Gender Roles in Australian Contemporary Society

Western women have traditionally been perceived as the inferior sex, or the domestic partner, subjected wholly to the private sphere, and stripped of legal rights and standing. Meanwhile, men are depicted as the breadwinner, the strong, masculine and dominant partner, who belongs primarily to the public sphere. These historic gender norms have been deeply imbedded within Australia’s social foundation, and although society has gradually shifted away from these roles, evidence suggests that this gender inequality still riddles the modern day workplace. Liberal feminist groups have embraced this issue, and have classified it as being a true barrier to achieving the ultimate gender equality goal. Consequently, these liberal feminists along

Traditionally, men are viewed as strong, dominant and logical, while women are regarded as the weak sex, thus being dependent on the males to make decisions and to protect them as well as their children. These roles go far back in time when males in fact had to protect their families from other tribes, wild animals etc. Even today the same values are applied both in real life and in media. In general a woman is depicted as wife, mother or a sex object. (Sex, Gender, Gender Identity, Sexual Orientation”, Year unknown).

Throughout history, men and women have been viewed in utterly different spheres. Men have been, and still are, believed to be the hard working individual who is in charge of “bringing home the bacon” and supporting the household finically. On the other hand, women are expected to have little to say, the house spotless, supper on the table, the children bathed, fed, in bed, and educated, all while maintaining a flawless hairdo and makeup. These stereotypes seem a bit offensive nowadays, but if you really consider it, it has been and most likely will be this way for our entire existence.

Australian families have experienced many significant changes over the past 6 decades. These changes consequently resulted in equality of opportunities, and conditions for women in the labour force. Along with the willingness of most men to become voluntarily involved in core household work, as well as taking on a greater role with respect to childcare. This essay will discuss two significant changes in gender roles, and will examine some of the positive and negative impacts it had on Australian society over the past six decades. On the one hand, Australian federal and state governments passed several new laws and legislations which resulted in an increased participation by women in the labour force. These legislative changes provide many

Gender roles describe the normative expectations of a culture group regarding the position that both sexes should hold in society. It also refers to the division of labor tasks, differences in behaviors, preferences, abilities; personalities that society expects of specific genders, (Kaiser, C. R., & Miller, C. T. 2009). It concerns the processes of how gender roles socialize and interact with each other in society as a whole and as an individual, (Stockard & Johnson, 1980; Thomas, 1986). Gender role deals with identity and at times are conceptualized as the acceptance and identification with social roles and behaviors associated with

Women were traditionally seen as the weaker sex – second-class citizens with a lower social status than men. A woman’s place was in the home. Men did the “heavier” labor, like plowing and hunting.

The Australian culture is to value independence as well as equality in gender expectations. There are no clear gender-role expectations regarding independence and Australia does not have a feminine or masculine dominated culture. Women and men are allocated traditional gender roles within Australian society, which is to act out the masculine or feminine behaviours as constructed by the Australian culture. Femininity is associated with traits such as compliant, cooperative, forgiving, intuitive and understanding. Masculinity in generally associated with traits such as assertive, decisive, egocentric, logical and practical. The Australian culture is one of person-oriented families, which are families which value equal power

Macionis J & Plummer, K 2012, Sociology: a global introduction, 5th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Harlow.

An individual’s biological sex or gender they may identify with should not be claims to stereotype women and/or men into traditional roles. To say a women should be more domesticated (cook, clean, care taker, sensitive and if working roles: nurses), is the same notion to stereotype but nationality or race. In the article Doing Gender West and Zimmerman brings a few points on how gender roles and the display of gender focus more on

The definition of gender roles is a set of societal norms dictating what types of behavior is generally considered acceptable based on the gender of a person. Additionally, if you don’t seem to accept this standard, there can be huge consequences. For example, in India, women are viewed as a burden and a “extra mouth to feed.” Her status promotes the idea that men can treat them in a subdued manner. If they don’t comply to these requirements, then a woman is murdered by her husband or his family by being set alight by a flammable liquid, which is usually known as bride burning. Herland, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, also uncovers the harsh inequality of women. Gender roles shouldn’t be real and they were forced on us by society.

This paper will explore the world of gender and its social and cultural importance in western society. focusing more on the discrimination and negative impacts that gender stereotyping and socialized gender roles have on human beings as a whole. This includes the limitations that women and men are living with to this day in their homes, work and school. starting from birth gender shapes everyones world and gives them a glass ceiling that only a few pioneers have hit and shattered in the last few years. (MacQueen, 2003, pg. 2) At home women and men are put into very differing parenting roles based on genitalia instead of personal wants and goals in their respective lives. If a man wants children and enjoy being around them that may

She explains that the statuses of women changed over time. Women were considered inferior and on the lowest position on the social hierarchy. However, females began to protest for their rights to be equal as a male. She then transitions to gender stereotypes. To further explain, the author elaborates on this stereotype, “earning to complete economic need of the family is more appropriate role for men… responsibilities inside the home…is accurate for womenfolk” (Sultan 3). This is enforcing the stereotype that men are the breadwinners while women work in the

Generalized gender roles are created through gender stereotypes. These stereotypes can be considered erroneous ideas of the male and female attributes. In other words, roles are based off the individual’s desires, beliefs, feelings, and knowledge; therefore, attributes may vary for everyone. In addition, while some don’t condone nor believe in gender roles, others are guilty of presuming them to be true. For instance, some people truly believe that all women should want to be married and have children, and that all men should be the source of protection and affluence. In addition, women are also expected to be emotional, while men are usually expected to be aggressive. Women are expected to cook for the family and clean the home. while men are expected to make sure everything in the home is repaired.

Members of the Toowoomba Regional Council Harmony Day Committee, as a community we need to devote a day in our planned week, consisting of long celebrations to promote awareness and change towards men being superiors and women having appalling stereotypes. The slogan for this year's International Women's Day was ‘Be Bold for Change’, but it seems Australians haven't been bold enough in striving for gender equality. Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, created a report, “A Conversation in Gender Equality”, which uncovers widespread evidence of everyday sexism that is based on interviews with 1000 Australians. The thought of prejudice being finally extinguished is proven incorrect by Kate Jenkins

Gender is a cultural and social phenomenon that refers to constructed differences between men and women. “With western feminism – which encompassed Marxist, radical and liberal feminist frameworks – gender was seen to operate both as a set of cultural understandings that represents what it means to be a man or woman, and as a social variable that structures the opportunities and pathways that men and women are expected to follow” (Vickers, 2013, p.161). This phenomenon appears both educationally and vocationally.