Gynaecomnemonicothanasia

which means "memories of women die". The thoughts and activities of women of the past are suppressed or overlooked, — her story is neglected by history.

Of all the books available for purchase or loan to the readers in the United States in say 1970, less than one-fifth of one per cent were on the subject of women — and most of these (750 titles in all, six pages out of 3,320 in Subject Guide to Books in Print), were written after 1965.

Since the "re-birth of feminism" in the 1960's, women have become both newsworthy and scholarshipworthy. Women can now read about themselves as recorded and interpreted by themselves, and they can write about themselves at all sorts of levels. A great deal that is printed (or cyclostyled) is ephemeral and trifling. Publishers may put profit before quality of content; women's presses may thrive on propaganda; and most women's groups and cells disseminate written material of erratic quality. But excellent scholarly work is also being produced; and some valuable neglected writings are being re-issued or edited for the first time. And all the material, whatever the literary or academic standard, is worthy of preservation because it is all part of an historical phenomenon, — a unique phenomenon which is being uniquely reported and interpreted by participants acting, at varing degrees of sophistication, as participant-observers. This momentum of reporting and enquiry cannot be sustained and is not likely to recur. At the same time, inherent in this work is a fresh perspective, the value of which should not be under-estimated: it is a privilege not offered to many generations — to look out, to look around, and to look backwards at society from a novel look-out point, instead of viewing it only through the fixed window-frames of established and time-honoured edifices.

For this and other reasons "clearing-houses" for women-oriented studies are springing up, for example, in the United States and Australia. Some of us are initiating one in Hamilton — for the storage and retrieval of New Zealand produced material on women, to collect in a central depot and make available all published and unpublished essays, dissertations, parliamentary submissions, reports, speeches, talks and articles. (What happens to all these at present?) Access to what has already been done will help speakers in various groups (women's groups receive many invitations to speak to other groups and to schools); it will be helpful to those who want to follow up what they have heard in talks and discussions; and, of course, it will be useful to students. Secondly, the potential for good second-generational material cannot be developed without a storehouse to make available what has already been done, for collation, comparison, and so forth. Comparison is a process that not only stimulates arguments and hypotheses, but does much towards creating worthwhile standards, thus avoiding the risk of not being able, because of scarcity of material, to distinguish the hackneyed, the peripheral, the shallow and one-sided, and the discredited.

Thirdly, the knowledge that essays and speeches can be preserved and made use of should encourage, say students, to write on women-centred or women-oriented topics. At present many students are deflected from this area by indifference or active discouragement (e.g. sneers, leers, jocularity). Fourthly, the store of tested data as well as the expressions of emotion, public objectification of rage and fears, should serve to steady emotional reactions, rebuke prejudice, and allow a wide and unimpassioned, or not over-impassioned, focus to topics, problems and arguments. Fifthly, the existence of such a collection should encourage formal implementation of studies of women in schools and universities throughout the country.

A clearing-house for New Zealand is a challenging undertaking, — and a start must be made immediately before the growing mass of material becomes too daunting to tackle.

We are appealing for material, expertise and labour; if you are interested please get in touch (C/- Sociology-Department Or Psychology Department), with one of the following:

University of Waikato:

Susan Ariell	Glenda Betts
Janet Betts	Sarah Calvert
Lyndsey Cooke	Margaret Fretz
Phil Harington	Kay Larsen
Pinola McGaughey	Margaret Oaten
Rosemary Seymour	Dorothy Wales

We aim to preserve the thoughts, activities and achievements of contemporary New Zealand women and girls, to search out and present what may be known of ourselves in the past — and thus give confidence and encourage our continuing enterprise now and in the future. Therefore, our name and motto is:

Abgynaecomnemonicothanasia:NZ

—Rosemary Seymour, April 1974.