Power and the passion since Whitlam

This paper examines single motherhood and its representation in Australian literature since Whitlam introduced the single mother's benefit in 1973. It argues that single motherhood can be lived and represented advantageously within the framework of feminism. Novelists that discuss single motherhood include Helen Garner, Beverly Farmer, Amanda Lohrey, Deborah Robertson, Melissa Lucashenko and Elizabeth Jolley. These writers, and others, express both the positive and negative experiences of women who live outside of, and hence subvert and challenge patriarchal norms, hierarchies and myths. Identifying such aspects explicates how a single mother" while required to attend to the practical aspects of running a home" is afforded agency, control and choice to shape her world; including her creative life, her ongoing sex/love life and her career. Given that in 2019 there are more single-mother households than ever before, and the fact that male/female wage disparity in Australia is still more than fifteen percent, there is still comparatively little in the way of literature that reflects this.