Written by second year student, Georgia Welch
For as long as women have been a fixture of the workforce, there has been a tension between our aspirations and our “duties”. As we are taught to view our desire to pursue a career or to commit to raising a family as competing interests, a uniquely female quandary arises: can we truly have it all?
There is scarcely a woman whose life story more thoroughly subverts this notion than Dame Quentin Bryce. On 5 October, 21 of Emmanuel’s female students were fortunate enough to hear to Dame Quentin impart wisdom earned over lifelong balancing act between her responsibilities, passions, and relationships. A scholar, activist and, most famously, Australia’s first female Governor General, Bryce enjoyed her colourful career whilst somehow finding the time to rear 5 children.
Her secret? She believes that we can have it all, only “not all at the same time.” Bryce’s advice came as a welcome assurance to a room full of young women who grew up in a world far more accepting of their professional endeavours than that of their mothers and grandmothers.
This was hardly the only take away from what was an incredibly intimate, interactional experience. Perhaps more immediately pertinent for Emmanuel students was the Dame’s musings on mindfulness. In recognition of the manifold pressures facing young people, and young women in particular, Bryce prescribed good music, poetry, and books as the antidote. For her, the importance of making time for what you love cannot be overstated.
However, what resonated most with me was what the Dame had to say about the future of the arts in general. In a time where the pursuit of arts degrees is actively disincentivised at a policy level, Bryce’s unbridled optimism that “we’ll always need good writers” was a breath of fresh air. Although I can only assume that a different, yet equally profound, chord was struck with every woman that attended the event, this writer was so encouraged by this guarantee that she wrote an article in an attempt to articulate it.
