Name: Claudia Thorne
Community/State: Orange, New South Wales
School: Molong Central School
Age/Grade: 15 Years, Year 10
“Life is a roadtrip with twists and turns. How can we support one another to navigate the road to gender equality?”
My name is Claudia Thorne and I come from Orange, NSW (no, not the fruit) and I attend Molong Central School. Despite the location, I have had many opportunities to be the best person I can be. From my perspective as a young aboriginal female, I believe we need to support each other. Whether you are male, female, black or white support is the way we can all connect. We need to unite as the Youth of Australia to navigate the road to gender equality. The metaphorical road is full of pot holes, twists and turns which makes it hard to navigate but it is not impossible to get through. The wage gap and many other topics represent the inequality in our society. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the wage gap between a fulltime male and female is an average of 17.3%. We need to change what is happening in society, like the wage gap, to create an equal world for all.
First thing is first, uniting as the Youth of Australia will help us navigate the road to gender equality. In all honesty, the one thing going through my mind while writing this is High School Musical “we’re all in this together” which suits the situation. Sure, it’s not as easy as a song to fix the problem at hand but it provides hope. Gender equality is possible because ‘we’re all in this together’. I believe we need to have more of a say, more opinions need to be heard because nobody understands youth better than the youth themselves. Having a voice is extremely important to be able to change the situation we are in.
By allowing Youth to have a voice, we are eliminating possible problems that could arise involving gender and other major topics e.g. racism, we should be able to have an opinion in decisions made for us because they involve us. In the decision-making process, diversity from gender to race desperately needs to be encouraged. By letting youth have a voice, we are breaking down stereotypes associated with race and gender profiling. We are developing an accepting society.
Australians, especially in rural areas, need an education about equality. Australian Youth need to be aware of what is happening in their society to ‘re-pave’ the road to an equal society. By uniting as the Australian Youth, we can navigate the road to Gender Equality.