Dr Natasha Campo
Research Assistant, National Centre for Australian Studies
View contact details in Monash Staff Directory
Latest Work
From Superwomen to Domestic Goddesses: The Rise and Fall of Feminism
Why are women turning their back on feminism? This book examines the rise and fall of feminism in the public imagination in the last twenty years, and explains why ‘feminism failed me’ has become the catch-cry of a generation. Today many women feel betrayed by the promises of feminism and are looking for liberation through ‘raunch culture’ or as ‘yummy mummies’ and ‘domestic goddesses’. Yet during the 1980s the popular ideal of the ‘Superwoman’ offered a source of empowerment and pride for women and equality with men — even ‘having it all’ — seemed possible. Through a close reading of popular culture sources, this book shows how women’s engagement with feminism has shifted over time, and considers its future as a social movement. From Superwomen to Domestic Goddesses was launched by Professor Rae Frances.
Biography
Natasha Campo holds a PhD from the History Program at La Trobe University. She has published and presented widely in academic forums as well as in the mainstream press on Australian feminist history, and has a particular interest in the way feminism has been represented and remembered in the popular media.
Natasha Campo joined the department in January 2007 as Research Assistant to Professor Jenny Hocking who is currently working on a two volume biography of the Hon. E. G. Whitlam. The biography forms part of a three year Australian Research Council Linkage Grant with the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia.
Natasha has taught in Australian history, gender studies and legal studies at La Trobe University and is an editor of Lilith: A Feminist History Journal. In 2005 she was recognised as a ‘New Talent’ by the Journal of Australian Studies.
Publications
- ‘The 24-Hour Woman’: Feminism and the politics of consumption in 1980s Australia’, Consumer Australia: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, Cambridge Scholars, forthcoming.
- ‘Blaming feminism again’, Review Article, Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, forthcoming.
- ‘Feminism failed me: Childcare, maternity leave and the denigration of motherhood’, Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 24, issue 61, 2009, pp. 325–42
- Review Article, Dialogue: Journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, Australia, vol. 27, no. 3, 2009, pp. 63–64.
- With Jenny Hocking. ‘Gough Whitlam: A Moment in History’, Memento: National Archives of Australia, no. 36, 2009, pp. 14–16
- ‘Time and the Feminist Subject’, Review Article, Australian Feminist Studies, vol. 23, no. 56, 2008, pp. 275–78.
- ‘Rethinking Feminism: A Review Essay’, Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, vol. 14, 2005, pp. 105–113:
- ‘Why “Having it All” Still Means “Doing it All”’, The Age, 7 February 2005, p. 11.
- ‘‘Having it All’ or ‘Had Enough?’’ Blaming Feminism in the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, 1980–2004, Journal of Australian Studies, issue 84, 2005, pp. 63–72, 236–237:
- ‘“Childless But Not By Choice” or “24-hour Women Having it All”? Remembering Australian Feminism’, Lilith: A Feminist History Journal, vol. 13, 2004, pp. 106–116.
