There’s an Old Italian saying,
’I’m the boss of this shop, and I have my wife’s permission to say so.’ This
insight does not just apply in Italy. Contrary to popular masculine beliefs, it
seems in many cultures across the globe, women do in fact rule the roost. However,
with the inequality of salary margins still being present, the everlasting
moral battle of a woman’s right to abortion, and the stigma still being that
women predominately are the ones who should stay at home with the children, it’s
a wonder if we ever had female liberation at all. Regardless of what
patriarchal society has placed on women up until now, in recent years, I cannot
help but notice a charming swing towards the opposite side of the spectrum.
Just how far have we come, though?
The first wave of feminism came through Australia
in the late 19th Century and was mainly
It seems today though, more and more women are
opting for career over domestics and a rise of men are comfortable with the
thought of the woman being the breadwinner. After all, 75% of finances within
Australian households are controlled by women; 25% of that having the woman as
the sole income earner. Regardless of
bearing children or not, there has been an undeniable increase in the amount of
women returning to the work force after marriage or children.
Women seem to be finding their place in society –
many in high positions too. There’s no questioning it, if people could get paid
an allowance for multitasking then the majority of women would be wealthy. It’s
in our DNA to focus and perform more than one thing simultaneously. This is not
folk law! Professor Keith Laws, a psychologist at the University of
Hertfordshire conducted a study between 50 male and 50 female students who were
given eight minutes to perform three tasks, including an impromptu fourth task,
which was a phone call that gave the student a general knowledge test, if they
chose to answer the call initially. Scientists believe that the results showed that
females are better able to reflect on a problem, while continuing to juggle
their own commitments, than that of men. This genetic coding is also to do with
children. In those formative years from a newborn to a toddler, children
develop rapidly and the mother has to be able to adapt to this. When the child
changes its routine then the mother has to change hers…and she does! Whether
you’re childless, childfree or have children, there’s no denying your
multitasking DNA. So why is it, even with this biological fact behind us, women
are still seen as being less capable in the workforce than that of a man –
especially in positions of power?
New figures released by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics in August 2014, show the gender pay gap sitting at 17.1% between
that of a full-time working male and female. This difference equates to a total
of $262.50 per week. Over the past two decades, the national gender pay gap has
hovered between 15% and 18% and was influenced by a variety of factors. These
included industrial and occupational segregation, a lack of women in leadership,
the fact that women still did most of society’s unpaid caring, a lack of senior
part-time and casual positions (which disadvantaged women who were more likely
to work part-time or casually), and direct or indirect discrimination.
Despite all
these statistics, the intention of this article is not to boast the lack of equality
amongst the sexes. It is to glorify how far we’ve come as females and the
optimistic growth we have to aspire to in our futures. The stigma of life
ending after a woman gets married or has children is increasingly diminishing
in Anglo-Saxon countries, and the idea of a househusband is gradually becoming
on par with that of a housewife. The workforce has also given more flexible
work hours for those with children to cater for, making the possibility of
women returning to work more appealing. Another helpful portal is the Internet
and its use in business, public relations, social media or marketing – allowing
women with young families to work from home.
The volume of women taking on creative roles has
also increased. Thanks to the Internet, we’re seeing an influx of female
business owners, bloggers, reviewers, surveyors, digital designers, graphic
designers, and contributors for digital magazines (like this one!) Not only are
we seeing women return to work either the cyber way or physically, but they are
also returning to studies. Now with an array of distance, TAFE and University
courses on offer online, women (and men) are able to raise their children,
upkeep the house, even work part-time and still complete a degree. Ultimately,
this gives the woman a ‘leg-up’ when returning to the workforce. Again, women have seen the change in their
surroundings with the technological era and managed to adapt and utilize it to
their advantage. Bravo!
There’s no doubt about it women are awesome. The
world is changing and women seem to be behind
