ABSTRACT
It may seem somewhat insulting to begin our reading of Australia in the pub. Changes in the formal structure of pubs are connected with changes in the level of seriousness with which the needs of women are taken and the degree to which the pub is seen as entirely a masculine precinct. Surfers Paradise isn’t usually regarded as the most likely place for a revolution, but fortunately such an event was recorded in December, 1984. The pub is determined by relations to these two domains, the places of work and the home. Its function is to mediate their opposition by a complex set of repudiations and incorporations of both. So, on the one hand the pub can be called a ‘home away from home’, while on the other hand it can be seen as a major threat to domestic life.
