Lilith: A Feminist History Journal

Lilith: A Feminist History Journal Lilith is a peer-reviewed journal which publishes articles and reviews in all areas of women’s, feminist and gender history (not limited to Australia).

It is administered by the Australian Women's History Network, and published through ANU Press. Editorial Board: http://www.auswhn.org.au/contacts/

We hope you have enjoyed our journal article spotlight for Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, Number 31! While you are ...
25/06/2026

We hope you have enjoyed our journal article spotlight for Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, Number 31!

While you are visiting the 2025 edition of Lilith, we encourage you to also check out the breadth of Book Reviews by emerging scholars: Jacquelyn Baker, Sylvie Brassard, Julia Garas, Teagan Haby, Kaitlin Mills, Leanne Miranda, Madeline Pentland, Nicola Ritchie, Michael Stockwell, and Valerie Sofie Tollhopf.

The ten book reviews cover diverse thematic terrain. These include a memoir of the Australian Women's Liberation movement, Shauna Bostock's white and Aboriginal family history, and biographies of the nineteenth-century novelist Madame Dudevant (George Sand) and of Doris Punshon's life as a q***r woman. Reviewed books also cover the role of women in the intellectual history of international relations, the Women's Weekly's influence on Australian food culture, sexism and harassment in the Westminster parliamentary system, Geraldine Fela's oral histories of HIV and AIDS nurses, the roles of sexuality and gender in remaking Australian citizenship, and trans-misogyny as a project of colonial violence.

At a time when studies of gender and feminism are under siege, this issue testifies to the continuing vitality of feminist historical scholarship. You can read the book reviews in full, available open access on ANU Press:

The 2025 Lilith presents four research articles focused on gender-based issues and experiences in twentieth-century Australia and Britain. The Australian-focused articles examine Lillie Beirne’s maternal feminism and related campaigns for social credit in the 1930s and 1940s, and how the ‘Citrus...

The final article spotlight for Lilith: A feminist History Journal Number 31 is on ‘Hope and Grief: Mothering and Mental...
23/06/2026

The final article spotlight for Lilith: A feminist History Journal Number 31 is on ‘Hope and Grief: Mothering and Mental Illness’ by Miranda Francis (La Trobe University, Australia). This article highlights the significant impact of motherhood on identity through the case study of “Diana”, her memories of mothering, from the joy and hope of her 1970s pregnancy that aligned with societal norms, to the profound challenges of the 1990s when her daughter was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa. Here is an excerpt from Francis’ article:

“One set of memories overlays and shapes earlier ones, making emotional recall central to the experience of mothering. Since motherhood never truly ends, the emotional weight of mothering leads to a more pronounced merging of past and present… The interview with Diana, the basis of this article, describes ongoing relationships. For Diana, the time of the maternal ‘event’ is not finished; it continues and remains part of her present life. While she focused on specific historical periods in her interview, these relationships are very much alive.” (p. 55)

You can read the full article, available open access on ANU Press:

The 2025 Lilith presents four research articles focused on gender-based issues and experiences in twentieth-century Australia and Britain. The Australian-focused articles examine Lillie Beirne’s maternal feminism and related campaigns for social credit in the 1930s and 1940s, and how the ‘Citrus...

Our next article spotlight is on ‘Feminising Social Credit’ by Simon Dowsett (Australian Catholic University, Australia)...
16/06/2026

Our next article spotlight is on ‘Feminising Social Credit’ by Simon Dowsett (Australian Catholic University, Australia) from Lilith: A feminist History Journal Number 31. This article tells the previously untold story of Lillie Beirne, an Australian Senate candidate, international public speaker and advocate for social credit, an economic and political movement of the interwar period. Here is an excerpt from Dowsett’s article:

“The shifting nature of women social creditors’ networks is evident in the company they kept and the causes they championed after WWII… the dividend offered a panacea to several established concerns of post-suffrage feminists between the wars—namely economic independence and freedom from the ravages of conflict and poverty—and was perfectly amenable to maternalistic rhetoric. But amid Cold War realignments, the subsequent trajectory of women social creditors could be unpredictable.” (pp. 49-50)

You can read the full article, available open access on ANU Press:

The 2025 Lilith presents four research articles focused on gender-based issues and experiences in twentieth-century Australia and Britain. The Australian-focused articles examine Lillie Beirne’s maternal feminism and related campaigns for social credit in the 1930s and 1940s, and how the ‘Citrus...

The next article spotlight is on ‘Women ‘in Desperation’: Theorising Abortion during the British Liberalisation Campaign...
09/06/2026

The next article spotlight is on ‘Women ‘in Desperation’: Theorising Abortion during the British Liberalisation Campaign, 1960–67’ from Lilith : A Feminist History Journal, Number 31. This article, by Adam Boshier (independent scholar, UK), highlights the liberal, social, foetal health and therapeutic arguments for abortion in 1960s Britain, as they appear in the archives, publications and public testimonies of campaigners. Here is an excerpt from Boshier’s article:

“At the time of the Act [Abortion Act 1967], liberal social policy was often smeared by the Conservative Opposition as creating a ‘permissive society’ that would cause moral decline. ‘Abortion on demand’ was a phrase first used in the United Kingdom (UK) by anti-abortion campaigners and politicians who decried even the limited reforms of the Bill… while it failed in parliament, the liberal argument was present and persuasive in private discourse… vitally shaping how some medical professionals applied the law once it passed.” (pp. 16-17)

You can read the full article, available open access on ANU Press:

The 2025 Lilith presents four research articles focused on gender-based issues and experiences in twentieth-century Australia and Britain. The Australian-focused articles examine Lillie Beirne’s maternal feminism and related campaigns for social credit in the 1930s and 1940s, and how the ‘Citrus...

As inspiration for the cover girl of the Lilith: A feminist History Journal Number 31, we are shining our first article ...
02/06/2026

As inspiration for the cover girl of the Lilith: A feminist History Journal Number 31, we are shining our first article spotlight on ‘Citrus Queens: Selling Produce, Place and Gender in 1960s Riverland Communities’ by Amanda Wells (University of Newcastle, Australia). Drawing on local newspapers, industry newsletters and oral histories, this article takes a deep dive into the politics of belonging through ‘The Riverland Citrus Queen’ competition of 1960s South Australia. Here is an excerpt from Wells' article:

“Many of the young women selected as queens were the daughters of migrant fruit growers and packing shed workers, and their role in promoting citrus to the broader public reinforced not just their individual assimilation, but also the collective presence of migrant families in shaping the region’s economy. This visibility, however, did not erase everyday social tensions; relationships between migrant and Anglo communities could be marked by moments of exclusion and prejudice…. For the Riverland Citrus Queens, rather than a straightforward process of assimilation, their participation and successes suggest a form of ‘soft assimilation’—one that sidestepped the totalising intentions of national policies by embedding migrant visibility within industry and civic life, rather than erasing their cultural and economic contributions.” (p. 89)

You can read the story of Anna DeVito, the 1961 Riverland Citrus Queen and the cover portrait for the 2025 edition of Lilith, in Wells’ article, available open access on ANU Press:

The 2025 Lilith presents four research articles focused on gender-based issues and experiences in twentieth-century Australia and Britain. The Australian-focused articles examine Lillie Beirne’s maternal feminism and related campaigns for social credit in the 1930s and 1940s, and how the ‘Citrus...

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