Mateship in Australia: is the modern move towards individualism placing it under threat? They could be your sibling, neighbour or even a complete stranger, but a mate will always have your back. However, is this value slowly disappearing? Georgia Walker writes. The iconic Australian term has been around for over a hundred years, being traced back to the convict era, where inmates referred to their fellow prisoners as ‘mate’. To this day, the term is still used to describe a good friend, or someone who helps you out in a time of need. Mateship has always been an integral part of the Australian identity, a classic example being when we band together to help one another out in tough times. Whether it be at home or on foreign soil, history …show more content…
has shown that we don’t let mates down. Our soldiers were known for not only their courage and bravery, but, for looking after and being loyal to their mates, never leaving anyone behind. While soldiers returned from war with physical and psychological scars, the friendships formed during these battles have stood the test of time. Although, with the move towards individualism advancing, will the classic value of mateship start to lose its meaning? As people struggle with trying to balance a busy work and home life, families have started to move away from traditional connections. Unlike years gone by, many people would not know the names of their immediate neighbours, let alone the names of everybody else in the street. We now live in a society where doors are locked and children no longer have the freedom to explore their neighbourhood and build relationships with other kids. With the introduction of social media, people are preferring to spend more time infant of a screen rather than in person with their friends. Both younger and older generations are becoming increasingly guilty of attending social events, only to end up with a phone in front of their face. It is unfortunate to see that they have made the effort to get together with their friends, but instead of group conversation, they choose to socially isolate themselves. Professor at Cornell University, Steven Strogatz, says that “social media sites can make it more difficult for us to distinguish between the meaningful relationships we foster in the real world, and the numerous casual relationships formed through social media.” Even if this is the case, if disaster or tragedy strikes, social media is able to alert those same people to the fact that another Australian needs a hand. When the 2011 Queensland floods struck, thousands of people volunteered their time to form the ‘mud army’ to support complete strangers. Standing by and watching without helping would have been considered ‘unAustralian’. As mateship is such an iconic concept to the Australian society, it has formed the basis of literature and cinema over the years, shown all over the world.
Poet Henry Lawson featured the topic in his poem ‘The Shearers’, where he says “The mateship born of barren lands, of toil and thirst and danger - The camp-fare for the stranger set, the first place to the stranger.” Tim Winton portrays some examples of mateship in his book, ‘Cloudstreet’, written in 1991. As the story progresses, two families, the Pickles and the Lambs, grow closer together whilst sharing a house. Winton portrays mateship in an interesting light in his book. While it is a subtle background theme, it is easily identifiable. As the story of the working class families rolls over 20 years, we see them grow and develop compassion towards each other. It seems that over time, the idea of mateship has changed. ‘Cloudstreet' was based on the post World War II period, and since then, our values of mateship and its definition have begun to change. For example, today, how many people would be willing to share their house with complete strangers? While it is possible that the value may not hold the same meaning as it once used to, it is safe to say that Australians will always help a ‘mate’ in
need. The classic comedy ‘The Castle’, directed by Rob Stitch, could be considered as another example of Australian mateship. The Kerrigan family fights to save their own and neighbours’ homes from developers, working together to send their case to the High Court. During the movie, Darryl mentions the line; “It’s not a house, it’s a home, a man’s home is his castle… It’s got everything, people who love each other, care for each other. It’s got memories, great memories. I mean, it’s a place for the family to turn to, come back to.”, while he is standing up for his neighbourhood. If this was to happen to your neighbourhood, it’s disconcerting to think that your neighbours might sell up and move, leaving you to fight the battle alone. However, it is more likely your neighbours would rally together and unite to stand up against injustice. Becuase that’s just what mates do.
The 2014 Walkley Award winning documentary, "Cronulla Riots: the day that shocked the nation" reveals to us a whole new side of Aussie culture. No more she’ll be right, no more fair go and sadly no more fair dinkum. The doco proved to all of us (or is it just me?) that the Australian identity isn’t really what we believe it to be. After viewing this documentary
Then it was the outback pioneer, battling the bush to build a new nation prior to the First World War. The Anzac legend – bold and ferocious males, unwilling to bow to military discipline, never flinched in battle defined the evolution of the image of Australian masculinity. Professor Manning Clark in his opus A History of Australia imaged the bronzed and noble Anzac as males involved in sex orgies, having violent scuffles, and in Egypt burned belongings of local people, brawled, got drunk and rioted and patronised brothels. Hero and larrikin, ratbag and rebel, the Anzacs ... ...
Courageous. Mateship. Loyalty. Wild. These are typical words Australians would use to define themselves.
The novel challenges the contradicting sides of the expectation and reality of family and how each one contains a symbiotic relationship. The ideal relationship within families differ throughout The Bean Trees. Kingsolver focuses on the relationship between different characters and how they rely on each other to fill the missing gaps in their lives. When Taylor and Lou Ann meet, they form a symbiotic relationship and fill the missing gaps in each others lives. Once the two women move in with each other, Lou Ann fills Taylor’s missing gap of motherly experience and opens her eyes to a life full of responsibilities.
There is a reference to our multiculturalism in the lines ‘All cultures together as one. Yet, individual until the game is won’. These lines acknowledge the fact that even though Australia is an increasingly Multicultural society, all Australians, regardless of their ethnic backgrounds, share the same values, principles and national identity.
To be a True Blue Aussie you have to have a mate because “You've to have a mate,” as verbalized by poet Dave Butler in 2013. For in Aussie culture, a mate is a person whose actions speak louder than their words. In Australia, being a mate is a value that is held in the highest respect.
Some would say The Anzac Legend all began when Britain declared they were in need of help and it was Australia’s duty to go to their aid. Australia tossed aside experience and opted for youth. There were big incentives to go. To travel and visit foreign places, economic reasons, to be with their mates but the most incentive of all was that Britain needed help.
'The Australian Legend', in itself is an acurate portrayal and recount of one part of society, from a specific era, ie. the Australian bushman of the 1890s. Its exaggerations, however, such as the romanticism of the bush ethos by Australian writers, the unbalanced use of evidence, and the neglect to acknowledge the contribution to our national identity from certain sections of society, ie. aboriginal people, city-dwellers, women, and non-British immigrants, render this book to be flawed. For these reasons, it cannot be regarded as a complete and balanced account of Australian history.
The review here serves as a general discussion of mateship that provides the potential readers. with some basic understanding of the idea, and as background. information for the contents that I examine. I then briefly discuss the image of mateship in an Australian film. Gallipolis.
Elizabeth Jennings, author of “One Flesh”, uses the idea of love diminishing over time in order to represent a difficult relationship between the couple. For the couple are “lying apart now, each in a separate bed”, suggesting the separation has gradually increased over a prolonged period of time perhaps caused by domestic tension consequently resulting in a strangely uncomfortable dissipation of the intimacy and closeness they once possessed. This is a literal and metaphorical representation of the isolation and emotional distance that has led to the mental and physical solitude. Another example of the waning of love is the “Silence between them
T Australians can be represented in a positive way by celebrating its diversity as a united nation, between its people and the land. Nevertheless, Australia can also be seen in a negative way, as being harsh and cruel. S – This presentation will be analysing one Australian song, I am Australian by Bruce
MacDermott, D. (1993). As we see you. In D. Grant & G. Seal (Eds.), Australia in the world (pp. 86-91). Perth: Black Swan Press
...at these several events in our nation’s history have demoralised our reputation to other countries globally. To make us known as a better country to other nations, we’ve completely abolished the White Australia Policy, gave back the aborigines their freedoms and we were also the first country in the world to give women rights. Australia today in present day is now one of the most multicultural societies on Earth, and we definitely follow our values of mateship, acceptance and freedom.
Loyalty is a hard quality to find in a friend, so once loyalty is found that friend is usually in it for life. Faraway friends are the ones we find ourselves turning to in our darkest hour of need and the ones that we would step into battle with. Marion Winik perfectly explains the importance
In this paper, I am going to use concepts from the social exchange theory and relational dialectics theory to describe my relationship with my boyfriend. First, I will discuss the cost and rewards of the relationship. Second, I will then discuss the dialectics of autonomy and connection followed by, openness and protection.