'Modern stone-age slavery': images of Aboriginal labour and sexuality
Date
1995-11
Authors
McGrath, Ann
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Publisher
Australian Society for the Study of Labour History
Abstract
As a white girl growing up in Bardon, Queensland, I used to stretch out on the
carpeted floor in our steamy lounge room to watch television with my brothers
and sisters. Tarzan, the pale 'Wild-man, showed us how 'natural man' behaved in
the jungles, and his partner lane did the same for 'natural woman'. My young
brother learnt the exotic language - that rather repetitive 'bwana mon-tinna bibi',
spoken amidst whooping bird and ape sound effects. Lost in Space showed us the
white nuclear family in the technologically advanced future and my brothers did
'tribal' dancing to its theme song. The Flintstones taught us 'yab-a-daba-d-o-ol' and
the life of a farcical 'modem stone-age family'. This recently revived spoof on the
1960s American nuclear family was full of ambiguity about what 'primitive society'
meant and made no reference to North American Indians. Fred and Earney were
the hard done~by breadwinners who went out to earn a wage, while Wilma and
Betty kept house and respectively raised the stereotypical sweet toddler Pebbles
and the boyish Bam Barn, with his trademark club. In The Flintstones, the men
thought they were dominant but the wives were cleverer, 'nagging' and covertly
controlling them. The men tried to evade the women's demands, but Fred Flintstone
was always calling out W+L-M-A!', demanding that his food and everything else
be organised for him.
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Keywords
Aboriginal, labour, employment
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Source
Labour History
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Journal article
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