Catholic girls: the mother-daughter nexus

This paper examines Catholic girlhood, womanhood and the mother–daughter<br />relationship, and its socio-historical construction within a range of disparate<br />discourses. The aim of the paper is to deconstruct dominant patriarchal<br />constructions and images of femininity, particularly those embedded within the<br />doctrine of Catholicism. Moreover, the paper intends to reveal traces of maternal<br />connections and relations which are often hidden by more dominant discourses.<br />Rather than providing a historical account of Catholic girlhood, the object is to tell<br />a perspectived story of the local and contextual experiences of growing up and<br />being educated to be a ‘good Catholic woman’ in suburban Melbourne, Australia<br />in the 1920s and 1960s. In telling the story it is hoped that other women can<br />momentarily engage with this narrative of Catholic girlhood and the mother–<br />daughter relationship.