Today I am going to tell you about my opinion on Australia’s National Identity. For countless years the entire world has visualised Australians as a pack of outback country bogans, with a limited education and a strange addiction to vegemite and beer. Australians are a strange collection of people who only ever greet each other by using phrases such as ‘G’day Mate’ and ‘How ya goin’, whilst also throwing in as many strange and unintelligent phrases an possible. This is definitely not the natural approach Australians take to greeting fellow Australians out in the street or over the phone, nor does the vocabulary of an average Australian majorly consist of slang and cuss words. People from other cultures all over the world have seemingly taken on a number of stereotypes about both Australians and their country. Australia’s national identity needs to change from supporting the stereotype of the outback Australian bogan, to supporting the modern reality of its people whom are actually well educated and a part of the middle class. People from all over the world have latched on to classic stereotypes about the average Australian being completely bogan and entirely careless. Australians are also believed to have adopted the abandoned trend of the perfectly shaped mullet to accompany a nice top quality pair of thongs, footy shorts and a cork hat, complete with a singlet and a stubby. Australia is depicted as having a predominantly male population who are extremely laid back, love the outdoors, live on a diet which consists mostly of beer, are a part of the working class and carry a limited extent of education. When in fact, Australia has come a long way from sheep shearing in the outback, with more than 90% of the population living in... ... middle of paper ... ...ring the nationally famous cork hats and singlet. Each student is an individual with their own aspirations and unique characteristics, none of which are displayed in the poem by Banjo Paterson, nor do they portray any signs of the Australian Stereotypes. The classic stereotypes of Australia as now outdated and need to evolve to modern standards and realities. The average Australian is nothing like these falsly depicted images, and it takes on a more sophisticated and scholarly persona and is realistically a lot closer to the people showed in the ad for Bond University. Australians are more city orientated, and majority of the population have jobs and homes. Australia’s national identity needs to be changed from supporting the stereotype of the outback Australian bogan, to supporting the modern reality of its people whom are actually well educated and civilised.
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
As a person, myself who’s from a Chinese background, I have struggled to define myself as an Australian. Traditional literatures placed those with different heritage, and those who don’t fit the guideline, to feel unaccepted and un-welcomed. However, nowadays contemporary literatures have opened up a new world and changed the ideology. This showed young Australians to see beyond the traditional Australian stereotype and feel part of the Aussie community. ‘Nobody calls me a wog, anymore’, is an example of many contemporary
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.
stage for the development of Australian cultural identity and the values, attitudes and beliefs of
Hannie Rayson’s play ‘Hotel Sorrento’ explores the changing nature of Australian cultural identity. Rayson successfully perpetuates and challenges common Australian stereotypes in order to establish how the Australian National Identity has changed over time. She presents these stereotypes through the characters expectations of gender roles, attitudes towards Australian culture and the theme of ownership.
Maestro by Peter Goldsworthy provides an insight into 1960s/70s Australia and helps reinforce common conceptions about Australian culture. One common conception Goldsworthy reinforces in this text is Australia’s increasing acceptance of multiculturalism. Maestro, set in the 1960s to 1970s, shows Australians growing more accepting and tolerant of other cultures. This shift in perspective was occurring near the end of the White Australia/Assimilation Policy, which was phased out in the late 1970s/early 1980s. An example of this shifted perspective in Maestro is Paul’s father’s opinion about living in Darwin:
...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.
The myth that Australia is a classless society is still, till this day, circulating. With education opportunities differing, depending on your status in society and socioeconomic background, not all Australians share the same opportunity of education. Whether being a middle class citizen or an “elite” or from working class, all education opportunities offered, will be influenced by your financial status and hierarchy in society. Power can influence the outcome of an individual’s life.
Reynolds, H. (2005). Nowhere People: How international race thinking shaped Australia’s identity. Australia: Penguin Group
Collective Identity is an individual or groups set beliefs and rituals that make up there own personal identity. It is how one can belong or feel accepted by a group or create how a person is. Indigenous people here in Australia are an example of a very strong version of collective identity. Indigenous people belong to tribes or clans, and all the separate clans have different collective identities but they are all similar in some ways. An indigenous clan that you are apart of determines on where you are born and also your language group. There are many different things that make up the aboriginal identity one of the main thing being the Dreaming, which is the creation story of the aboriginals. The originally known as the Dream Time is the
The myth that Australia is a classless society is still, till this day, circulating. With education opportunities differing, depending on your status in society and socioeconomic background, not all Australians share the same opportunity of education. Whether being a middle class citizen or an “elite” or from working class, all education opportunities offered, will be influenced by your financial status and hierarchy in society.
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
Powerful forces such as media, culture and myths about race and gender can shape a misreading of society, events and other people through negative stereotypes. Indigenous Australians are categorised as an aggressive minority group in Australian society and is also a social group which has suffered dramatically due to mainstream white culture. However, this stereotype has actively been reinforced through Australia's history as well as its media influences and lack of understating of Aboriginal cultural differences. This argument will be supported by Ernie dingos statement on the television series Heartland, which portrayed the idea for reconciliation between non-indigenous and indigenous. However, it will also explore the lack of understanding
Australia is a very unique place, along with our multiculturalism there is also a strong heritage surrounding us. At first thought of Australian heritage we think about such landmarks as Uluru, The Sydney harbour bridge and The Sydney opera house, The Great Barrier reef and other internationally recognised places. But our heritage goes much deeper than that; it is far more than outstanding icons. Along with these icons there are also unsung places like the old cattle stations, Aboriginal missions, migrant hostels, War memorials, our unique wetlands and the towns and cities we have built. Adding all of these things together, helps to tell the story of who we are and how we have shaped this land in the unique identity it has today.
Thus, this creates connotations to patriotism and pride towards the country the reader lives in. Coupled with the large image of Australia filled with smaller images of people of all ages, and race, sporting the Australian flag, influences the reader to enter the article with a positive attitude towards Australia Day, as it seems to put this day in high esteem, which consequently convinces the audience, before even commencing to read, that the day is about ‘unity’ and not division. The smaller images of a non-traditional and traditional stereotypical Australian prove that race play no part in this celebratory day, creating the sense of Australia being an accepting