Women and non-binary people in my community are incredibly inspiring and instrumental in promoting diversity and gender equality within a small, rural town. Living in a small town such as mine not only means being isolated, but also means there is an extreme lack of diversity and small towns are often breeding grounds for entrenched ideologies and stereotypes which remain ever present throughout generations, either actively encouraged and acted upon, or indirectly acknowledged and accepted. An example is the football culture of not only my town, but Tasmania and Australia as a whole. There is often a heavy focus on men’s football which causes egos and toxic masculinity to go unnoticed and ignored, under the belief that that is just what comes with football culture. There is little to no focus on women’s football, or mixed gender games. Although that is just a small example, it goes to show how some simple things in Australian culture can reveal a gender bias and gender inequalities.

In that regard, it is incredibly inspiring to see women and non-binary people rising above this adversity. There is a rise in women and non-binary people becoming business owners and reaching high statuses within their jobs despite their career being statistically male dominated and made for men. Outside of my town and looking to Australia as a whole, I notice this same trend. All it takes is a woman or non-binary person in their town to start up their dream business or rise to the top of their career to start this trend. Fixing gender inequality will not happen overnight, but all it takes is one person to rise above their adversity and stand up to gender inequalities and challenge the stereotypes to inspire change in women and non-binary people all over Australia.

All of this inspires me to also make change and stand up to inequality. It’s easy to be dragged down by all the negativity that comes with constantly noticing and being subject to stereotypes and ideologies, but it also allows me and others to reflect on them and make and challenge them to ultimately start making others also reflect on them. An example personally is how all over the world, there is an engrained belief that women should get married and have children. As someone who does not want to do this, I often feel inspired by women who have not adhered to that gender stereotype and rather focus on their career, for example. Of course, inspiration can come from seeing any woman or non-binary person challenge the stereotypes placed upon them, which is incredibly helpful and even more inspiring when it happens in a small town or rural area.