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After writing my first blog based on surface level observations regarding gender issues in Australia, I decided to also make this the subject for my blog interview. I thought this would make a good topic of conversation with a local Australian, and also provide me with more relevant knowledge about the issues here that affect women’s everyday lives. While my first blog acknowledged there are aspects of this issue that seem to be ahead in Australia versus the United States, I knew there would certainly be a lot to discuss here regarding the improvements that can be made.

I had the chance to talk to two different people about these issues, where the first conversation sparked my interest and gave me ideas to ask in the second conversation I had. The first person I talked to was our tour guide at the contemporary art museum in Sydney. Given the subject of the museum and the fact that this is a contemporary issue in Australia, I was curious if there was any artwork related to the issue of women’s rights. When I asked this of our tour guide, it prompted a conversation about some of the biggest problems for Australian women today: the wage gap and the ability to find childcare in order to have a career.

She acknowledged that as a white woman and a mother, these were the problems surrounding women she heard of the most. When I asked for further information, she said Indigenous women experience a number of other issues due to their status as women and minorities. This response is comparable to the U.S., where women of all backgrounds can experience problems with the wage gap and finding adequate childcare. However, women of color in the U.S. can experience these issues to a harsher degree.

Taking the information I learned from this conversation, I had a different conversation with a woman near our hostel in Sydney named Jess. I asked her about these topics brought up by our tour guide and asked her to expand on her own experiences in Australia. While she agreed the wage gap and childcare are certainly problems for women here, she had a different perspective on the biggest problem for women in contemporary Australia.

Jess told me she believes the biggest problem for women in Australia is the way they are portrayed in the media. When I asked if she meant they were overly sexualized, since that is an issue I have studied often in the United States, she did not think so. Instead of being overly sexualized in the media, she thought women in the media only represented one kind of woman – a certain body type and look not attainable by everyone (i.e. very thin).

This answer was very interesting to me. Compared to the media in the United States, it was great to hear a local Australian woman doesn’t believe the women here are overly objectified in the media. However, Australia is a country with a diverse population, and the media does not reflect that diversity. According to Jess, the media idolizes a certain “look” and a certain body type, which is not representative of all the women here. Instead of celebrating the differences in women’s appearances, the media demonstrates they only value women when they look a certain way.

This is certainly unhealthy and can encourage insecurities in people that are unable to attain the look they believe their culture values. When reflecting on my conversation with Jess, I believe this is also a huge problem in the United States for women. However, we add the problem of constantly objectifying and sexualizing women in the media on top of only valuing a certain appearance.

After these two conversations, I feel like I gained more insight into some of the things that affect the everyday lives of Australian women. In order to expand further on this topic, it would be very interesting to speak to an Indigenous woman and gain her perspective on these topics. From what we have learned in class, we already know the Indigenous Australian experience is very different. I am hoping as we journey to Cairns, I will have the chance to continue observing and learning about these different experiences.

-CH


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