Australia is a country of migrants and is made up of many cultures and religions. Taoism is not widely practiced, only 6053 people practice it in Australia. Other religions provide gender roles for minority groups. In mainstream Australian culture, a culture largely shaped by the European settlers and therefore Christianity, women have gained some equality since the suffragette and feminist movements of the late 19th Century and then the 20th Century. Nonetheless, Australia still has gender stereotypes and expectations that stem from cultural experience, and the media. Mainstream Australian society is the culture, media and beliefs that are accepted by the majority of Australian citizens and globally as our national culture. This, for the intents and purposes of this comparison, is the European/Western/White culture of mainstream Australia.
An interesting aspect of Australian gender roles are how little they are effected by religion. Factors that are much more important when indoctrinating gender roles are education, family life and the law. Religion though is an important part of life to many people is not important to the Australian culture as a whole because of the diverse range of religions that are practiced. Exceptions to this are religions that define their followers as outsiders, for example, in Australian society there has been a target placed on Muslims because of the way they look and how Muslim women dress. The majority of surveyed people agree with this assertion or found they did not know what caused gender roles in Australia.
An interesting aspect of Australian gender roles are how little they are effected by religion. Factors that are much more important when indoctrinating gender roles are education, family life and the law. Religion though is an important part of life to many people is not important to the Australian culture as a whole because of the diverse range of religions that are practiced. Exceptions to this are religions that define their followers as outsiders, for example, in Australian society there has been a target placed on Muslims because of the way they look and how Muslim women dress. The majority of surveyed people agree with this assertion or found they did not know what caused gender roles in Australia.
As Australia was a patriarchal society, it was important for men to be the provider for their families. Men took pride in working and expected their wife to have a cosy home prepared for them when they returned. This ideology could especially be discerned during the 1930s, during the depression when work was scarce and men found providing for their families difficult. Men often travelled long distances to find work and even left their families and sent money back to their families. Some even committed suicide when they discovered they could not support their families. This kind of expectation for men was especially patronising towards women, who were treated as though they were inferior to men.
Due to the constraints of the role of females traditionally in European cultures, women in Australia have only in modern times been able to pursue the same opportunities as men. Until the 1950s women were still confined to the household role of childrearing and care-taking. It was extremely unusual and frowned upon to see a woman in the workforce and it was virtually impossible for women to get a divorce. There was a strong expectation that women be satisfied with their lot and not wish for anything more. These expectations of women and the stereotype they were held to is still prevalent today.100% of the people I surveyed said that they believed Australia had gender roles and expectations and that women were expected to be "beautiful all the time" and "be motherly."
The stereotypical Australian woman now, has white skin and tanned but white skin because she spends so much time at the beach. This image was once known as the 'Australian beach babe'. Yet as feminism has evolved, the quintessential Australian women now also has a successful career and has three children and an adoring husband. This stereotype is so often not met with in society. Though women are now able to be a part of the workforce, they are held to double standards and have not relinquished their duties at home. Furthermore, 55% of surveyed people agreed that women who do not conform to this stereotype can be treated unequally and in some cases in a derogatory way. Women who enter the workforce are held back by the gender stereotypes of their male counterparts. For many jobs, females are paid less than males and there are careers that are still considered 'male' or 'female'. The expectation that women should retain the highest standard of beauty at all times stems from the media and the way it presents women to society.
Western cultures have had a long history of discriminating against, objectifying and scrutinising women in the media. However, the media and how women are portrayed in the media has an enourmous effect on the way we perceive women in our culture. Women are often objectified, presented as being only a body, not an entire human being, over sexualised and feminised. There are no macho females in the media. Moreover, women who are celebrities have their bodies and the way they look critiqued and judged by the entire world, a practice that is not done to male celebrities. The images below illustrate how women are portrayed in the media and the consequences of these expectations and stereotypes.
As you can see, the Australian media is heavily influenced by overseas media such as the United states and Britain. Hence, the 'Australian beach babe' is less prevalent as globalisation continues, though it was once a standard held to all 'Aussie' girls. These expectations of women are psychologically very damaging for girls and can lead to, low self confidence if one does not conform, anxiety, depression, body dismorphia and over sexualisation of oneself in public.