Gender inequality is an issue that still exists in Australia, particularly in the workplace, and affects both men and women. While the benefits affecting both genders have changed with changing times, the current state of inequality in Australia is typically to the detriment of women. Like most other countries, Australia has a significant shortage of women in various aspects of work, particularly in leadership positions and politics, and due to assigned gender roles-such as raising children-that are still prevalent in Australian society, women have less time to spend on training and paid work, and have access to fewer opportunities to advance in the workplace. This results in the concentration of women in part time and casual jobs, leading to low wage jobs and job insecurity, or the majority of clerical work, health care, and cleaning jobs going to women (Baker 2001).
Contrary to popular belief, gender inequality has not always been to the benefit of men. According to Furze (2012) anthropologists suggest that men and women were of equal status in nomadic hunting and gathering societies, based on the significant amount of food produced by females. This changed however, when the Kurgans and the Semites from the European northeast and south respectively, invaded Old Europe, bringing with them religions giving dominance to males and male gods, eliminating goddesses as powerful influences (Eisler 1995). This warfare, as well as farming on a large scale-which involved using ploughs and other equipment- called to the men’s strength, significantly increasing male authority, especially since women’s activities were restricted due to pregnancy and raising the children. This resulted in the men taking over and owning the land, further pas...
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Gender inequality is an issue that must be addressed if Australia as a modern society wishes to continue to progress. While the elimination of inequality cannot be instantaneous and may take a few years, it is something that can and should be fixed, and for which solutions are available and simple. While the problem of gender discrimination in general may never be fully eradicated, workplace specific discrimination can be resolved by closing the pay gap between men and women performing the same or equal tasks, and recognising the necessity and value of currently undervalued tasks performed in the majority by women, such as nursing and family care. If this advancement does not occur, stereotypes about the roles of women and their place in the family home and in work and society will be encouraged, and further gender inequality will be exacerbated.
Strachan, G., 2013. Still working for the man? Women's employment experiences in Australia since 1950. [Online]
Thornton, Margaret. "Feminism And The Changing State: The Case Of Sex Discrimination." Australian Feminist Studies 21.50 (2006): 151-172. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19 May
During the World War II era, the outlook on the role of women in Australian society revolutionised. As a majority of men were at war, Australian women were encouraged to rise above and beyond their stereotypical ‘housewife’ status. They were required to take on the tasks that were once considered predominantly male roles, and also allowed the opportunity to join the armed services as well as enlist in the Women’s Land Army. Many women who doubted their abilities played their part by entering voluntary work. Women had the privilege of contributing in Australian society in many ways that they had never been able before. Thus, it is manifest that the role of women in Australian society had drastically changed.
Canadian workplaces today seem to be a fairly diverse place, with a blend of many religions, ethnicities, and genders present. However, although people preach affirmative action and melting pots in current times, many inequality and power issues still abound. One strikingly noticeable example is gender discrimination. Women in the workforce face many challenges like smaller wages, harassment, male privilege in hiring or promotions, and lack of support when pregnant or raising children. One half of the planet is women, and it can be assumed the same for Canada, but they still face judgment at work because they lack the authority to dispute against big corporations or even their male supervisor. It cannot be argued that Canadian women’s status has worsened over the past hundred years, of course, thanks to feminism and activism. However, their status is not as high as it could be. Women as a group first started fighting for workplace equality during the second wave of feminism, from the 1960s to the 1990s. Legislation was approved during the second wave to try to bring gender equality to the workplace. Feminists both collided and collaborated with unions and employers to ensure women received fair treatment in an occupation. Quebec had the same issues, only the province approached the conflict differently than English Canada with its own unique viewpoint. It became clear that women were entering the workplace and did not plan on leaving. Second-wave feminism in Canada shifted power from the government and businesses to women in order to try to bring equality, although the discrimination never completely disappeared.
Women opportunities and lifestyles were negatively impacted due to the inequalities that women faced in the working sphere. The wage gap the years following World War Two were obviously lower than the men's. It was in the 1980's when women only earned sixty-four cents to a male dollar. Although laws came into effect like the Equal Pays Act in 1963, there were still unfairness with wages. It did very little in changing women's status as women were still not seen equally to men. Women were maintained as a cheap labour force because society thought that the insignificance of women's work would be threatened if women and men share the same jobs. To ensure the continuation of inexpensive women labour, they were confined to certain jobs which became known as " female occupations". This gender segregation further claimed that women's work was less important, hence appropriate for l...
Traditional gender roles in the United States and other societies have always been dictated as where the man goes and works for a salary as women stay at home to take of house related work. However, many changes in the traditional family has made gender roles go through significant changes. Many women have gone through college and have obtained college education degrees, which has allowed women to advance their careers. The break down of rigid gender roles and the increase in participation of women in the workplace have granted women more choices in life. The choices many women now have in there career fields has made some controversial views on the intelligence of women achieving the status of their male counterparts The first view obtained in the workplace is the ability to make a even paying field for both men and women. Many constituents have pledge to achieve equality for women through laws forbidding the use of any sexist policies that may constitute discrimination against sex. The second is weather working women have been allowed to working women have the same opportunities rewarded to them as men do. Many political action committees have help perpetuate feminist movements which intended to build equal opportunity workplaces for both men and women however, many questionable issues still arise at weather working conditions have become better for women.
Our society is structured according to already predetermined dimensions. Especially significant is gender. Our gender is an element that can not only define differences but also create advantages and disadvantages (unequal society 148). It therefore becomes essential to consider what gender refers to. Gender is best defined as a way of classifying people based on socially agreed distinctions that are associated with male and female anatomy (gender history 153). Gender differentiation is evident in all societies and in particular in Australia with men and women seen to take on different social roles (gender 384). This has resulted in a significantly unequal spread of life chances (gender 384). Thus creating a category of analysis that inequalities flow from (gender history 154). Differences in opportunity between men and women therefore become evident. This historically established prejudice against women. However, the women’s liberation movement in the 1960’s and 1970’s broke barriers with women gaining more power in respect to education and employment (gender 383). Despite such breakthroughs, elements of gender inequality can still be seen in Australian society. This is interesting as most Australian’s have an assumption that we are an egalitarian society that does not encourage injustice and believes everyone should have a ‘fair go’ (collective identity 167). Through the exploration of the Australian labour force and harassment, violence and discrimination towards women we can see that gender equality is growing, but still evident, in Australian society.
Many feminists define the notion of patriarchy as the role of male dominance over female in politics, economic and social structure (Jones 2001, p. 1197), which is characterised as unjust and oppressive to women (Makama 2013, p. 117). This theory of patriarchy may explain the lack of women participation in politics and full time employment. This is because the existence of patriarchal belief has caused the different gender roles in our society, which strengthens inequality. Both men and women are victims of strict patriarchal divisions as constrained identities are formed (Singh 2016, p. 29). This may be reflected in the division of work and family life balance caused by gender. As women are more likely than men to dedicate time to house chores and childcare (Parker & Wang 2013), this may result in the unequal work restrictions due to family responsibilities. For instance, an analysis of the American 2000 census has found that single women are more likely to be in the labour force than married ones, and those who became mothers are less likely to work full time (Cotter et al. 2005, p. 109). In Australia, 69.1 per cent of men are employed in full-time positions, while only 40.7 per cent of women work full-time (WGEA 2016, p. 8). These gaps in the labour market reinforce the existence of gender inequality. Furthermore, a Princeton
The critical rank for reducing gender inequalities should be education, labor force participation, and lastly, wages. There are obvious differences between men and women whether it’s anatomically, financially, and so forth. The gender inequalities women face compared to men is alarming and saddening. Gender stereotypes reinforce gender inequalities because stereotypes can often be internalized which results in biases against either sex. These biases against a person can result in negative results. Gender inequality has been within our society for a long time especially amongst women.
Yet, it was generally established that women are proceeding to develop an equivalent opportunity to their male counterparts, such as the example of Australia’s first female prime minister in 2010. This case displays the mounting support towards women within Australian society. With further emphasis of women in society, Australian women may soon become equal to their male counterparts, and then allowing equal power among the
The expectation of gender role in society causes insecurities and depression because sometimes we are not able to do or to be what others expect from us. This is something men and women have to battle everyday and as much as we can agree that time has changed, gender roles expectation is something we still see today and we are still subjected to obey whichever gender role we were born with. Women need to follow the demands of beauty and to become housewives while men needs to grow muscle and make money. Today we may not live like the ancestral ways but the oppression of gender roles is still a big issue. It is like there is this set of rules for each gender since they are born even though they are not written they linger
Research paper Topic: According to the extensive research conducted by the recruitment company Glassdoor, Australian women earn about 83¢ cents for every $1 a man earns. Why it is still ‘gender pay gap’ common and what are the solutions for this particular segment of gender inequality? Argumentative paragraph one In Australia, the growth of women employment leans towards part-time work where undervaluation and promotional opportunities to advance careers are limited.
2.6 The Feminist perspective Since the earliest settlement, Australian society has traditionally supported primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary education through public funding, with minimal financial support for early childhood education and care provision, resulting in the responsibility for the education and care or children, prior to entering school falling to the private sector and the family (Stooke, 2012). As a consequence, childcare in Australian has evolved over the past hundred years from an area of “interest mainly to charitable groups” made up of “upper-class women” (Brennan, 1998, p.1) to a widely contested politically manipulated area of concern (Brennan, 1998). Child care was originally viewed as a women’s issue
Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.
Women have fought through torture, blood, sweat, and tears to help women stand strong in our