Gender Equality and Difference in Australia

Once magazines only offered new cooking ideas and overseas destinations, now pages are filled with before-and-after photography of cosmetic surgery. Ironically, most these magazines are edited by women. So the question is what impact do these magazines have over the way both sexes portray the female image? And how is it affecting women today, and in the near future when technology will further advance.

Women are bombarded daily by a stream of fantasy imagery, and feel pressured to join. Syndromes such as anorexia and bulimia come about because of these issues. Low self esteem, combined with obsessive perfectionism. Over 90% of people suffering anorexia are women.

It has been acknowledged that girls and boys achieve markedly different outcomes from their schooling. In the past, and still today in some areas, girls were disadvantaged by their schooling experiences, subject choices, differences in skill development and limited access to the post-school benefits. Despite this, boys under preform compared to girls in the Basic Skills test in years 3 and 6. Girls also achieve higher in all levels of English in past School Certificate and Higher School Certificate examinations.

Also, in NSW schools girls make up just 35% of enrollments in four-unit maths, 29% of physics and 45% of those in chemistry classes. This is in contrast to language based subjects such as three-unit English (75% girls), society and culture (80% girls) and biology (65%).

The historical conflict about social differentiations and varying levels of power and authority between males and females has come to a point where co-operation between the two genders would be beneficial. Equality of opportunity and outcome can be better achieved though support and focus on commonality rather than differences. John Howard is trying to achieve this through family policies such as paid maternity leave. This has revealed a more encouraging attitude towards women who want to juggle a career and family.

Perhaps minor, insignificant choices within families could reflect the possible future for discrimination between genders. Little things like household chores that are split between kids. For example, boys often are given “male” jobs like taking out the rubbish or collecting the dog-doo (as my brother does) and girls are given “female” jobs like doing the laundry and cleaning the house (as I do). These ways of thinking are taken out into society when children grow up and “hence are the basis for gender discrimination towards certain groups.” 

Therefore gender inequality still remains a contemporary issue in Australia, we as the next generation will integrate our up bringing into our lives out of school, and reflect the way we have been brought up to see male and female roles in the workplace, in the house and in every other aspect of our micro worlds.