Preview

Gender Inequality in Australia

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
623 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Gender Inequality in Australia
Gender inequality has been ongoing debate in the workforce for years. Men have always been on the top with higher wages and positions while women are expected to be doing the unpaid domestic jobs. However, as a result of globalization there are more job opportunities for women, although men are still the dominant gender in the workforce. In this paper we will look at how three characters from John Wiseman’s ‘Barbie in a Borderless World? A Case Study’ has been affected due to globalization and their gender order.
In order to look after her family, Tess took up a job in an insurance company entering data. Her job did not pay her much yet she worked for long hours with no pay rise. (Wiseman, 1998 p.7). This was because women were seen "lower down the hierarchy" in the workforce. (Connell, 2009 p.2). Also, women worldwide regardless of being from developed countries or the Third World countries have always been considered cheap labour. Jobs such as Tess’s were no longer as secured and well paid or full-time job when male participation was higher. (Acker, 2010 p.379). In addition, her job as a mother was limited due to constant work and her husband losing his job.
David lost his job as a result of his company transferring their work operations from Melbourne to Indonesia. (Wiseman, 1998 p.6). Globalization had left David driving taxis. This would have affected his masculinity in a lot of ways. For him to maintain his masculinity in a society where men are considered to be the bread winners, David could not just be a stay at home father. This is because good fathers are said to be those who "represent family in the outside world." (Connell, 2009 p.3). Furthermore, David's verbal response to the letter from his company displayed a kind of hegemonic masculinity. It is the kind where men show aggressiveness and dominance. (Acker, 2010 p.374)
As a result of both Tess and David having to work, their daughter Emma is left in the care of her Aunt Jessie. Jessie is a

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    have had over the last several decades in earning a place to work beside men in the…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    During the postwar period gender social status roles were being reshaped within both Australian and American societies, as women were beginning to become more involved within the workforce and gain economic independence. While these roles where beginning to change in Australia and America, prejudice gender inequalities continued to within domesticity roles through the use of family wages and the within education systems. Cohen also explores the inequalities of postwar women within American where women veterans were excluded from education systems including as women where portrayed as being less superior to men and perceived as only having an economic and social citizenship causing women to lose their wartime jobs and return back into the household,…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women In The 1930's

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Some, but fewer women had more significant jobs working as teachers, nurses, secretarial, trade, and transport or community services. Sadly, genders often divided jobs and it separated men and women’s responsibilities. Women seemed to be given less valued jobs and less compensation than men. The chances of advancement were extremely limited even if both men and women were performing the same duties and women still suffered the consequences of the lesser pay. As time went on, women were finally given more chances to work.…

    • 1090 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sexism doesn’t just occur in the workplace, but everywhere, schools, sport and politics. In the words of Tony Abbott “What the housewives of Australia need to know when they are doing their ironing…” A few words created such fury, such Anger into many women living here in Australia. Julia Gillard, our first female Prime Minister spoke in anguish and fury as she performed a “slap…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the contextual resource, “Women’s Work: Gender and the Division of Labor” the reader gets a full related insight into the deeper meaning of what it meant to be divided by jobs and…

    • 1909 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    ‘Women produce children; women are mothers and wives; women do the cooking, cleaning, sewing and washing; they take care of men and are subordinate to male authority; they are largely excluded from high-status occupations and from positions of power.’ (Haralambous and Holborn 1995, Sociology Themes and Perspectives, HarperCollins Publishers) These stereotypes have come from our past and have now become quite frequently used in today’s society. Women have been seen as the maintainers of the household while the men go out to work and earn a living. “When our ancient ancestors switched to hunting as a way of life, the relationship between males and females was dramatically altered. Females with their heavy reproductive burden were unable to play a major role in this new feeding pattern, which had become so vital for survival. A much greater division of labor between the sexes arose.” (Tiger). This statement shows the view that males are seen as the more successful gender within society, as they are able to maintain and keep their families alive. With this in mind, it is easy to see how gender roles have been maintained through out the ages. Children grow up seeing their mothers cooking and cleaning and fathers going out to work and support the family’s financial needs. From birth our families and friends instill gender ideals onto us, from buying little girls pink clothing and dolls, to buying blue for boys and trucks and trains to play with. Children do not have the ability to choose their own gender pathway, and therefore have to rely on their parents and elders to lead them in the correct direction and trust their selection of gender roles. Once a child has become old enough to be able to choose for itself, they develop a more individual personality variance and definition of gender. From these roles being passed on through generation-to-generation, people in contemporary Australian society have…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The rights and freedoms of various gender, social, cultural and economic groups have changed dramatically since 1900.…

    • 512 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Several explanations have been put forward to explain why the gender-wage gap persists in Australia. Pick two and critically evaluate each. Summary of Argument: Recent history has shown a dramatic increase in the proportion of female workers in the labour market (Loudon, McPhail & Wilkonson 2009). With workplace diversity on the rise in Australia (French, Lewis & Phetmany 2000), legislation and changing cultural values have changed the way these women have been able to enter the workforce. Legislation such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 has made it unlawful to discriminate against anyone on the basis of their gender, family commitments/choices or marital status throughout all areas of employment (Sex Discrimination Act 1984…

    • 1302 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The oppression of women by the Australian government is still highly prominent in today’s laws especially in relation to the Queensland abortion legislation. The current legislation deems women as incapable to make their own decisions regarding their own bodies and takes on a simplistic approach to a much more complex issue. This following essay will evaluate the abortion legislation in Queensland’s and will highlight the inadequacies of the current law through investigating the legislation and identifying the current issues. It will then go onto evaluate competing lenses such as a deontological and consequential perspectives, and will furthermore conclude that the current laws are inefficient and serve no purpose other than to harm and oppress women.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    I would like to bring to your attention the treatment of women in our city of Moncton. I have recently researched much on the problem of gender inequality and would like plead for your help in improving the gender inequality present in Moncton today. It has come to my attention that problems such as sexual assault, pay inequality and sexism have been on a constant rise not only in Moncton but in all of Canada. I would hope these would be problems that would matter to you and your fellow politicians. Statistics such as; every six days a woman being murdered by her partner or the cases of missing aboriginal girls only recently being investigated now, paint a bleak future for this strong country if we are not able to change our ways.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There have always been inequalities in America, but the most shocking inequality is gender inequality because America is known for being a modern society due to it’s accepting nature but it is a paradox to have gender inequality embedded. These inequalities affect the peoples’ jobs, lives and wages. One of the roots of gender inequality is discrimination. Discrimination is… In other words society judges people on their external appearances. America is notorious for gender inequality.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women In Australia

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Anglican church around the years of 1980 to 1990’s the issue of women being allowed to be priests and bishops were being discussed and thought through, later on in 1986 women were being ordained to be a deacon within Australia’s Anglican churches, then later on in 1992 they were allowed to become priests. Archbishop Peter Carney is known to be the first to ordain the first Women priest in Perth on the 7th of March 1992. Later on in the same year on the 21st of November the legislation for the diocese that had wanted to ordain women so General Synod had passed the legislation. Out of 23 diocese in Australia there are only around four that won’t ordain women priest these are diocese of Ballarat, North West Australia, Sydney and The Murray,…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It is no secret that for centuries, women have faced years and years of discrimination, inferiority to men, and being viewed as less than human by society. Women have had to fight for their right to vote amongst other legal rights, and for their independence from their husbands. “When American women began to enter the labor force in the nineteenth century, the relatively few jobs open to them were highly segregated by gender” (Spain 1992: 14). The first women’s labor union began to form by the end of the 1930’s. Women’s activism began to increase, leading to a new reform in paid work and the rise in feminism in the midst of a new labor movement (Gregory 2003: 25). By the 1940’s, the transition of the housewife to that of a working woman began to trend. Women began to venture out of the home in search of employment and educational opportunities to help provide for their families, since their…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The gender wage gap is often perceived as and old fashion occurrence, however, the inequality between men and women still does exist in today’s workforce. Australia’s gender-wage may not be as prominent as it was in the past and few figures conclude that the gap is narrowing but women are still being discriminated against (McGregor & Still 1996). To reduce and finally demolish the gender wage gap, the Australian government needs to take action and regulate laws in employment relations and to stop discrimination against women in the workforce who have the same or equal qualifications as men do. This essay will overall discuss theories what the Australian government will need to address in order to get rid of the gender…

    • 1224 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Women in the Workforce

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages

    A woman in today’s society has many roles. She is a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a cook, a caretaker, and much more. Within the past century, however, her role has been altered and added to. She is now, also, a worker. Some women are even the main source of income in their households. To those of us who have been raised in late 20th century, this occurrence doesn’t seem unusual. Most of our mothers have had jobs. We have seen or heard of many successful businesswomen, but women have not always been treated as equals in the workforce. In the early 1900s, women were mainly responsible for maintaining their household. If they worked, it was normally on their own farm or in factories at a lower wage than men, but not in a formal career. When World War II began, more women were allowed into the workforce, but were fired when it ended. The 1970s brought another wave of women workers when laws were passed to give women equal rights to work. Women have been a growing part of the workforce since. It had many immediate effects, such as a small economic boom because of more people working. Also, it inspired many feminist movements. Today, there are nearly as many women in the workforce as men, and there are no signs of regression. Although women still face sexism and discrimination, the woman’s role is changing from the weaker sex to the equal partner.…

    • 1187 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays