The Institution of Marriage and the Family in Australia of 20th Century - Assignment Example

Australian Studies: Identities Question 1 The field of art has always been a reflection of the changes that are being experienced in society. Society is a human construct and has over the years evolved and changed with the changing human demands and expectations. The art has evolved with the human beings and this is but natural given the fact that art is mainly the reflection of human thought and is essentially a form of expression for human beings. It has been observed that in the Australian experience that the various art forms are reflective of the various ethnic biases that permeates the civil society in the country. The first can be reflected in the various movies that have been developed in the region, where the aboriginal group has been represented in a light of being the deprived class, and the white Australian is represented as an alien who has travelled to the land and not only disregarded its culture but also exploited its resources and natives, such as the case of Australia and Whiteys like us. Also in other art forms, such as paintings and museum collection, it has been observed that the white Australians have been privileged and the natives have been represented in a derogatory manner where their traditional ancestors have been represented as savages and “extinct”, reflecting the ethnic bias that is pervasive in the cultural space of society. For example, the collection of the curios and trophies in the cabinet by the Europeans has been used to define the world, and this has been seen to have continued in the collection of the museums in the country (Hemming, Steve 2000). The interpretation of history that has been represented in the museum is highly biased, due to the fact that the categorization of data was only done by the white Australians, and the natives passed down their history through folk stories. Also it has been observed that in art too there is a certain amount of bias that one finds against the aboriginals, where in image that is present in the National Museum of Australia, Frontier Conflict…..representations, it is observed that the natives have been represented in a negative light, where a group of native warriors are shown to be attacking a peaceful camp of travelers (Clifford, J. 1997). These have led to the development of a feeling of segregation and biases in the society. Even historians who have interpreted history have contributed to the ethnical biases in the area (Foucault, M. 1970), where they have represented some in a derogatory light. Healy in his book has been known to refer to the aboriginal tribe as savages and part of the Stone Age era which reflects highly ethnical bias against the natives of the country. He has in his book commented “Australia is the present home and refuge of creatures, often crude and quaint, that have elsewhere passed away and given place to higher forms. This applies equally to the aboriginal as to the platypus and kangaroo (Healy, Chris 1997)”. The segregation between the savage and the civilized in the interpretation of history has been reflective of the bias towards the white Australian, where as the native tribes and the aboriginal population of the country has been marginalized and discriminated against. Question 2 The institution of marriage and the family are social constructs; therefore all the roles that have been attached to it are also socially constructed. Due to this it has been observed that the role of both the men as well as the women have been evolved with the evolution of the Australian society. Given the fact that the concept of gender itself is gender is culturally derived, gender identity is similarly rooted in cultural understandings of what it means to be masculine or feminine (Gilding M, 1997). It has been seen that earlier the role of the household work was considered derogatory and the women of the upper class were not given to working in the house or in the public arena, while those in the lower class and those belonging to the native tribes were employed to ensure that these tasks could be performed effectively (Allen J, 1989). They had to work to ensure that they could support their family. The female is supposed to be sweet, naive, conforming, and dependent. Men were typically etched out to be physically powerful, daring and audacious, independent, self sufficient and capable, much as the European societies (Lake M 1988). In the 20th century, the role of marriage as well as family underwent a change. Women are taught sociologically to be gentle and homemakers and working at home became a matter of pride while the man is stereotypically supposed to be the head of the household and put the bread on the table. This too has evolved with time, where today women try to ensure that they can be a part of the society, and strive for equal work and pay in the public sphere, but it has to be realized that the private sphere is still considered an area where the woman belongs. This kind of a construct is not a derivative of nature but that of the manner in which women are brought up vis-à-vis the man (Lake M 1988). The deification does not work in a singular direction either. Interestingly enough the cultural stereotype demands that men be “tough guys” interested in sport and beer. Men who do not confirm to this stereotype are often labeled gay, homos or queer.  Today, the construct of both the institution of family and marriage have undergone a change, where it has become possible to be more individualistic in the approach, although the society is still conservative in comparison to the western society (Leng KW 1997). Question 3 When one looks at the inclusion of the ideology of equality in the arena of sports in the Australian society, it becomes obvious that although there are certain areas which have been developed without any sense of discrimination (Bourdieu, Pierre, 1993), and there is an effective presence of egalitarianism, there are also some challenges that have to be overcome to ensure that a sense of equality among all the entities is established. It has been observed that there are several games that are played in the Australian society and that the sports community in the country is highly developed and efficient. Some of the most effective sports where the country has achieved global recognition are that of cricket, soccer, football, and in the Olympic Games including swimming and others. It has been observed that although ethnically there is no sense of discrimination when it comes to the area of sports, and all the team players are treated in the same manner in the country (Messner, Michael A. and Donald F. Sabo, 1994,). In fact many believe that the country as a whole is able to unite and come together when it comes to the occurrence of major sports events, leading to a sense of comrade and fellowship among the citizens, and as this is a feeling that stems from national identity and pride, it is able to cut across the ethnic borders that are present in the Australian society. But it has been observed that there is a sense of being discriminated against in the area of sports by the female sports person in the country, where it has been observed that the overall amount of exposure that the sports women in the country can access are from low to negligible. When one looks at the top 10 sports moments in the history of the country list that has been provided by Dr Kate Douglas, one realizes that there is a bias present against the females sportsperson in the country, although their contribution to the national awards is also high. In fact the overall coverage of women’s sports is less than 10% in print and less than 2 % in electronic media (Vamplew, Ray and Brian Stoddart, 2008). This bias is clearly reflected in the fact that although there are 3000 jobs for a male sportsperson in the country, there are none for the women. In fact the case of exclusion is so bad that when there was a call made for greater inclusion by Liz Ellis, Greg Baum responded that-“it is not sexism that sometimes marginalizes sports folk in the media, but elitism. Most sports fans concentrate on the highest level of any game, leaving the others to please themselves. I athletic endeavors, men will generally outrage women where comparisons are possible. Women are as skilful, but only sometimes as strong and fast as men, and so their sporting pursuits mostly are less of a spectacle.” The cycle of exclusion is vicious as it does not allow for exposure, thus lack of sponsors, leading to lack of development, leading to lack of coverage and so on (Schaffer, Kay and Sidonie Smith, 2000). There is today felt a need to ensure that the needs and the demands of the women sportsperson are met so that an effective system is established, which is both ethnically as well as in consideration to gender equal. References Allen J 1989, “From Women’s history to a history of the sexes”, Australian Studies: A survey, ed. J Walter, Oxford Press, Melbourne, pp 45 Bourdieu, Pierre, 1993. “How can one be a sports fan?” In The Cultural Studies Reader, During, S. (ed.). London: Routledge, 1993. 339 – 355. Clifford, J. 1997 ‘Museums as contact zones’ in James Clifford Travel and Translation in the Late Twentieth Century, New Haven: Harvard University Press Foucault, M. 1970, The order of things: an archaeology of the human sciences, London: Tavistock Gilding M, 1997, “Gender roles in contemporary Australia, Contemporary Australian Feminism, ed KP Hughes, Melbourne, pp 98 Healy, Chris 1997 From the ruins of colonialism: history of social memory, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hemming, Steve 2000, ‘Hindmarsh Island (Kumarangk): Challenging Australian Mythologies’, In S. Kleinert & M. Neale (eds.) The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture, Oxford University Press, London, 441-444 Lake M 1988, Women, Gender and History”, Australian Feminist Studies, 7 and 8 Leng KW 1997, “Sex and Sexualities: Contemporary ‘Feminist debates”, Contemporary Australian feminism, KP Hughes, Longman, Melbourne, pp 108 Messner, Michael A. and Donald F. Sabo, 1994, Sex, Violence and Power in Sports, Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press, 1994 Schaffer, Kay and Sidonie Smith, 2000, The Olympics at the Millennium, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2000 Vamplew, Ray and Brian Stoddart, 2008, Sport in Australia: A Social History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008 Read More