Name: Annabel Lee
Community/State: Echuca, Victoria
School: St Josephs College Echuca
Age/Grade: 17 Years, Year 11
Overcoming the odds – how can we push through barriers to achieve gender equality?
There are many barriers to gender equality within Australian society, these are faced by women every day. These are things that prevent many young girls from doing what they love in their day to day lives. Societal expectations regarding gender roles is one of the many obstacles standing in the way of so many potential female leaders and role models.
Society expects so much from women, which can be very contradictory. It is expected that women are to have children and to stay home to look after them, but are also attacked for doing so. At the same time, they are criticized for having children and returning to work soon after. Women are also expected to look beautiful but by looking beautiful they are considered to be looking for male attention or the reason for men’s violence. It is also assumed that politics is a man’s domain, it is assumed that women do not have the right skills to govern and that it is not a career for them to succeed in. Not only should women not participate in decision-making, but their opinions are not valued by those with authority.
Even though this is a barrier, gender equality is improving. As of December 2018, women made up 47.5% of the Government Board. This is an improvement that should be focused on, hopefully in the near future women will make up 50% of the Government Board as this would be a prime example of pushing through barriers. The more women who are in positions of power, the more decisions can be made that benefit gender equality.
By changing society’s expectations, it is possible to push through the barriers of gender inequality. Celebrating women working in non-traditional roles is an opportunity to change gender inequality. In our local community, four young women were granted a scholarship for further education in their non-traditional jobs, one of these young ladies is an apprentice electrician, another is a paddle steamer skipper, another is an apprentice chef and the fourth one is an apprentice fitter and turner. The scholarships that these four people received is a great example of how our country could grow to overcome the barrier of gender inequality, celebrating those who achieve success in non-traditional roles.
To conclude I feel optimistic about how I may contribute to pushing through the barriers in Australian society as a young and passionate advocate for gender equality.
https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/leadership/gender-balance-australian-government-boards
https://www.riverineherald.com.au/education/2019/05/29/609835/a-3000-win-for-women-in-non-traditional-trades-the-scholarship-aims-to-support-women-in-non-traditional-trades-occupations-or-sectors