Persistence of Gender Inequality in Australia - Essay Example

Running Head: GENDER AND SOCIEETY Persistence of Gender Inequality in Australia Name Institution Date Gender and Society Introduction Gender is the social attributes and opportunities which are associated to a female or a male as defined by the society. It may also mean masculine and feminine roles which are socially constructed and also behaviors and characteristics which are not biologically tied but instead originate from perceptions of what sex is taken to mean. Gender defines how the responsibilities are to be shared between men and women and between boys and girls. Due to this definition of gender, people have conceived in their minds that some things are meant to be done by males and not by females, and vice versa. Gender Inequality in Australia Inequality in the Work Place Australia’s population mainly included men since settlement. Very few female convicts were sent to Australia and the British government had to encourage women by even paying them to immigrate to Australia. This could have contributed to the fact that majority of people in permanent employment are men (Kimmel, 2004)). In Australia, gender inequality has been observed in politics, household, education, law and workforce. Inequality in the Work Force In the workforce women have struggled cultural as well as social barriers so as to attain equal opportunities as their male counterparts. The number of working women in Australia in the past 3 decades has increased tremendously. In 1940s women were not accepted in the labour force and if they were accepted it would be a low paying job. Men were paid more compared to women. Income differences between the two genders are evident and have resulted from inequalities brought about by placement of individuals into particular jobs through stereotypic norms. This is prevalent in technical fields even when the women have what it takes to work in a given field; they opt to work in traditionally defined female occupations. Gender equality entails going an extra mile beyond making improvements and provisions in women’s education and health issues. Women have to have access to good leadership and leadership positions and capabilities, participate in areas that are requiring making of decisions involving key aspects and positions in the society, economic resources that will help mitigate their financial status, needs and requirements, rights that protect them and their welfare and the need for these rights to be respected and their capacity for tackling gender based inequalities be increased Inequality in gender restricts the economic growth of any country since the division of labour is not equitable. The potential for growth is hindered due to the fact that men with little potential may be holders of high offices and dockets whereas women with capability and potential may be hindered from occupying these offices by gender constraints hence economic growth is affected. Placement of people from different genders into different occupations in Australia was determined by human capital theories like education, experience, or a person’s skill. This caused wage gap between genders but today it is not a strong factor as both genders are able to acquire education and skills equally. Occupational segregation was also attributed to wage gap across the gender. There is vertical and horizontal segregation (Pritchard Hughes, 1997). Horizontal segregation is when men are thought to have different physical and mental capabilities from women, whereas vertical segregation is when women are not allowed to hold jobs with power and prestige. Lastly, glass ceiling effect suggests that women have very notable disadvantages in high ranking jobs. This implies that there are invisible barriers which exist and prevent a woman from advancing with her carrier or reaching the higher echelons of companies. In Australia women employment grew during world war two to fill the positions vacated by men. By 1995 the percentage of women employment rose up to 43% but in spite of these improvements various studies show that there is gender inequality in the Australian workforce. Today, gender inequality is more obvious in companies where females lack opportunities to work in high positions as opposed to fellow men. There is also inequality in the share of full time and part time employment in Australia. In July 1996, men who were employed constituted of 89% full time and just 11% part on time. Women accounted for only 58% full time and 42% part time (Pritchard Hughes, 1997). This has an effect on the distribution of wealth between the two genders as part time job pays less and has no much job security as compared to full time job. The fact that only a few women work in high positions as compared to men has brought about differential in wages between the women. To overcome this discrimination against women a law was enacted to promote equal employment opportunities by employers. The Australian government has continued to assist women by introducing Workplace Relations Bill which benefits women by promoting more flexible working hours, ensuring that women have adequate access to all employing agencies. A telephone survey that was conducted by Australian Human Rights Commission indicated that 5% of males and 22% of females had been sexually harassment in the work place at some time (Chambers, 2008). This shows that women are more vulnerable to sexual harassment compared to men. Due to this, the legislature enacted some laws to help protect women in the society and work place as well. Gender Inequality in the Household A woman, whether employed or a full time house wife, has the responsibility of taking care of others, like children and elderly relatives. Employed women have difficulty in finding enough time to work and provide adequate childcare. Men only spend a total of 1 hour and 37 minutes. Married women who have a paying job experience pressure of dual workload. It is estimated that a woman in this situation works 105 hours per week (Chambers, 2008). Most tasks that a woman is required to do cannot be postponed. Men may want to help out but they will not go asking for chores. When a woman is employed, married and has kids, this work load can lead to stress and eventually adversely affect her health. To cope with the pressure, women are employing house helps and some men are learning to give a helping hand in domestic responsibilities. In 1788, Aboriginal and Torre Strait people had been living in Australia for up to 60 000 years. Women mainly provided by gathering food and hunting small animals. In addition, women were responsible for taking care of the children. A study carried out in 2002 by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that 70% of mothers used the arrangement for flexible working so as to take care of their children, whereas only 30% fathers did take the flexible arrangement for working so that they could help their wives in the care-giving task for their children and be there for their children. The reason for this was seen as the negative connotations usually alluded to care giving role by men, pressure emanating from social circles since men in the society are usually viewed and taken as the families’ breadwinners (Kimmel, 2004). The gender issues also have an effect in the family life in relation to the upbringing of children in the family domain. It is in childhood that many of us do learn or are taught of norms that pertain to both males and females. Parents get pressure from family relatives and friends to socialize children so as to match sex and gender requirements or roles set for the different sexes in the community or society (Ritzer, 1996). Girls, at a tender age, are usually schooled in traditional roles of nurturing, house-keeping, looking attractive among others through the use of toys such as doll houses, baby dolls, sets of hair dressing and make-up. Boys on the other hand get masculine toys such as cars, building blocks for buildings and houses, action figures among others which emphasize on working and power. The Law The Australian government implemented various legislations like sex discrimination Act in 1984 to protect women against probable discrimination. It covers issues like education, partnerships, marital status, sexual harassment and potential pregnancy. This law includes anti-discrimination law against a student on the ground of his or her potential pregnancy, pregnancy, sex or marital status. Gender inequality in Education Since 1948 education has become a basic human right. In 2007 education was approached as a right based issue by UNESCO and UNICEF. Three rights that were discussed in order to make that education was available to all included; right of access to education, right to quality education and the right to respect within the learning environment (Frye, 1983). Caryl Rivers We News commentator says that girls continue to be discouraged from science careers by parents and teachers because of fear that they cannot perform well in mathematics and science. As a result females majoring in science courses like engineering were fewer as compared to males since these fields were perceived to be masculine fields. Females were mostly majoring in languages and sociological academic fields (Evans, 1995). A report by National Academy of Sciences found that, the difference in mathematic performance between genders is all caused by culture issues and not biological issues. Today, women and men in Australia are equally educated in both secondary and university levels. Gender and politics Despite feminist movement for so many decades, women remain marginalized to democratic power. The first Australian feminism wave was in the nineteenth century and it looked in women’s right to vote. This seemed to bear fruits as Australian women were the first to have voting rights. Unfortunately, Aboriginal women were not recognized as citizens. The second wave of Australian feminism was against legal and social barriers which made women to be the subordinate in marriage, exploitation at work place and denial of sexual freedom. During the third wave of feminism it was clear that a vote was not enough for a woman to have to the public sphere. Women have continued to experience glass ceiling which prevents them from advancing in the political ladder and this leaves men taking over most of the political opportunities. Even after decades of feminist activities women are still not having full access to political powers. Currently, the Australian commonwealth parliament constitutes of only 26.1 % women to men who hold over 70% of the seats (Lindsey, 2005)). Though the number of women in Australian government is higher compared to other governments all over the world, there is still a long way for women to go in many countries over the world to be holders of positions of power. This can be achieved by women being seen and perceived as good role models and leaders in the society who have potential and capability to lead and govern the people in a good way. For women in Australia and throughout the world to develop and prosper in politics, they must mentor the younger generation of women in political issues, develop new strategies and sisterhood, come up with better conceptual framework drawn from the traditional politics toolkit and design new instrument that will help them soar high as they struggle in politics. The major concern today is reproduction among those women who are actively involved in politics. The trade union movement in Australia train those considered as brightest to take leadership in politics and trade unions. Conclusion As mentioned above, gender defines the responsibilities of men and women in the society. These responsibilities may differ from one society to another. The traditional societies were oppressive to women because they assigned women the responsibilities of taking care of homes, cooking and bringing up children. In the current societies, women have grasped a chance to prove their potential to participate in activities previously meant for men alone. They now venture into politics and perform exemplary in education, the chances they were denied by traditional societies. Australia is a good example of this shift in gender role. This has been made possible through intervention of governments and law makers and organizations like UNICEF and UNHCR among others. References Beasley, C. (1999) What is Feminism? London: Sage. Evans, J. (1995) Feminist Theory Today: An Introduction to Second-Wave Feminism. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Kimmel, M. (2004). The Gendered Society (2nd ed). New York: OUP. Lindsey, L. (2005) Gender Roles: A Sociological Perspective. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Pritchard Hughes, K. (1997) Feminism for Beginners. In K. Pritchard Hughes (ed.) Contemporary Australian Feminism 2. Melbourne: Longman. Ritzer. G. (1996) Sociological Theory (4th ed.) New York: McGraw Hill. Chambers, C. (2008). Sex, Culture, and Justice: The Limits of Choice. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press. Marilyn, F. (1983). The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory. New Yolk: The crossing press. Read More