Changing roles of men and women in Australia
Right, role, freedom for women and changing role between men and women was questioned in today society. Especially in Australia – a very multicultural nation where one in four of its 22 million people were born overseas, have a parent who was and four million speak a language other than English. This essay will point out shifting roles of men and women by examining women’s rights in different aspects of that multicultural society such as Health, Work, Politics, Popular culture, Home – family and Education.
Let go back to the 1930s. At that time, the men worked and earned money. The fathers were usually far away from their children. Whereas, the women just stayed at home and took care of home and children. It was generally accepted that women’s roles were as Kindergartener and home-keeper. In the other words their destiny were getting married, having Childs and dedicating their lives to the requests of their husbands and children. This was part of the culture that men and women understood their places in society and accepted it. Furthermore, it was believed that if women work after the marriage, they were slack in their responsibility to their husbands and children. It also could be seen as being lax their obligation to the nation. This is because at those days evolving the number of the nation’s population was one of the most important problems. Therefore, people believed that settling the country’s population was women’s duty. For these reasons just unmarried women often had good jobs. A working married woman was considered to be taking a man’s job, however they were paid less than men. In addition to, Marriage and divorce laws favored men in terms of custody of children and rights to property. All of those were these sorts of inequalities.
In the Second World War shortages of labour caused by so many men joining the armed forces opened the door for many more women to work. That was the beginning of change. Many women took up jobs that had previouslydominated by males such as Politics, military affairs, scientific research. Moreover standards of living changed. Technology has developed and it was reforming people’s lifestyles and domestic roles were altered by the invention of washing machines, vacuum cleaners and electricity. For many women this helped to save a lot of time in housework. Therefore since they have more great opportunities to study and contribute for society and following their interest. Many women have now reached higher situations within politics, the occupations and even business in Australia. Further more the introduction of the contraceptive tablet allowed people to more easily plan their families and decide to space their children. That brought a decrease in the number of children in each family. It also allowed married women to pursue careers without the worry of pregnancy interfering with their plans. In addition, much laws has been put in place that purpose to make equal opportunities for women in the workspace, such as good pay, childcare, anti-discrimination and rules against sexual harassment.
For example “during the 1980s women took leading roles in the nation’s affairs. In 1981 Senator Janine Haines became the first woman leader of a major political party-the Australia democrats. In 1986 Justice marry Gaudron was the first women to become a judge of the High court and 1989 Rosemary Follett became the first female chief minister of the ACT ” (Bereson 2001, p.3). And recently Julia was first sworn as the 27th Prime Minister of Australia on 24 June 2010. She was not born in Australia but she is a migrant. This event does not only mean but also confirms the great role of women in Australian society. As a results Australia has become one of the first nations in the world giving women the rights to vote and to be seated in parliament. From that the women in Australia now achieved higher positions within politics. It is no longer considered that these opportunities are not available to women.
Indeed Besides politics, women also more successful in many different fields such as art and culture, sports, even in business. For example “Louise Sauvage won a gold medal in Sydney Olympic Games 2000” (Costain 2003, P.4). “Robin Archer-a woman of many talented she is a singer, writer and a director. She was artistic Director at Melbourne festival art in 2003” (Costain 2003, P.12). Even very traditional organizations such as religion, churches have changed their attitudes towards women, for example the Anglican Church in the mid-1980s in Melbourne accepted women to be ordained as ministers. Today in secondary schools and universities more women than men educated, and more women than men advanced in bachelor degrees in university. “In 2006, women make up for 54.8 per cent of all tertiary education students and 47.5 per cent of all students enrolled in training courses and vocational education. The common were joined in society and culture, management and commerce, hospitality, food industries, and personal services courses. Also there are more than 30 per cent of small business operators in Australia are women. Women hold 57 per cent the Australian public service workforce and 36 per cent of senior executive situations”. (Women-towards equality)
The changing roles of women and greater participation in all levels of society, has led to the role of men to change. Men are now expected to be part of a household management team. In the other word they are ready to share domestic work with their wife. That never ever happened in 1930s. This has caused anxiety in men with traditional backgrounds. They are not sure of their roles any more.
However In fact, women are still in a tougher situation than men when it approaches to vocations and work in general. Child care can be difficult to secure and is often too costly. For example if a child is ill it is usually the mother who will be likely to take their time off work to take care them. The greater responsibilities of teaching children, which are still considered women’s responsibilities, mean that it is so tough for women to get full-time work – especially in jobs requiring overtime. Because of this, instead of full time women usually have to do casual jobs or part-time. Most of these works are not ‘career-orientated’ positions, so it is not realizable for women to reach higher positions in their work. Furthermore women’s attendance is especially strong throughout common culture. Women’s image in film clips, movies, magazines, television shows, newspapers and even news programmers is often as a sexualized decoration. There for Women have often been discriminated against, especially on sexual harassment, even at work.
Ultimately, any change also has two sides. Although the position of women in Australia society has been confirmed, it also means their responsibility is heavier. Especially in some fields that require physical strengths, superior skills and health. These things women are inferior to men. However all string of success mentioned above helped to break down traditional ideas about what women could or could not do. It made women more visible in public society and enabled them to lead lives that were much nearer to men’s lives in standings of liberty and selection.
