Name: Emma Tuckwell
Community/State: Batemans Bay, New South Wales
School: Carroll College Broulee
Age/Grade: 16 Years, Year 10
Overcoming the odds – how can we push through barriers to achieve gender equality?
It’s easy to say life’s perfect and that we should be thankful for the world we live in, especially when living in a fortunate country like Australia. Although, it is difficult for a young women to reach her goals when gender inequality is a real issue. In Australia alone, the gender pay gap is 14% and one in four young people don’t think that when men insult or verbally harass young women in the street that it’s serious. These are serious issues that need addressing now. As young women, we are faced with discrimination and stereotypes from birth, in school and in the workforce.
There are a number of examples of women who are breaking down the barrier of gender inequality and one of the most notable is Malala Yousafzai. She spoke out on behalf of the girls of her country and faced the consequence of a near death situation because of it. She is an example of the bravery needed to stand up for what is right. Young women should not have to fight for those so called ‘rights’ that are already a given for the male component of our population, for they are our rights and we deserve them.
Like Malala, we do need to overcome the odds and push through the barrier to achieve gender equality. We should think about the barrier as a brick wall. To break through the wall, we need our first metaphorical tool, the sledgehammer. We need to join together and with one big push of force, our voices, to break down the wall. To break down this barrier, we need to speak out and demand to be heard.
Secondly, we need our broom to sweep away and eliminate all forms of gender stereotypes and discrimination. By overcoming gender inequality, it doesn’t mean to fix the problem by telling people to pay women more or stop bullying them. It means that no matter what gender you are, you are equal.
Finally, after we tackle gender inequality, we can use our flashlight to look brightly into the future. There is a future out there for women when they can have any job they are passionate about, always have an education and have the right to do what they like. This is just a simple metaphor – but it could work. We will overcome the odds, we will push through the barriers.