"Marriage: Love and Law" is a NSW State Archives exhibition that explores the laws, beliefs and social attitudes that have shaped and reshaped marriage in Australia over three centuries.

Deborah Kingsland was one of a number of Australian women film makers in the 1970s who sought to depict the ‘real’ experiences of women.

Kingsland’s film "All in the same boat" presents the story of Barbara, a young married woman living in Western Sydney with two infant children. Her husband sees his role solely as the family breadwinner with no domestic or childrearing responsibilities. Barbara and other women in a similar position use alcohol and Valium in an attempt to cope with the sense of isolation and stress that they feel. Barbara reflects on her situation: ‘It’s really incredible to think back and think of what you could have been if you didn’t get married, and what you are now’.

Deborah Kingsland
"All in the same boat"
Film (digitised)
ca. 1977
Footage supplied by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s Film Australia Collection, Title no: 250579

Marriage: Love and Law
https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/archiv...