The Place of Women in Numerous Societies - Case Study Example

The Place of women in Australian Families Name: Institution: The Place of Women in Australian Families Introduction Indeed, there is a significant change in the place of women in numerous societies today. This is in respect to gender equality in the social and political aspects of the society, as well as, the numerous types of gender-based violence that is directed towards the same (Stilwell 2007). The lack of gender equality is in itself regarded as a determinant of hidden violence perpetrated against women both in the acquisition of resources, representation or participation in various sectors of their livelihood. The United Nations General Assembly in 1993 stated the same in reference to the unequal power relations between men and women (Stilwell 2007). Gender inequality especially with regard to women therefore, is still a major problem in many parts of the world including Australia. This is due to the underlying historical, structural and social norms that mean that gendered work remains in control in every aspect of society. Feminism in Australia Australia is known for having one of the long-standing associations with the protection of women rights as it was the second country after New Zealand to give women a fair right to vote (Cotter, 2005). Similarly, it was the first to give them a right to be elected to national parliament and thus, there are several women that have served in public office and in other fields (Hightower 2013). The indigenous women however took a longer fight and struggle as they were accorded the same right much later. In the feminism world, there are various activists on the matter that call Australia their home such as, Julia Gillard and Vida Goldstein among others (Australia & Crossin 2008). The activists have managed to attain various partially successful legislations that show the plight that women suffer due to gender inequality. Similarly, they have sought equality in employment, propagated the creation of laws against discrimination in government sectors among many others (Australia & Crossin 2008). The very feminists have fought on behalf of the women refugees, child care, and the change of public policy to be in a way that it bet suits the female population. Many of the activists have opted to disregard the cultural theory in existence in Australia whereby all sectors of leadership or decision making are centered on male dominance hence reducing the viability of women to the society (Hightower 2013). They have broadened the scope on the feminism areas of consideration especially in political science to the extent that it has included motherhood and the aspects related to it, violence perpetrated against omen and the general issues that affect the female. Overall, Australia has had quite a number of activists that have fought for the rights of women, and from June 2010 to 2013 one of the feminist named Julia Gillard led Australia as Prime minister (Cotter, 2005). This shows that, both the efforts of the feminist organizations from the historical times and that of the present helped push for the basic rights of women in Australia to the position it is in today. Regardless of all these aspects, there are still various underlying beliefs and attitudes that may be cultural or otherwise that have continuously put these efforts to test. This refers to the general social norms and the gendered expectations of the society that have held the women back and further slowed down acquisition of equality in Australia. The Role of Social Norms and Gendered expectations In most structures of leadership especially in the societal organization, there is a shared sense that tends to portray that, there is the gender that are most advantageous to a given public position than others (Parker 2011). Many at times, this type of notion is based on societal beliefs of the superiority of one gender that is the male to the other, the female gender. This type of conceptualization refers to a common belief shared in majority of cultures hence influencing the organizational and the individual levels of any social structure. Without a doubt, having this kind of inequality creates a strong determinant that instigates the violence against women. Violence in this case does not solely refer to the physical harm that comes out of the domestic, sexual or any other kind of abuse that is directed towards women repeatedly. Instead, it refers to the lack of representation, equality in the working class sector, in the provisions of education, in the management or leadership positions and in the general enjoyment of rights (Stilwell 2007). Many societies have depicted women as the ones responsible for the general household activities as their key significance. This refers to the cooking, washing, taking care of the children and the giving birth of the same so as to ensure the continuity of the society. In many ways, this form of reasoning has thus placed the male gender in the heights of political leadership whereby, whatever they do is to be considered right despite the harm it brings to the women and the girl children. Numerous social-cultural theories have repeatedly shown that the causes of this form of inequality are based on the consideration of power that is given in the institutions, political systems, and economic sectors among others. From these therefore, there is derivation of beliefs and shared attitudes either of positive or a negative effect that spread and hence affect the general well-being of the society (Cotter, 2005). For this reason, it is important to keep informed of the specific differences that the cross cultural aspects bring and how other influences such as religion, history and the political aspect affect the said issue. Likewise, it has been noted over time that, the different attitudes concerning gender have either diminished or increased various gender based injustices that exist today (Dufty Jones &Connel 2014). For instance, placing women as inferior groups of people in many societies has resulted in in the increase of sexual violence especially towards them. Many models that struggle towards the elimination of such acts therefore, have strived to understand the causes and the risk factors that lead to such public health issues among many others that women face today. In Australia, likewise, there are various factors that have created themes that identify the various areas of inequality in women. Key Themes in Identifying Gender Inequality in Australia There are three key themes in identifying the gender equality of women in Australia according to the Australian Human Rights and Equal opportunities commission (HREOC). The first one is the identification of the level of economic independence in the women, and then there is the balancing of family and work and lastly, the freedom of discrimination, harassment and violence (Dufty Jones &Connel 2014). The commission identified that since the enactment of the first federal sex discrimination commissioner in 1984, there is a notable reduction on the amount of unequal opportunities towards women. Regardless, it has not brought an end to gender inequality but merely improved the participation of men and women in many activities in their daily lives. The research findings firstly showed that, gender inequality against women is somewhat a daily and an avoidable experience. This is because many of them spoke of how the slow progression in their workplace, as well as, the under-representation in the leadership positions affected their daily schedules. In addition, there is also the difficulty that comes with balancing of parental responsibilities as many are denied the maternity leaves among other important considerations. Similarly, there are also reports that the archaic habits of always disregarding the worth of women in the workplace have encouraged the continuity and the increase of sexual harassment (Dufty Jones & Connell 2014). Due to the embarrassment of undergoing such acts, many women fail to report the incidences and others fear the repercussions of making the complaints in the first place. This kind of treatment creates a long-term effect to the economic stabilization of a country due to the discomfort in the workplace reducing the labour and enthusiasm required in any organization. As a result also, many qualified women are reduced to unemployment or worse, the business faces an increase in business-based violence that is detrimental to its profitability. Any agenda directed towards identifying any form of gender equality, must also recognize the differences in the women themselves especially in Australia. This is because, being a multi-cultural and multi-racial place, the aspects of race, age, religion, culture and social economic status must be evaluated to understand the varying issues that trigger aspects of inequality(Parker 2011). There are the refugee women for starters who depend on ability to access education and employment without facing discrimination. Secondly, there are the disabled women that wish to access both equal educational and employment opportunities. Lastly, there is the general requirement for housing and other facilities that ensure women are secure and that the access to healthcare which is the most important aspect in their lives. Solutions to the Gender Inequality in women As earlier mentioned, Australia has indeed taken several strides towards ensuring that the injustices against omen has reduced significantly over the years. However, there are other measures that ought to be taken to spread the vision of gender equality further within the country and across the globe (Parker 2011). The need to identify the economic independence of women as an important aspect of growth is the first step. In Australia, most women especially those that work full day are paid about 16percent less than men and as a result, they cannot come up with good enough savings for their retirement or their daily sustenance. One of the main reasons for this is the historical exclusion that women have faced from schemes that required them to leave work upon marriage among others. Increasing their pay therefore, as well as, taking into consideration the working hours for the purpose of their children is yet another important thing that should be addressed. Secondly, the view on omen and leadership shows that an increase in representation of the women may be of great importance to their general welfare. This is .because having women in high ranks of leadership, will mean that they get the opportunity to challenge the gendered belief that they cannot hold such positions and bring success to companies. Further on, there are various companies that deal with matters that affect women most and yet there has been evidence of men dominating the leadership positions. This sort of strategy ought to be altered as it is obvious that women hold a better hand in these kinds of matters as compared to men. An example in Australia is the report that showed that in Tasmania, women constitute 70percent of the education sector but only 37percent come close to the management sector (Cotter, 2005). This raises suspicion on hat criteria is really used in electing the leaders of the companies Thirdly, building a stronger community is very important in the improvement of inequality in any society. Support given to the indigenous people especially the women leaders will play a major role in improving the society. There are many traditional works that women partake in and because they are done by the women, they are sometimes undervalued and ignored. Financial necessity especially in securing worthwhile finances to cater for family responsibility is usually determined by the ability of both parties to contribute fairly. Supporting communities and the cultural activities that bring forth benefits therefore, is an important investment on this matter. Good education, skill development and proper training are also essential in the ensuring that gender equality is maintained. This is because, acquiring the relevant skills and knowledge are acquired, and the women can join the competitive fields of employment or may start their own companies that may be beneficial in maintaining the balance of their life cycle (Parker, 2011). Similarly, this kind of initiative may improve the lives of those who are refugees, the disabled and people of different races as they will have a common ground to use to participate. An effective gender equality agenda must both recognize and aluminize all the problems not only faced by women in general, but by the various divisions, groups and aspects that surround different women in the same group. This aspect is therefore one of the ways to achieve this goal and hopefully it will be beneficial to the concept and the targeted goal of equality. Conclusion Australia today remains one of the countries without a legislated paid maternity leave. There is also the pressure of the rapid ageing of the population that increase pressure on the need for people to provide care of their elderly parents with the work they are paid with. In addition, both the structural and the cultural barriers in the society, workplace or the political arena prevent women from managing their parental responsibilities and maintaining a decent livelihood. It thus leads to the reduction in the general participation in numerous factors that could be of great importance to the society and their personal economic independence. Generally also, violence and harassment impact the woman’s ability will offer the best solution to these problems. Fortunately, several steps have been taken towards improving the situation for women in Australia. This is from the raising of awareness on economic independence to the improvement of the training and education offered for their benefits among many other initiatives. Likewise, the ability to hold leadership positions like Julia Gillard did as prime minister is a sign that positive changes are already underway in Australia and that the cultural theory of male dominance that has been prevalent for such a long time is yet to end. References Asian Development Bank,, & Australian Agency for International Development,. (2013). Tool kit on gender equality results and indicators. Australia. (2010). Government response: The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs : Effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Australia., & Crossin, P. (2008). Effectiveness of the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 in eliminating discrimination and promoting gender equality. Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. Barreto, M. C., Ryan, M. K., & Schmitt, M. T. (2009). The glass ceiling in the 21st century: Understanding barriers to gender equality. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Cotter, A.-M. M. (2005). Gender injustice: An international comparative analysis of equality in employment. Aldershot, Hants, England: Ashgate. Dufty-Jones, R., & Connell, J. (2014). Rural change in Australia: Population, economy, environment. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Hightower, M. B., & In Skelton, C. (2013). Leaders in gender and education: Intellectual self-portraits. Papadimitriou, F., & Swinburne University of Technology. (2008). Motherhood motivation: Childhood experiences, attachment style, feminisim, sex role identity & fertility awareness. Parker, J., Nemani. (2011). Comparative study on social dialogue and gender equality in New Zealand, Australia and Fiji. Geneva: ILO. Stilwell, F. J. B., & Jordan, K. (2007). Who gets what?: Analysing economic inequality in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More