Women weren’t allowed to graduate from university in Australia until the 1800s for many reasons: social convention, religious beliefs - they needed to submit to their husband’s superior authority - even anatomy and physiology.
“Men were [considered] capable of sustained thought but women weren’t, they had smaller brains,” says director and writer Petra Kalive.
Writer/director Petra Kalive. Credit: Joe Armao
“They were considered culturally second rate. The psychologists believed that female genius was secondary to male genius.”
Economic consequences were also cited to keep women in their place, Kalive says. “‘Women are going to steal our jobs’... and boys were also a better return on educational investment because, you know, babies.”
In 1885, the first group of women to graduate from a university in the world did so - from the University of Melbourne. Individual women had done so in other parts of the world, but this was the first time a cohort was able to do so. The university first accepted female students in 1880, where they could enrol in subjects other than medicine; even though they could study, they were not permitted to graduate.
Female medical students in 1887.Credit: University of Melbourne Archives Image Catalogue, UMA-I-2003]
Kalive has been delving into the story of a small group of women who stood up for their rights and, ultimately, made history.
It was while working as artistic director of Union House Theatre years ago that she first heard of these ground-breaking women: a student had written a piece about them.
Now Kalive has been commissioned to tell their story by Virginia Lovett, inaugural director of performing arts at the University of Melbourne (UMAC). She will spend two months researching and writing a play about them this year, to be staged late next year. The first graduates founded the Princess Ida Social Club; Ida is the name of her work-in-progress.
Lovett, who ran the Melbourne Theatre Company for more than a decade, hopes to commission at least one new work a year.
Virginia Lovett, head of the new Melbourne University Performing Arts precinct.Credit: Justin McManus
“I love the idea of Ida, a story of strong, trailblazing women breaking down barriers. It is exciting to see artists explore the university’s archives to reimagine untold stories and create new work, not only for our stages here at UMAC but to share across the country,” Lovett says, adding she intends to dive into the archives in other ways, via readings and talks.
Another work in development - led by Sarah Goodes - examines the relationship between writer Germaine Greer and poet and activist Roberta Sykes.
For Kalive, the Ida story resonates on multiple levels. “We’re in the midst of a cultural evolution and lots of things need to change structurally in our society, if we want to meet the needs of climate change, if we want an equal and fair society,” she says.
“What these women demonstrate is that a small group of people can actually enact huge societal change. It doesn’t take a whole population to make change, it can just be a small, dedicated group of people with a passion and purpose.”
Bella Halloran, nee Guerin.Credit: University of Melbourne Archives Image Catalogue, UMA-I-1814
The first woman to graduate was Julia Margaret (Bella) Guerin, with a Bachelor of Arts, in December 1883; she received an MA in 1885 and went on to a career in teaching and political activism.
Kalive thinks we don’t do enough to celebrate and make known our trailblazers in this country and the focus is often on men. “Female stories are often left to the wayside.”
The other point she makes is Australia led the world on certain issues at the end of the nineteenth century. “Australia has this thing about following and not leading at the moment in our modern world. I’m really interested in encouraging us to be a leader again. There’s no reason we can’t be a worldwide leader in so many areas,” she says. “If we can show that we have in the past, why can’t we now and into the future?”