimination suffered by migrant women, but also their struggles and resistance against such oppression. It focuses particularly on the domestic and work experiences of migrant women in terms of the class, ethnic and gender relations which operate in Australian society. The chapter also outlines the workforce experience of the Italian women in the Brisbane sample, as this clearly demonstrates that it was in this area that they had least power to effect any change. Bottomley points out that ‘this is supported by evidence of the strength of the women’s movement in Italy’ and that further Australian evidence would be valuable. As Martin herself demonstrates, in many ways there has been ‘concern with moulding non-English speaking immigrant women to the Australian model’. The majority of the 56 women interviewed in Brisbane arrived in Australia between 1949 and 1966, then aged in their 20s and 30s.
