How Can Australia Achieve True Gender Equality?

Is Advance Australia Fair? Let’s see…

Australia: the land of opportunity. The proud home of more than 40 thousand koalas, 25 million kangaroos and countless Hemsworths; our land is literally abound in nature’s gifts.

However, behind Straya’s beauties - rich and rare - deep beneath our arid surface lies an issue we have and are constantly facing: gender inequality.

In our society today, it has become so normalised within the workplace, schools, homes and in public that it may not even register. In truth, equality between the sexes is possible in our outback. If Australians – young and those young at heart – practiced three important steps, it would bring our country significantly closer to gender equality.

The most common accident we come across that indirectly becomes a barrier for Australia to achieve gender equality is the ordeal with a very simple yet meaningful word: Feminism. Feminism - according to Oxford dictionary, Cambridge dictionary, Dictionary.com and all accurate sources such as our beloved Emma Watson – is defined as: “the advocacy of equal rights and opportunities for men and women.”

So, how is such a simple and reasonable concept misinterpreted? Most of us may be thinking: “If it’s for both genders, why isn’t gender equality called Humanism or Equalism?” And fair enough, that is a logical question to ask. In saying that, it’s important to remember that in history and in most present cases, women have been the underprivileged sex, exemplified through centuries of patriarchy, fewer rights and societal expectations.

The title, feminism, does connote that the movement is primarily focused on the status of women; however, it doesn’t invalidate any of the sexism or inequalities men face, nor does it aim to “man-hate” as often misconstrued.

The first step Australia can take to achieve gender equality is re-evaluate our meaning of feminism and understand its significance in fighting for equal rights for both genders. Beginning to understand the true definition of feminism helps lead us to the next step Aussies can take in the fight for gender equality: awareness.

Learning more about the complexity of gender inequality can be researched through our own Australian figures, such as Germaine Greer or, more recently, Caitlin Stasey. In reading and viewing their work, it isn’t necessary to agree with every one of their points, yet both have immensely contributed to help achieve gender equality. Getting educated stops ignorance and shapes a well-informed society to understand how we can achieve equality for both sexes.

The last important step Australians can take to achieve gender equality is taking initiative. Having understood terms such as feminism and grown an awareness through education, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Rather than keeping this in, share it around!

Inform others, encourage them to take action and, more importantly, when you see gender inequality and sexism, call it out. Identifying gender inequalities yet remaining silent will never help Australia achieve equality. In the wise words of Desmond Tutu, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” And in the wise – paraphrasing - words of Emma Watson, “If not me, who? If not now, when?”

So, let’s bring our country closer to gender equality because this isn’t a battle of the sexes but a battle where the sexes unite.

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