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Nostalgia for ‘innocent homely pleasures’: The 1964 New Zealand Controversy over Washday at the Pa
Author(s) -
Brookes Barbara
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
gender and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.153
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1468-0424
pISSN - 0953-5233
DOI - 10.1111/1468-0424.00057
Subject(s) - league , context (archaeology) , identity (music) , sociology , gender studies , modernity , law , aesthetics , history , political science , art , archaeology , physics , astronomy
In 1964, the New Zealand Department of Education withdrew and destroyed 38,000 copies of Washday at the Pa , a booklet depicting Maori family life, at the request of the Maori Women’s Welfare League. This essay explores the raced and gendered context of the ensuing uproar in the press, which debated aspects of New Zealand identity. It situates the Washday controversy in the context of post‐war housing and differential standards of living experienced by Maori and pakeha. It argues that the League upheld claims to both modernity and tradition, while many pakeha used the occasion to express nostalgia for mother–centred domesticity.