Rozanna Lilley
Racial Hygiene
In the rough-and-tumble
we hear the gutter
of dirty talk
the intermingling
of male and female germs
a terrible wonder
The unwed are bundled
through hushed streets
clutching their Dettol and sanitary pads
splayed on the kitchen table
like last Sunday’s roast
a rag for stuffing
For Empire’s sake submit
to the gloved hand before marriage
we must segregate the duds and
sterilise the deficient
nature cut and carved
at her unseemly joints
Grow glowing postwar children
with milk & sunshine
scrub them with carbolic soap
teach them that fornication
is the factory of disease
your mothercraft on active service
Racial hygiene was promoted by members of the Women’s Reform League, especially Lillie
Goodisson who established the Racial Hygiene Association of New South Wales in 1926. They
advocated selective breeding, the segregation and sterilisation of the ‘mentally deficient’ and the
introduction of pre-marital health examinations. At a time when backyard abortions were commonly
available, highly dangerous and illegal, they also provided advice about contraception. Their program
reflected broadly circulating ideas about eugenics in the 1940s.
