Argumentative Essay: Australian Identity
Australian Identity
Identity is a debate that many Australians are still arguing today. After all these years of living in Australia, the identity of the country is still something that cannot be agreed upon. Though many seem to have their own idea of what an Australian is. There is no clear cut view of this thus the conclusion that an Australian is a myth can be formulated. Therefore, many people of Australia feel as if they should aspire to be citizens of the world instead. It’s the phrase on everyone’s lips: Australian identity.
But the problem with this is that if you ask almost any Australian on the street the first response that you would get would be the same: the barbecue. Just about anyone can describe the rituals of an Australian barbecue: the man cooking, usually with a tinny in one hand and tongs in the other; the women preparing salads in the kitchen. It is difficult to figure out why the barbecue is Australia’s single most identifiable domestic ritual. It might be that it connects Australians to their more ritualistic past but it is hard to believe that a countries entire cultural identity relies solely on cooking a piece of meat on a grill. Sport is another subject that seems to dominate …show more content…
The movie Gallipoli, based on the Australians only helps to support this image of the Australian soldier. The truth, of course, is that Australian troops behaved like brutal barbarians in Egypt. All these do is add to the myth that is Anzac Day thus not making it a good thing to base Australian identity around. Another idea in which Australians have tried to identify themselves with is multiculturalism, and is defined by the Macquarie Dictionary as the theory that it is beneficial to a society to maintain more than one culture within its
Identity is a debate that many Australians are still arguing today. After all these years of living in Australia, the identity of the country is still something that cannot be agreed upon. Though many seem to have their own idea of what an Australian is. There is no clear cut view of this thus the conclusion that an Australian is a myth can be formulated. Therefore, many people of Australia feel as if they should aspire to be citizens of the world instead. It’s the phrase on everyone’s lips: Australian identity.
But the problem with this is that if you ask almost any Australian on the street the first response that you would get would be the same: the barbecue. Just about anyone can describe the rituals of an Australian barbecue: the man cooking, usually with a tinny in one hand and tongs in the other; the women preparing salads in the kitchen. It is difficult to figure out why the barbecue is Australia’s single most identifiable domestic ritual. It might be that it connects Australians to their more ritualistic past but it is hard to believe that a countries entire cultural identity relies solely on cooking a piece of meat on a grill. Sport is another subject that seems to dominate …show more content…
The movie Gallipoli, based on the Australians only helps to support this image of the Australian soldier. The truth, of course, is that Australian troops behaved like brutal barbarians in Egypt. All these do is add to the myth that is Anzac Day thus not making it a good thing to base Australian identity around. Another idea in which Australians have tried to identify themselves with is multiculturalism, and is defined by the Macquarie Dictionary as the theory that it is beneficial to a society to maintain more than one culture within its