Patricia Bartlett
Encyclopedia
Patricia Bartlett was a New Zealand
conservative Catholic
activist of the 1970s and 1980s.
She was born in Napier
to Bertrand and Ivy Bartlett (née Boult). She attended Sacred Heart school in Napier and failed her University Entrance examination. In 1947, she became a primary school teacher. She entered a Sisters of Mercy
(S.M.) convent at Hill Street in Wellington
after her mother died in 1950. She left the cloister in 1969 to become increasingly involved in social conservative political activism. In 1970, she founded the Society for Promotion of Community Standards (SPCS), which survived her death, albeit in much reduced circumstances.
Bartlett was the secretary of that organisation for 25 years, during which time the SPCS campaigned against exposure of bared female breasts (1970) and won initial bipartisan support from social conservative Members of Parliament and local government leaders in Wellington and Auckland
. From its beginning, SPCS sought assistance from conservative
Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants alike, and SPCS membership would often come from kindred conservative Christian pressure groups, such as SPUC
(the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child - now Voice for Life
, New Zealand's largest pro-life
group), and the later Christian Heritage Party
(a Christian
-based socially conservative political party outside parliament, which is now defunct)
Over the years, she campaigned for theatre standards, as with the stage show Hair
in Wellington, (1972) and prohibition of adolescent oriented sex education books like Down Under the Plum Trees (1972). SPCS tried to ban Stanley Kubrick
's A Clockwork Orange
and Last Tango in Paris
(1972), which led to New Zealand Film Society activism against her attempts to stifle what they saw as freedom of artistic expression throughout the late 70s and early 80s.
SPCS rapidly established connections to kindred organisations and individuals overseas who favoured similar conservative Christian pro-censorship stances, which included Dr John H. Court and the Adelaide
-based Festival of Light (Australia), Mary Whitehouse
and the National Viewers and Listeners Association (United Kingdom) and Dr Judith Reisman and the Institute of Media Education (United States).
In the mid-80s, Bartlett and SPCS fell afoul of social change, as the High Court
issued its Howley v Lawrence Publishing decision in 1986, shortly after the Fourth New Zealand Labour Government (1984–1990) decriminalised homosexuality
. Magazine presentations of gay men did not depict criminal acts per se, and over the course of the late 80s, conservative Christians found themselves hampered by new requirements for censorship policy proof. Social scientific data was produced by opponents of rigorous state censorship and moves toward central government regulatory rationalisation led to contraction of previously disparate film, video and publications censorship into one body, the Office of Film and Literature Classification
, in 1993
As time went on, Bartlett's elderly former patrons and pro-censorship activists died, and in 1995, Bartlett learned she had inherited her mother's cardiovascular problems. In 1996, she retired from the organisation, and lived quietly in Upper Hutt
until her death in November 2000. She never married
Bartlett's pro-censorship campaigns had contributed to a backlash against social conservatism
in New Zealand during the eighties and nineties. However, after its founder's death, the Society for Promotion of Community Standards still exists as a pressure group that attempts to obstruct film festival schedules, opposed the prostitution law reform and the ending of parental corporal punishment
of children due to the passage of Sue Bradford
's Child Discipline Bill to that effect on 16 May 2007
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
conservative Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
activist of the 1970s and 1980s.
She was born in Napier
Napier, New Zealand
Napier is a New Zealand city with a seaport, located in Hawke's Bay on the eastern coast of the North Island. The population of Napier is about About 18 kilometres south of Napier is the inland city of Hastings. These two neighboring cities are often called "The Twin Cities" or "The Bay Cities"...
to Bertrand and Ivy Bartlett (née Boult). She attended Sacred Heart school in Napier and failed her University Entrance examination. In 1947, she became a primary school teacher. She entered a Sisters of Mercy
Sisters of Mercy
The Religious Order of the Sisters of Mercy is an order of Catholic women founded by Catherine McAuley in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. , the order has about 10,000 members worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations....
(S.M.) convent at Hill Street in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
after her mother died in 1950. She left the cloister in 1969 to become increasingly involved in social conservative political activism. In 1970, she founded the Society for Promotion of Community Standards (SPCS), which survived her death, albeit in much reduced circumstances.
Bartlett was the secretary of that organisation for 25 years, during which time the SPCS campaigned against exposure of bared female breasts (1970) and won initial bipartisan support from social conservative Members of Parliament and local government leaders in Wellington and Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
. From its beginning, SPCS sought assistance from conservative
Catholics and fundamentalist Protestants alike, and SPCS membership would often come from kindred conservative Christian pressure groups, such as SPUC
SPUC
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children is a pro-life organisation in the United Kingdom and several other countries.In New Zealand, SPUC changed its name to "Voice for Life" in August 2004...
(the Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child - now Voice for Life
Voice for Life
Voice for Life is New Zealand's oldest and largest pro-life group with branches nationwide. Voice for Life's role is to educate about the humanity of the preborn child, the effects of abortion on women and advocate for social change so that abortion is seen as unthinkable medical homicide...
, New Zealand's largest pro-life
Pro-life
Opposition to the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-life, or anti-abortion, movement, a social and political movement opposing elective abortion on moral grounds and supporting its legal prohibition or restriction...
group), and the later Christian Heritage Party
Christian Heritage New Zealand
The Christian Heritage Party of New Zealand was a New Zealand political party espousing Christian values...
(a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
-based socially conservative political party outside parliament, which is now defunct)
Over the years, she campaigned for theatre standards, as with the stage show Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
in Wellington, (1972) and prohibition of adolescent oriented sex education books like Down Under the Plum Trees (1972). SPCS tried to ban Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick
Stanley Kubrick was an American film director, writer, producer, and photographer who lived in England during most of the last four decades of his career...
's A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange (film)
A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 film adaptation of Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It was written, directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick...
and Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris
Last Tango in Paris is a 1972 Italian romantic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci which portrays a recent American widower who takes up an anonymous sexual relationship with a young, soon-to-be-married Parisian woman...
(1972), which led to New Zealand Film Society activism against her attempts to stifle what they saw as freedom of artistic expression throughout the late 70s and early 80s.
SPCS rapidly established connections to kindred organisations and individuals overseas who favoured similar conservative Christian pro-censorship stances, which included Dr John H. Court and the Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
-based Festival of Light (Australia), Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse
Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...
and the National Viewers and Listeners Association (United Kingdom) and Dr Judith Reisman and the Institute of Media Education (United States).
In the mid-80s, Bartlett and SPCS fell afoul of social change, as the High Court
High Court of New Zealand
The High Court of New Zealand is a superior court of New Zealand. It was established in 1841 and known as the Supreme Court of New Zealand until 1980....
issued its Howley v Lawrence Publishing decision in 1986, shortly after the Fourth New Zealand Labour Government (1984–1990) decriminalised homosexuality
Gay rights in New Zealand
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people have most of the same rights as other people in New Zealand. At present, the remaining exceptions are the right to adopt children as a couple, and the right to marry. However, New Zealand enacted legislation that permitted civil unions in 2005, which...
. Magazine presentations of gay men did not depict criminal acts per se, and over the course of the late 80s, conservative Christians found themselves hampered by new requirements for censorship policy proof. Social scientific data was produced by opponents of rigorous state censorship and moves toward central government regulatory rationalisation led to contraction of previously disparate film, video and publications censorship into one body, the Office of Film and Literature Classification
Office of Film and Literature Classification (New Zealand)
The Office of Film and Literature Classification is the government agency in New Zealand that is responsible for classification of all films, videos, publications, and some video games in New Zealand...
, in 1993
As time went on, Bartlett's elderly former patrons and pro-censorship activists died, and in 1995, Bartlett learned she had inherited her mother's cardiovascular problems. In 1996, she retired from the organisation, and lived quietly in Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...
until her death in November 2000. She never married
Bartlett's pro-censorship campaigns had contributed to a backlash against social conservatism
Social conservatism
Social Conservatism is primarily a political, and usually morally influenced, ideology that focuses on the preservation of what are seen as traditional values. Social conservatism is a form of authoritarianism often associated with the position that the federal government should have a greater role...
in New Zealand during the eighties and nineties. However, after its founder's death, the Society for Promotion of Community Standards still exists as a pressure group that attempts to obstruct film festival schedules, opposed the prostitution law reform and the ending of parental corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
of children due to the passage of Sue Bradford
Sue Bradford
Sue Bradford is a New Zealand politician who served as a list Member of Parliament representing the Green Party from 1999 to 2009.- Early life :...
's Child Discipline Bill to that effect on 16 May 2007