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A focus study: gender
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Outcomes Focus Gender Families Women in education Men in education Women in work Men and health What of the future? Questions More |
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Outcomes
A student:
| H2 | analyses relationships within and between social and cultural groups |
| H3 | accounts for cultural diversity and commonality within societies and cultures |
| H5 | evaluates the influence of power, authority, and gender and on decision-making and participation in society |
Extract from Stage 6 Society and
Culture © Board of Studies NSW, 1999.
The nature of the commonality and
difference in Australia, through the examination of:
- factors that influence
commonality and difference
- social
differentiation
- conflict and
cooperation
- power and
authority.
Gender
Both males and females have similar needs
in order to survive. Historically however, Australia’s social structure
has contributed to significant differences in opportunity and outcome between
the genders resulting in prejudice and discrimination against more women than
men over time. It is in the areas of family, education and work that these
differences are most pronounced.
Since settlement, Australia has been male
dominated simply by population numbers. There were far more male convicts than
female convicts. In fact, in the 1800s the British government ran advertisements
to attract females to immigrate to Australia. The government offered to pay the
females’ passage to Australia. Males dominated all aspects of life from
the private micro-world of family to the public macro-world of education and
work. Feminists often state that Australian institutions were created by males
and therefore reflect a male attitude and mentality. From playground to
boardroom, the differences between how males and females communicate and make
decisions and the accepted standards of behaviour for each, reflect the social
differentiation between the two genders.
In 1775, Sir William Blackstone
explained, “by marriage the very being or legal existence of a woman is
suspended or at least is incorporated or consolidated into that of the husband
under whose wing, protection and cover she performs everything and she is
therefore called in our law, a femme covert...”. In the 1800s women were
not even considered legal entities. This meant that they were not actually
considered persons in the legal sense. They could not be sued. In 1894 an
anti-suffragist politician, George Riddoch, in Parliament said, “Every
woman who uses up her national vitality in a profession or business or in study
will bear feeble, rickety children and is spending her infant’s
inheritance on herself.” During the Industrial Revolution a husband was
entitled to seize a woman’s wages and personal property even if he had
deserted her. These are excellent examples of how long social differentiation
between males and females has been institutionalised within
society.
Although males have been consistently
seen as better off in the gender divide, recent trends and research have started
to highlight the problems and difficulties that Australian men face in the
modern world. Traditionally the male voice has been confined by the cultural
ideas that men are reliant upon the “stiff upper lip”, of not
complaining. To be an Australian male simply means to be “strong, silent
and competitive, a provider and protector for your family, get on with the job
and don’t complain”. Increasingly these concepts of Australian
masculinity are being challenged in our ever-changing world. Many men are
expressing frustration and alienation in the constantly changing definitions of
male roles in the wider community. The last decade has seen an acceleration of
change and construction of a new social order. Social change never has only one
outcome and the changing role of women in society has also meant a redefinition
of the social role of men. These changes can be found in any number of social
experiences such as education, work and family relations. Furthermore these
changes are affecting the future generations of Australian men. Richard
Fletcher, who runs a program on the coming of age of boys, and the transition to
manhood, believes that the failings of men in positions of power and influence
have deprived young Australian males of positive role models.
In modern Australia there is more of a
diversity of styles of manhood and the numerous challenges that males face vary
depending on class, religion, status, location and ethnicity. Some face the
difficulties of cultural conflict while others such as Aboriginal males are
faced with the crisis of cultural disintegration. However, the ideas of
“male issues” are rejected by many social theorists and feminists.
They argue that they are not “male” issues but societal issues and
despite the changing nature of society, women still lag far behind men in terms
of equality. These issues continue to be an area for debate and
conflict.
Families
Gender roles between males and females
have been historically distinct since primitive societies hunted and gathered.
Men would hunt and women would gather closer to the home. This left them more
accessible to care for family members. A recent study focusing on girls in
poverty and Aboriginal girls in South Australia concluded, “they [girls]
had a vast understanding of the roles ascribed to women and in particular,
women’s work in the family situation. When the girls projected themselves
into adult lives, these lives seemed to mirror the gender positions that they
were already rehearsing as children”. In March 1999, mothers were spending
about twice as much time as fathers on child care (3 h 58 min per day for
mothers versus 2 h 4 min for fathers). In addition, 70% of mothers state they
always or often felt rushed or pushed for time compared to 56% of fathers and
52% of women with no dependent children. (Australian Social Trends, 1999) Today
women head 85% of single-parent families. Ms Hakim, an advisor to John Howard,
argued that only 10 to 30 per cent of women are devoted to their careers, an
equal number are absorbed in their home life, and the other 60% are happy to
juggle both.
The economic revolution had important
impacts for the role of men in the family. It removed men from the family and
sent them to the factories or the exterior workplace. This fundamentally changes
the nature and role of men in the family unit. In recent years there has been a
redefinition of male roles in the family. There has been a rise of men’s
groups which have argued that they have been disadvantaged in society, the legal
system and the family court in matters relating to access, child care and
associated financial costs. The changes in modern Australian society have also
seen competing ideas of the role of the father as well a redefinition of what
makes up a “family”.
Women in education
In 1894 in an Adelaide newspaper, an
article stated, “women who have been occupied with books or business to
the exclusion of learning how to make a home will not be very desirable as
wives”. This piece of writing in the media further exemplifies the
institutionalisation of differentiation between males and females within
society. In addition, the media helps to create standards and expectations for
different gender roles to emulate. While Sydney University admitted its first
women in 1882, the first female law graduate (Ada Evans) in 1902 was ineligible
to practice law in NSW, even though she had a law degree, until the NSW
Women’s Legal Status Act was passed in 1918. Women have either equalled or
exceeded the number of men graduating from law schools in Victoria during the
past 20 years. Nationally, women comprise 41% of solicitors but only 16% of
principals (partners/sole practitioners) in law firms. It was reported in 2000,
that in 1996 the male/female Year 12 retention rate was 66% for males compared
to 77% for females. When it comes to 17 to 24 year-olds participating in
tertiary studies, the figures showed a 32% participation rate for males compared
to a 30% rate for females. In 1906, shortly
after Federation, there were 142 women (13 per cent) among the 1054 students at
the University of Sydney, and 128 women (15 per cent) among the 853 students at
the University of Melbourne. In 2001, women made up 57 per cent of the 206 834
higher education students commencing an undergraduate qualification. A total of
41 232 women were starting postgraduate studies in 2001, i.e. 50.5 per cent of
postgraduate commencements. While there is improvement, for
the social status of women in education and work participation rates, women
still are experiencing conflict and differences in power in the workplace.
Men in education
In the last couple of years there has
been significant debate about boys’ education and relative position of
males in the education system. This debate has encompassed a large range of
educational issues. Included in this is declining number of males in the
teaching profession, especially in primary schools. The NSW Department of
Education and Training recently launched a study into the lack of male teachers.
This reduction of male teachers means a lack of positive male role models in
education. School is one of the main socialisation agents in our society, where
young Australians can spend more than twelve years of their life. This is
particularly important in the formation of roles and status during childhood and
adolescence.
NSW Government Advisory Committee Report
on Boys' Education stated that:
- Boys under-perform compared with girls in literacy tests at both Year 3 and Year 5 in government schools.
- Boys achieve notably lower grades in English at both the School Certificate and Higher School Certificate.
- Girls have clearly outperformed boys over at least the last 13 years on the basis of mean university entrance scores. When the distributions, rather than means, of girls' and boys' scores are compared, boys are also over represented in the lower ranges and under represented in higher ranges.
- The margin by which girls are outperforming boys in the HSC is increasing most among students from low socioeconomic status backgrounds.
Some significant work is also being done
on the different learning styles of boys and factors which effect boys’
education. In the recent NSW government inquiry into boys’ education, it
is argued that areas such as poor hearing and listening are significant issues
for boys. Dr Eric Page argues in the report that “In a normal classroom,
70 per cent of males would experience poorer ear function than the average girl.
That...could account for many of the learning problems being experienced by
boys”.
At the higher education levels there has
also been significant changes. Since 1989 there have been more women than men
aged 15–24 years participating in higher education. Although this is
partially due to nursing courses gaining university status, there is evidence
that women are continuing to increase in their participation in higher education
as well as increasing the proportion of females enrolled in higher education
courses.
This straightforward statistical
information gives a broad outline of the problems facing boys in education but
there are many other theoretical debates and opinions that have fuelled
discussion and conflict. Alan Barron, convenor of the Institute of Men's
Studies, argues that “The female-dominated education system is not only
run by femocrats to further the political agenda of militant feminism, but it is
also creating an environment in which males feel uncomfortable, and which is
slowly but surely marginalising males, not just as students, but as a career
path (teaching) for men”. This type of argument is challenged by others.
The gender equity standards branch of Tasmania puts forward the view that
“it is (not) possible to assign a disadvantaged status to boys in the same
way that it has been assigned to girls. Many of the claims about boys as a
disadvantaged group and the effects of masculinity are based on the 'poor boy'
principle (see Wearing, 1994). Wearing claims that one of the problems with
research that constructs boys as a disadvantaged group, is that it fails to
adequately address the asymmetrical distribution of power between men and women
(see also Connell, 1994). What is left out often are the advantages and benefits
that are accrued to men within the hegemonic institutional structures of the
state”.
Women in work
From early times there has been a sexual
division of labour. Rates of pay were much lower for females than males. This
disparity was justified on the grounds that men had the responsibility to
support their family, whereas women were supported by their husbands or fathers.
There were many factors affecting pay differences. These included women tending
to work less overtime because of family commitments, women’s careers being
interrupted by childbirth and child-rearing, men tending to hold jobs requiring
greater skills and therefore being paid more and occupations dominated by men
tend to be more lucrative.
Problems for women in the workforce
include job segregation based on stereotyping of their roles. It was reported
that Australia has the most sex-segregated workforce in the OECD. Other problems
include traditional roles being pursued in education, which leads to lower pay.
An educative kit of case studies related to sex discrimination and harassment
was launched in 1999. On the International Women’s Day 1999, the federal
Sex Commissioner wrote, “while Australian women have gained significant
ground there remain those in our community who lack an understanding of the
basic first principles of equality and good management... a workplace free of
sex discrimination and sexual harassment is a human right”. Women have
increased their power in the employment sector, as their contributions have
become important for production. Women are also protected by anti-discrimination
and affirmative action legislation. Some of these include the Sex Discrimination
Act, Anti-discrimination Act NSW, and Affirmative Action ( Equal Employment
Opportunity for Women) Act and amendments. Despite these changes, most women
still tend to be employed in jobs that are not as secure as those of their male
counterparts: part-time work and lower paying jobs. According to Hakim, because
not all women want to dedicate themselves to a career, many women prefer to work
part-time or accept less demanding positions. In other words, women’s own
desire for a life outside work has been a factor in the so-called glass ceiling.
Some feminists have a problem with this view because they feel that it is the
social differentiation between the genders that has caused obstacles for women
following a career path rather than their own desire not pursue a
career.
It is important to note that change for
women in society has led to men re-evaluating their roles in society. This
re-evaluation and broadening of choice as well as redefining masculinity for
males is the commonality with females. In addition, there is a men’s
movement that started in the 1980s attempting to redefine masculinity as a
response to the effects of the feminist movement and the redefining of
femininity. In the 21st century, a group called Fathers for Family
Equity meets regularly. The thrust of the group’s agenda is that divorce,
family law and economic rationalism are reducing many males to a marginalised
role within society. They feel that their situation is very similar to
women’s, 35 years ago. Many men feel that due to divorce, unemployment and
shifting social norms they are in an inferior position. Coupled with females
outperforming males in a number of social and economic indictors, some males do
not feel it is an advantage to be a male. Perhaps changing social norms and
values especially related to the changing structure of the family and
alternative family arrangements are part of the reason for this commonality
between males and females in their feelings about their social roles and status
in society.
Men and health
There are significant social issues that
surround specific health needs of men. One of the main areas of concern is the
high rate of suicide amongst young Australian males. Australia rates fourth in
the world for suicide behind Iceland, Finland and New Zealand; there are 16.7
suicides per 100 000 people. However when this is broken down by gender, males
rate at 26.7 and females at 6.4 per 100 000. The age-specific pattern of suicide
has changed over the past 20 years. During the 1970s suicide rates tended to
increase with age for both males and females. For males this pattern changed in
the 1980s and 1990s. In this period the youth suicide rate increased and suicide
rates at older ages decreased.
Suicide has been linked to a number of
social issues such as drug and alcohol dependency, family breakdown,
socioeconomic disadvantage, unemployment and social expectations. Men are four
times more likely to commit suicide than women; amongst young males, it is five
times. There is some evidence to suggest that the actual attempt rates for
suicide between males and females is similar but that males are more successful
in their attempts and thus higher overall suicide rates. One of the other major
concerns is that the rate of suicide for men in rural areas is considerably
higher than urban areas. Reasons for this remain speculative but indications are
social expectations, rural-urban migration leading to further pressure on those
who remain in small urban centres, the changing nature of society and changing
views on masculinity. Other areas of concern for men’s health include a
consistently lower life expectancy compared to women, mental health issues and
testicular cancer.
What of the future?
Maybe, the historic conflict about the
social differentiation and varying levels of power and authority between males
and females has come to a point where cooperation between the two genders could
be helpful to both groups. If males are suffering disadvantage, it would be
empowering for females to act as models for change. The shifting of advantage of
social indicators from male dominance to female dominance certainly perpetuates
inequality. Maybe equality of opportunity and outcome can be better achieved
through cooperation and focus on commonality between the genders rather than
difference. John Howard is certainly trying to achieve this cooperation by his
recent family policies. He says the view that a woman’s place is in the
home is clearly outdated and “gone for all time”. His proposals to
pay women who work or stay at home an allowance for their children exemplify the
need to aid families and women in particular with child care issues. Paid
maternity leave also reveals a more cooperative attitude towards women who wish
to juggle both career and home a bit more feasibly. Howard’s view that the
Government needs to look after all groups of women: those who are work centred,
those who are home centred and those who try to juggle the two is perhaps a hint
of future policies that will attempt to institutionalise a different view of
gender expectations.
Christopher Mclean, in his recent paper
The costs of masculinity, advocated for a changing future, “...if
we want to implement policies to change boys' behaviour, then we have to pay
attention to the question of meaning – and that means theory. We need to
develop a theory of masculinity that makes sense of men's experiences and
behaviours – not only to the theory-makers, but to the men themselves,
because the crucial task is to get men and boys actively involved in the project
of change, in cooperation with, rather than in opposition to, women and other
groups who are experiencing the real negative effects of dominant masculine
culture. We need a theory of masculinity that speaks to men's experience of
themselves, while enabling them to honestly acknowledge their complicity in the
collective structures of dominant masculinity and gender injustice. We need a
sense that change is possible, and that it is going to be good for us, as men,
too.”
- Evaluate the continuities and changes occurring between males and females over time.
- How can the two genders work together cooperatively?
- Do males and females have widely divergent viewpoints or are the stereotypes and discrimination in society creating these divergent viewpoints? Explain.
- What are the possible futures for males and females if the existing inequalities are maintained?
- What areas of society would best be addressed to reduce inequality and differences between the genders?
More
Commonwealth Office of the Status of
Women, Facts about Women, 1999, 2001 and 2002.
“Where do men fit in and what does
the future hold?” 2001, Sunday Spectrum, Australian Broadcasting
Corporation, May 27.
McLean, C, The Costs Of Masculinity:
Placing Men's Pain In The Context Of Male Power, Department of Education,
Tasmania.
Australian Bureau of Statistics
www.abs.gov.au 
look for articles such as; “Australian Social Trends 1994 Education -
Participation in Education: Gender differences in higher
education”
look for articles such as; “Australian Social Trends 1994 Education -
Participation in Education: Gender differences in higher
education”