PART 1
The issues that could be faced in the work place in future in my imagination could be sexual harrassment, being offered casual work instead of permanent ones,equal opportunity,pregnancy discrimination,lack of access of to promotional opportunities and lower pay rates.
PART 2.
1)Women being paid less than men is attributed to the traditional belief that men worked to provide for their families, whiles, women only worked if they did not have either their husband or father to support them.
2)The significant achievements by Unions regarding Equal Pay in the following years is as follows;
-In 1960,equal pay for work for equal value was awarded ,although specifically female work was not included and the issue of eual pay for women remained a hot debate throughout the 1960's
- In 1969, the ACTU mounted a test case to get rid of the 25% difference that existed between pay rates for women and those for men. The court ruled that as of 1st October women would get at least 85% of the male wage; their pay would then go up in steps until 1st January 1972 when they would be rewarded with equal pay - 100% of the male wage.
-In 1972, the equal pay case was reopened,the agurement presented by Barister Mary Gaudron was in line with the principles of the 1951 ILO Convention;equal pay for work of equal value.Finally on the 15th December 1972, the Arbitration Commission ruled that women performing predominantly women's work will get the same pay as men.
In 1973,the Commission set a minimum wage for all adults and then in 1974 it dropped the concept of family support as part of the wage system.
3(a)Women still earn less than men because more women work part-time and therefore earn only a proportion of full-time earnings.
(b)Women are less likely to get bonuses and benefits added to wages.
(C) More men than women work overtime because they work in areas where overtime is an option and women generally have more responsibilities in the home.
4)The strategy to ahieve equaal pay that will be more effective is to Join unions: female union members earn more money on average than females who don't belong to a union.
5)The Fact sheet that was of interest to me was ,"Equal Opportunity"(getting a fair go).
The fact that I discorvered was
Affirmative action
Affirmative action is positive action taken in the workplace to promote equal opportunity.
Affirmative action involves:
identifying and removing all of the barriers confronting women in employment;
putting in place programs and strategies that ensure women and men have the ability to compete on equal terms for jobs and promotions;
encouraging women to enter jobs traditionally seen as unsuitable for them; and
promoting equal access to higher wages and increased prospects of job advancement
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
JOURNAL WEEK 14 /WOMEN STUDIES1/ WOMEN'S ACTIVISM /BASED ON THE VIDEO -APRON STRINGS AND ATOM BOMBS
TASK 1
In the video on Women and Activism, based on the story about Apron Strings and Atom Bombs the women then had capaigned for and against a lot of issues.This involved the following; Peace, the price of gas ,equal pay,education,qualified teachers,rising cost of living,Conscription,Chilcare,War toys, Reproduction Rights,Free Speech,ie {The Cold War)They also called for affirmative action.They did this through songs, marches,Wearing Aprongs with inscriptions on them.Petitions at train stations,sporting events,door to door knocking.They had vigils,standing at public buildings,one woman actually made history by chaining herself to the Commonwealth building. They printed and shared leaflets at each giving chance. There was the tram day , they met with politicians,They had walked in single file making marches longer.
Today, Women Activists advocate for virtually the same issues as those of the past except that their approach is slightly different.They advocate for Paid Maternity Leave.Women Lawyers Fight for refugees Rights,violence against women.A.W.A campaigns for equal rights for women at work places.Issues on housing,environmemt and health are also tackled.They did this through civil disobedience,,boycotts,lobbying,non-violent confrontation,rioting,media activism,protest music and voluntary simplicity ,eg hippies.
TASK 2
1) The Union of Australian Women (UAW) is a national organisation which was formed in 1950 to work for the status and well being of women in a peaceful and environmentally safe world.
2)The current campaigns include;
- Elimination of violence against women.
- Abortion law reform and reproductive rights.
- Affordable public housing and health.
- Rights for Asylum seekers.
TASK 3
1) ECOFEMINISM is a movement or theory that applies feminist principles and ideas to ecological issues.They argue that, a relationship exists betweeen the oppression of women and the degradation of nature.
2)Ecofeminists would campaign for and against the degradation of women and the abuse of the environment. They also lay emphasis on the importance of interrelationships between humans and non-humans,eg; animals and insects and the earth.They advocate the use oftechnologies such as solar power, as a way to stay off the grid which they regard as more important than relying upon poisonous industrial process on materials.One of the missions of ecofeminism is to redefine how societies look at productivity and activity of both women and nature who have been termed passive and have been ill-used.
In the video on Women and Activism, based on the story about Apron Strings and Atom Bombs the women then had capaigned for and against a lot of issues.This involved the following; Peace, the price of gas ,equal pay,education,qualified teachers,rising cost of living,Conscription,Chilcare,War toys, Reproduction Rights,Free Speech,ie {The Cold War)They also called for affirmative action.They did this through songs, marches,Wearing Aprongs with inscriptions on them.Petitions at train stations,sporting events,door to door knocking.They had vigils,standing at public buildings,one woman actually made history by chaining herself to the Commonwealth building. They printed and shared leaflets at each giving chance. There was the tram day , they met with politicians,They had walked in single file making marches longer.
Today, Women Activists advocate for virtually the same issues as those of the past except that their approach is slightly different.They advocate for Paid Maternity Leave.Women Lawyers Fight for refugees Rights,violence against women.A.W.A campaigns for equal rights for women at work places.Issues on housing,environmemt and health are also tackled.They did this through civil disobedience,,boycotts,lobbying,non-violent confrontation,rioting,media activism,protest music and voluntary simplicity ,eg hippies.
TASK 2
1) The Union of Australian Women (UAW) is a national organisation which was formed in 1950 to work for the status and well being of women in a peaceful and environmentally safe world.
2)The current campaigns include;
- Elimination of violence against women.
- Abortion law reform and reproductive rights.
- Affordable public housing and health.
- Rights for Asylum seekers.
TASK 3
1) ECOFEMINISM is a movement or theory that applies feminist principles and ideas to ecological issues.They argue that, a relationship exists betweeen the oppression of women and the degradation of nature.
2)Ecofeminists would campaign for and against the degradation of women and the abuse of the environment. They also lay emphasis on the importance of interrelationships between humans and non-humans,eg; animals and insects and the earth.They advocate the use oftechnologies such as solar power, as a way to stay off the grid which they regard as more important than relying upon poisonous industrial process on materials.One of the missions of ecofeminism is to redefine how societies look at productivity and activity of both women and nature who have been termed passive and have been ill-used.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
JOURNAL WEEK13/WOMEN STUDIES1/FEMOCRACY/A STORY OF WEL-70S
1) Beatrice Faust was a Melbourne woman who believed that,The Women's Liberation Movement in the early 1970's consisted of too much talk and not enough enough action.
2) Beatrice Faust galvanised the Australian Women into action by carrying out a political survey of all candidates in all jurisdictions in Australia, an idea she got from reading an article in the 'Ms Magazine".
3) The six demands in the 1972 WEL cammpaign were ;equal pay, equal employement opportunity,free copntraceptives,abortion on demand,and free 24 hour chilcare.
4) When the Whitlam gorvernment was elected in 1972 WEL hoped that this would be the era of the birth of a new age of tolerance and increased recognition of equality of women in Australia.
5) The changes that happened regarding women's participation in the period 1972-1975 were rapid and major in Australia with the election of the Whitlam Gorvernment.First, Elizabeth Reid was appointed as assistant to the Prime Minister on Women's Issues in 1973.There was the introduction of Women 's Affairs section in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.Also,the Government contributed money to the United Nations International Women's Year,1995, this funding was used for rape cases and health centres.The Government also contributed funding to support non-profit child care centres.Women were eventually awarded the male rate of pay after much lobbying.
6)During the Fraser years ,WEL had campaigned and won the office of the Status of Women, this was an office within the Prime Minister's Department which was responsible for developing policy which took account of womens's needs, which evaluated all policy and legislation in light of its impact upon women.They developed pro-active strategies for readressing some of the long standing institutional problems facing women. It was a great step forward ,since for the first time women were guaranteed some formal say in the development of policy and legislation.
7)
Women's Electoral Lobby Australia.( www.wel.org.au )
HEALTH.
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
1. COST OF HEALTH CARE INCLUDING BULK BILLING AND DENTAL CARE.
In keeping with the principles of the Australian Women's Health Policy and the World Health Organisation, WEL affirms the view that health is a state of complete physical, mental, emotional and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This social view of health acknowledges that health is affected by a wide variety of social, economic and political factors, not just illness episodes and access to treatment services.
Only where publicly funded services are available, will low income people have adequate access to services. Equity in health care financing should be based on "contribution according to ability to pay" which is the principle underpinning the Australian income-tax system.
Public funding is particularly important for women, partly because of their lower incomes, partly because they experience more ill health themselves and partly because they access services on behalf of others, particularly the children and elderly people for whom they are the main carers.
The well-known RAND study in the United States in the 1970s found that if people had to pay at the point of service, they used fewer services across-the-board. Charges, they found, deter people from seeking treatment, especially poor people. User charges for medical services in Australia are among the highest in the OECD and constitute a serious barrier to access. Research shows that around 14% of people do not go to the doctor when they think they need to because of cost and another 17% of people reported having problems paying medical bills.
Charges for pharmaceuticals also constitute a barrier to access for Australians, especially women. Research in 2003 (before the biggest price increases) showed that 23% of Australians did not get prescriptions filled because of cost and another 9% of people skipped doses to make their medications last longer. In addition to being an equity problem, there is considerable evidence that people who go without services, including medicines, may become unnecessarily ill, imposing high costs on the health system including hospitalisation.
Private dental services are beyond the reach of many low income Australians, impacting severely on women, their children and the other people they care for. The abolition of Commonwealth dental scheme in 1996 greatly reduced the number of publicly funded dental services and since that time the States and Territories have been struggling to make up the difference. Low income Australians are in urgent need of basic dental services. There are 650,000 Australians on waiting lists for access to public oral health care, with average waiting times of two years and as long as five years in rural areas.
WEL Recommendations
1. WEL affirms the central role of Medicare in providing equitable, quality health care in Australia and calls for additional measures to be put in place to promote bulk billing.
2. The Federal Government should ensure better access to dental care for those on lower incomes.
3. The Federal Government to budget an additional $800 million annually to provide two yearly health checks for low income and disadvantaged Australians including women and the children and elderly in their care
4. The abolition of the 30% rebate for private health insurance.
5. An increase in funding for public hospitals.
6. The establishment of comprehensive community health centres providing a whole range of services across the country including the training of rural and indigenous women as medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, midwives and associated health professionals in their local communities
2. Indigenous Women's Health Issues
Aboriginal women and girls have the worst health in the country and their health status compares very unfavourably with their sister groups in other settler societies.
WEL Recommendations
WEL endorses the following NACCHO/OXFAM recommendations:
Improve access for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders to culturally appropriate primary healthcare, and to a level commensurate with need.
Increase the number of health practitioners working within Aboriginal health settings, and provide further development and training of the Indigenous health workforce.
Improve the responsiveness of mainstream health services and programs to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander health needs.
Greater targeting of maternal and child health and greater support for Indigenous-specific population programs for chronic and communicable disease.
Greater funding and support for the building blocks of good health such as awareness and availability of nutrition, physical activity, fresh food, healthy lifestyles, and adequate housing.
Set national targets and benchmarks towards achieving healthy equality, by which progress can be closely monitored.
MY VIEWS ON THIS ISSUE
Health as we all know, is an important aspect of our lives but then, it is affected by lots of factors.These factors are finance and availability just to mention a few. The low income group is the most affected since they have to pay at the point of service but are unable to do so due to financial constraints ,these deters them from seeking medical treatment even when they need to do so.High Pharmaceutical charges also make accesssing the health services almost impossible for the low income group.Dental services are beyond reach.Until these services are publicly funded and are made readily available ,the health system would continue to be be inadequately used and underserviced.
2) Beatrice Faust galvanised the Australian Women into action by carrying out a political survey of all candidates in all jurisdictions in Australia, an idea she got from reading an article in the 'Ms Magazine".
3) The six demands in the 1972 WEL cammpaign were ;equal pay, equal employement opportunity,free copntraceptives,abortion on demand,and free 24 hour chilcare.
4) When the Whitlam gorvernment was elected in 1972 WEL hoped that this would be the era of the birth of a new age of tolerance and increased recognition of equality of women in Australia.
5) The changes that happened regarding women's participation in the period 1972-1975 were rapid and major in Australia with the election of the Whitlam Gorvernment.First, Elizabeth Reid was appointed as assistant to the Prime Minister on Women's Issues in 1973.There was the introduction of Women 's Affairs section in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.Also,the Government contributed money to the United Nations International Women's Year,1995, this funding was used for rape cases and health centres.The Government also contributed funding to support non-profit child care centres.Women were eventually awarded the male rate of pay after much lobbying.
6)During the Fraser years ,WEL had campaigned and won the office of the Status of Women, this was an office within the Prime Minister's Department which was responsible for developing policy which took account of womens's needs, which evaluated all policy and legislation in light of its impact upon women.They developed pro-active strategies for readressing some of the long standing institutional problems facing women. It was a great step forward ,since for the first time women were guaranteed some formal say in the development of policy and legislation.
7)
Women's Electoral Lobby Australia.( www.wel.org.au )
HEALTH.
Tuesday, 16 October 2007
1. COST OF HEALTH CARE INCLUDING BULK BILLING AND DENTAL CARE.
In keeping with the principles of the Australian Women's Health Policy and the World Health Organisation, WEL affirms the view that health is a state of complete physical, mental, emotional and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This social view of health acknowledges that health is affected by a wide variety of social, economic and political factors, not just illness episodes and access to treatment services.
Only where publicly funded services are available, will low income people have adequate access to services. Equity in health care financing should be based on "contribution according to ability to pay" which is the principle underpinning the Australian income-tax system.
Public funding is particularly important for women, partly because of their lower incomes, partly because they experience more ill health themselves and partly because they access services on behalf of others, particularly the children and elderly people for whom they are the main carers.
The well-known RAND study in the United States in the 1970s found that if people had to pay at the point of service, they used fewer services across-the-board. Charges, they found, deter people from seeking treatment, especially poor people. User charges for medical services in Australia are among the highest in the OECD and constitute a serious barrier to access. Research shows that around 14% of people do not go to the doctor when they think they need to because of cost and another 17% of people reported having problems paying medical bills.
Charges for pharmaceuticals also constitute a barrier to access for Australians, especially women. Research in 2003 (before the biggest price increases) showed that 23% of Australians did not get prescriptions filled because of cost and another 9% of people skipped doses to make their medications last longer. In addition to being an equity problem, there is considerable evidence that people who go without services, including medicines, may become unnecessarily ill, imposing high costs on the health system including hospitalisation.
Private dental services are beyond the reach of many low income Australians, impacting severely on women, their children and the other people they care for. The abolition of Commonwealth dental scheme in 1996 greatly reduced the number of publicly funded dental services and since that time the States and Territories have been struggling to make up the difference. Low income Australians are in urgent need of basic dental services. There are 650,000 Australians on waiting lists for access to public oral health care, with average waiting times of two years and as long as five years in rural areas.
WEL Recommendations
1. WEL affirms the central role of Medicare in providing equitable, quality health care in Australia and calls for additional measures to be put in place to promote bulk billing.
2. The Federal Government should ensure better access to dental care for those on lower incomes.
3. The Federal Government to budget an additional $800 million annually to provide two yearly health checks for low income and disadvantaged Australians including women and the children and elderly in their care
4. The abolition of the 30% rebate for private health insurance.
5. An increase in funding for public hospitals.
6. The establishment of comprehensive community health centres providing a whole range of services across the country including the training of rural and indigenous women as medical practitioners, nurse practitioners, midwives and associated health professionals in their local communities
2. Indigenous Women's Health Issues
Aboriginal women and girls have the worst health in the country and their health status compares very unfavourably with their sister groups in other settler societies.
WEL Recommendations
WEL endorses the following NACCHO/OXFAM recommendations:
Improve access for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders to culturally appropriate primary healthcare, and to a level commensurate with need.
Increase the number of health practitioners working within Aboriginal health settings, and provide further development and training of the Indigenous health workforce.
Improve the responsiveness of mainstream health services and programs to Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander health needs.
Greater targeting of maternal and child health and greater support for Indigenous-specific population programs for chronic and communicable disease.
Greater funding and support for the building blocks of good health such as awareness and availability of nutrition, physical activity, fresh food, healthy lifestyles, and adequate housing.
Set national targets and benchmarks towards achieving healthy equality, by which progress can be closely monitored.
MY VIEWS ON THIS ISSUE
Health as we all know, is an important aspect of our lives but then, it is affected by lots of factors.These factors are finance and availability just to mention a few. The low income group is the most affected since they have to pay at the point of service but are unable to do so due to financial constraints ,these deters them from seeking medical treatment even when they need to do so.High Pharmaceutical charges also make accesssing the health services almost impossible for the low income group.Dental services are beyond reach.Until these services are publicly funded and are made readily available ,the health system would continue to be be inadequately used and underserviced.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
JOURNAL/WEEK 11/WOMEN STUDIES 1/THE SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM/BETTY FRIEDMAN
Betty Friedan was an American Feminist Activist and writer.She was originally known as Bettye Naomi Goldstein. She was born on the 4th of February 1921 in Peoria,Illinois USA. Her mother traded in buttons and latter owned a Jewellery shop,she had quit her job as a newspaper editor when she became pregnant with Betty, her father run a family shop in which he sold miscellaneous items.She went to high School in Peoria, finished in 1938, then went on to attend
Smith College,graduating in 1942.Betty Friedan edited the campus Newspaper and was also active on the staff of her high school newspaper. She went to the University of California,Berkeley doing graduate work in Psychology.Afterwards, she went to work for the Leftist and Union Publications as a Journalist.For a period of about ten years ,she worked for two labour journals, namely ,The Federated Press and The United Electrical Workers UE News.In 1947,she married Carl Friedman,a theatre- producer.The'm'was dropped after marriage.They had three children .In 1952, Bettty continued to work after marriage as a Freelance Journalist.She and her husband divorced in 1969.Betty claimed in her memoir 'Life so Far'[2000]that Carl had beaten her during their marriage.Carl of course denied abusing
her.Discovering in 1957 that several of her college classmates were as dissatisfied with their lives as she was with her own, she began a series of studies that eventually resulted in the landmark work 'The Feminine Mystique' (1963). The book's thesis was that women were victims of a pervasive system of delusions and false values that urged them to find their fulfillment and identity primarily, through their husbands and children's achievement. An immediate and controversial best-seller, it is now regarded as one of the most influential American books of the 20th century. In 1966,Betty Friedan co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW), which was dedicated to achieving equality of opportunity for women. A founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus (1971), she was a leader of the campaign for the
ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The Second Stage (1981) assessed the status of the women's movement. The Fountain of Age (1993) addresses the psychology of old age, seeking to counter the notion that aging means loss and depletion.
Also her insights into what she described as the soul-draining frustrations felt by educated, stay-at-home women in the 1950s, "the problem that has no name," startled a society that expected women to be happy with marriage and children. Her memoir, Life So Far, appeared in 2000.Betty Friedan is remembered as being central to the reshaping of American attitudes toward women's lives and rights. Through decades of social activism, strategic thinking and powerful writing, Friedan is one of contemporary society's most effective leaders."The Feminine Mystique" made Ms Betty Friedan world famous. It also made her one of the chief architects of the women's liberation movement of the late 1960's and afterward, a sweeping social upheaval that harked back to the suffrage campaigns of the turn of the century and was called feminism's second wave.She died on her eighty fifth birthday in her home in Washington DC of congestive heart failure.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
JOURNAL/WEEK 9- MONA LISA SMILE
Mona Lisa Smile was set in the early 1950’s.In this movie Julia Roberts stars as Katherine Watson who had graduated recently from UCLA and was hired to teach Art History in a prestigious all-female Wellesley College. She accepted the job only to discover her students were in college to prepare themselves to become wives and mothers.
Katherine Watson was determined to make an impression and shake up their orderly lives, she began teaching the young women to rebel against their restraints, to think for themselves and to look further beyond their limitations .It is evident that times have really changed. Take education for instance, education for women in the pre World War 2, era was privileged to the rich and elite of the society whilst in the 21st century educating a woman is a priority, as a result, women have become more intelligent and ambitious with very high self esteem enabling them to compete with their male counterparts for top jobs that were previously mostly male dominated. The significance of choice cannot be under estimated .In relation to contraceptives and abortion, there is freedom of choice. Women have a choice to have their babies or not to have them depending on their circumstances. Some parts of the USA have actually legalized abortion. Women use contraceptives freely without any intimidation or fear being stigmatised as used to be the case in the 1950’s.The advent of technology has also brought considerable change into the lives of women, for example computers, cell phones, electric cookers and hot water systems, just to name a few. Keyboards have also made typewriters a thing of the past. Services like child care are invaluable to working mothers .Despite the foregoing, most women place a high priority on marriage, husbands, keeping house and raising children. Some women trade off career advancement and higher earnings ,for a job that offers flexibility to manage family responsibilities .It can be said without exaggeration that women are enslaved to the roles they play in the lives of their families, most women cannot leave home without feeling guilty about leaving their children alone. A woman’s life before the 1960’s had been difficult, they were denied basic rights, trapped in the home and discriminated against in the workplace. The redemption came in the 1960’s with the formation of the women’s liberation movements and other Feminist groups. These feminist movements championed the course of women for better employment and equal wages with their male counterparts, a woman’s right to vote just to name a few. Irrespective of all these struggles, women have placed their priorities with their families over their liberation,thus becoming financially and emotionally dependent on their spouses.
In view of these, most women have become victims of one form of abuse or the other,
ending up with miserable and unfufilled lives.The presence of men smoking cigars was a clear indication that the film was set in the 1950’s, it was the vogue for men of the elite society at the time.Wallpaper used in decorating the walls, the ‘Elizabethan’ clothes worn by the women, their hats, and the way they carried themselves portrayed the style of the 1950’s,the slide projector used by Katherine in class and the music also showed the style of the 1950's.
Katherine Watson was determined to make an impression and shake up their orderly lives, she began teaching the young women to rebel against their restraints, to think for themselves and to look further beyond their limitations .It is evident that times have really changed. Take education for instance, education for women in the pre World War 2, era was privileged to the rich and elite of the society whilst in the 21st century educating a woman is a priority, as a result, women have become more intelligent and ambitious with very high self esteem enabling them to compete with their male counterparts for top jobs that were previously mostly male dominated. The significance of choice cannot be under estimated .In relation to contraceptives and abortion, there is freedom of choice. Women have a choice to have their babies or not to have them depending on their circumstances. Some parts of the USA have actually legalized abortion. Women use contraceptives freely without any intimidation or fear being stigmatised as used to be the case in the 1950’s.The advent of technology has also brought considerable change into the lives of women, for example computers, cell phones, electric cookers and hot water systems, just to name a few. Keyboards have also made typewriters a thing of the past. Services like child care are invaluable to working mothers .Despite the foregoing, most women place a high priority on marriage, husbands, keeping house and raising children. Some women trade off career advancement and higher earnings ,for a job that offers flexibility to manage family responsibilities .It can be said without exaggeration that women are enslaved to the roles they play in the lives of their families, most women cannot leave home without feeling guilty about leaving their children alone. A woman’s life before the 1960’s had been difficult, they were denied basic rights, trapped in the home and discriminated against in the workplace. The redemption came in the 1960’s with the formation of the women’s liberation movements and other Feminist groups. These feminist movements championed the course of women for better employment and equal wages with their male counterparts, a woman’s right to vote just to name a few. Irrespective of all these struggles, women have placed their priorities with their families over their liberation,thus becoming financially and emotionally dependent on their spouses.
In view of these, most women have become victims of one form of abuse or the other,
ending up with miserable and unfufilled lives.The presence of men smoking cigars was a clear indication that the film was set in the 1950’s, it was the vogue for men of the elite society at the time.Wallpaper used in decorating the walls, the ‘Elizabethan’ clothes worn by the women, their hats, and the way they carried themselves portrayed the style of the 1950’s,the slide projector used by Katherine in class and the music also showed the style of the 1950's.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
JOURNAL WEEK 6/FEMINISM AND WOMEN SUFFRAGE
WOMEN’S STUDIES 1
JOURNAL –WEEK 6
FEMINISM AND THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT.
1) The word Feminism was first used in the year 1895.
2) The three waves of Feminism are:
v The first wave of Feminism refers to women’s campaigns for the vote between 1890 and 1920
v The second wave of Feminism refers to Women’s Liberation movement between 1965 and 1980
v The third wave of Feminism refers to what is happening now which is sometimes referred to as ‘empowerment’.
3) There are different types of Feminism and these are based on:
v Many ideas and movements.
v Some are revolutionary, seeking major changes to how society should be run.
v Some Feminists movements look for smaller more gradual change.
4) Personally, I would say gender differences in behaviour and interest come as a result of individual upbringing, influences through religion and culture. These issues become a way of life, which people hold on to about the roles of women and men.
Raising the Issues.
1) The Prophet Muhammad gave them a break from the past by decreeing that women had rights to divorce, child maintenance, and to inherit land and property. These rights were outlined in the holy book, the Qur’an and Islamic 89 laws. Even though women did not have equality with men, they had real legal rights that could be enforced by religious courts.
2) The Enlightenment was in 1650-1789.The philosophical changes in thinking that occurred were the questioning of religious beliefs, rather than religion, the enlightenment philosophers drew on reason, that is, rational and scientific ways of seeing the world. They also challenged the absolute power held by monarchs in society in which people’s social position was based on birth rather than merit,
So they looked at new and different ways of organizing society based upon individual merit. They talked about people’s rights, which included the freedom to think, believe and speak without fear of being punished. These laid the basis of our modern system of human rights.
3) The declaration of human rights brought by the American and French Revolutions were that all men were created equal and among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, despite this, women were excluded, they had few rights and were discriminated against in law, economically and socially.
4) Mary Wollstonecraft a writer argued that the new rights should also belong to women. Olympe de Gouges rewrote the declaration of rights of Man to include women.
5) The temperance movement campaigned against alcohol. Women were in support of this group because they agreed with the fact that men spent all their money on alcohol and this resulted in families going hungry, domestic violence and broken homes.
Campaigning for the Votes.
1) The social reform issues that could improve women’s lives were for better education and employment opportunities, to reform marriage, divorce and property laws and social equality
2) The term suffrage means the right to vote
3) The cartoon shows women as empty headed, interested in marriage, clothes and babies.
4) The arguments for women voting and participating in the political process was, as mothers and homemakers, women were for peace than war, they were more concerned with the weak than the powerful and these qualities were good for politics and government.
5) The anti-feminists also argued that allowing women to vote and be a part of the political process will be dangerous, it will destroy female purity, undermine male authority, create discord within families and finally lead to the disintegration of ordered society.
6) The Pankhurst sisters conducted their campaigns by using militant direct action campaigns.
7) The First World War forced feminists to choose between patriotism that is loyalty to their country and their international links.
8) The changes brought about by war to women’s lives as regards to work was; women stepped into the jobs men had left behind, for example in the area of production, public transport, public services and nursing.
The positive side of these was women were seen as more responsible, it broke down some of the prejudices about women’s abilities and place in society and led to a more positive approach by government.
On the negative side, women were paid much lower rates than men and most still had to cook, clean and care for the children.
Australian Suffragettes
1) The Australian Women’s Suffrage Society argued for equal justice, equal privilege in marriage and divorce, rights to property in marriage and divorce.
2) The Women’s Christian Temperance Union sought social reforms, which included establishing equal moral standards for both sexes.
3) The right to vote was granted to South Australian women in 1894 followed by Western Australia in 1899, then NSW in 1902 and finally Victoria in 1908.
4) The first wave of Feminists were concerned with suffrage and Temperance movements from 1890 to 1920.
5) The anti- suffragist movement portrayed women as absorbed with the trivial and the domestic and as, emotional, selfish, and bad mothers, they also augured that women were too emotional and lacked broader political vision
6) Women were ridiculed by way of quotes or cartoons. For example, women were cartooned jumping on seats whiles court was session because a man had intentionally shouted that there was a mouse in the room.[I HAVE THIS IN WORD DOCUMENT FOR SUBMISSION , THANKS]
JOURNAL –WEEK 6
FEMINISM AND THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT.
1) The word Feminism was first used in the year 1895.
2) The three waves of Feminism are:
v The first wave of Feminism refers to women’s campaigns for the vote between 1890 and 1920
v The second wave of Feminism refers to Women’s Liberation movement between 1965 and 1980
v The third wave of Feminism refers to what is happening now which is sometimes referred to as ‘empowerment’.
3) There are different types of Feminism and these are based on:
v Many ideas and movements.
v Some are revolutionary, seeking major changes to how society should be run.
v Some Feminists movements look for smaller more gradual change.
4) Personally, I would say gender differences in behaviour and interest come as a result of individual upbringing, influences through religion and culture. These issues become a way of life, which people hold on to about the roles of women and men.
Raising the Issues.
1) The Prophet Muhammad gave them a break from the past by decreeing that women had rights to divorce, child maintenance, and to inherit land and property. These rights were outlined in the holy book, the Qur’an and Islamic 89 laws. Even though women did not have equality with men, they had real legal rights that could be enforced by religious courts.
2) The Enlightenment was in 1650-1789.The philosophical changes in thinking that occurred were the questioning of religious beliefs, rather than religion, the enlightenment philosophers drew on reason, that is, rational and scientific ways of seeing the world. They also challenged the absolute power held by monarchs in society in which people’s social position was based on birth rather than merit,
So they looked at new and different ways of organizing society based upon individual merit. They talked about people’s rights, which included the freedom to think, believe and speak without fear of being punished. These laid the basis of our modern system of human rights.
3) The declaration of human rights brought by the American and French Revolutions were that all men were created equal and among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, despite this, women were excluded, they had few rights and were discriminated against in law, economically and socially.
4) Mary Wollstonecraft a writer argued that the new rights should also belong to women. Olympe de Gouges rewrote the declaration of rights of Man to include women.
5) The temperance movement campaigned against alcohol. Women were in support of this group because they agreed with the fact that men spent all their money on alcohol and this resulted in families going hungry, domestic violence and broken homes.
Campaigning for the Votes.
1) The social reform issues that could improve women’s lives were for better education and employment opportunities, to reform marriage, divorce and property laws and social equality
2) The term suffrage means the right to vote
3) The cartoon shows women as empty headed, interested in marriage, clothes and babies.
4) The arguments for women voting and participating in the political process was, as mothers and homemakers, women were for peace than war, they were more concerned with the weak than the powerful and these qualities were good for politics and government.
5) The anti-feminists also argued that allowing women to vote and be a part of the political process will be dangerous, it will destroy female purity, undermine male authority, create discord within families and finally lead to the disintegration of ordered society.
6) The Pankhurst sisters conducted their campaigns by using militant direct action campaigns.
7) The First World War forced feminists to choose between patriotism that is loyalty to their country and their international links.
8) The changes brought about by war to women’s lives as regards to work was; women stepped into the jobs men had left behind, for example in the area of production, public transport, public services and nursing.
The positive side of these was women were seen as more responsible, it broke down some of the prejudices about women’s abilities and place in society and led to a more positive approach by government.
On the negative side, women were paid much lower rates than men and most still had to cook, clean and care for the children.
Australian Suffragettes
1) The Australian Women’s Suffrage Society argued for equal justice, equal privilege in marriage and divorce, rights to property in marriage and divorce.
2) The Women’s Christian Temperance Union sought social reforms, which included establishing equal moral standards for both sexes.
3) The right to vote was granted to South Australian women in 1894 followed by Western Australia in 1899, then NSW in 1902 and finally Victoria in 1908.
4) The first wave of Feminists were concerned with suffrage and Temperance movements from 1890 to 1920.
5) The anti- suffragist movement portrayed women as absorbed with the trivial and the domestic and as, emotional, selfish, and bad mothers, they also augured that women were too emotional and lacked broader political vision
6) Women were ridiculed by way of quotes or cartoons. For example, women were cartooned jumping on seats whiles court was session because a man had intentionally shouted that there was a mouse in the room.[I HAVE THIS IN WORD DOCUMENT FOR SUBMISSION , THANKS]
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
JOURNAL/WEEK 5/THE MIGRANT WOMAN IN AUSTRALIA
The videoo presantation today was in relation to the waves of Immigration to Australia ,with particular emphasis on what happened to the Aboriginal community throughout history,and the experiences of migrant women.As a migrant I can relate first hand to this experiences. I would like to recount my own experiences since my arrival in Australia, in doing this, I would like to give a brief history on my background and country of origin.Originally I come from Ghana. Ghana, a West African Country lies in the center of the West African coast, she shares boarders with three French speaking countries namely, Cote d'Ivoire to the west , The Republic of Togo to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. The Republic of Ghana as it is now known and called ,was formerly known as the Gold Coast mainly because of its large mineral gold deposits. Ghana lies just to the south of the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic ocean.The present population of the country is 22 million, Ghana has a tropical and warm climate but temperatures vary with seasonal elevation and changes.The attraction of Ghana is based on its legacy as the center of the gold,Ivory and slave trade during the 17th and 18th century initiated by the British .Ghana was also the first African country to win back its independence from their colonial masters the British in 1957.The political environment has been stable for over twenty years and the general atmosphere is peaceful as a result of the practice of democratic rule.Ghana is one of the most peaceful African countries in the whole of Africa .Most ideginious Ghanaians are fishermen or farmers but there is a large majority that are well educated. Ghanaians are also known for their warmth and hospitality.In short, this is a brief but concise picture of the country I migrated from to settle in Australia with my my family.We left the shores of Ghana on the 21st of August 2003. It was a three day flight with a transit through South Africa, Johannesburg.We arrived in Perth on the 23rd of August 2003 and connected a flight to Adelaide where we were met by my husband who had by then been here close to a year.We spent the night in Adelaide and proceeded to Whyalla where my husband was working at the time.In all honesty I was not ready for the 'move' to Australia due to obvious reasons .I had a good job in the family business back home,my Dad was a hotelier and all his children except for one of my sibblings who trained as a Doctor ,the rest of as were sent off to hospitality Institutes so we could train and help run the family business ,the other reason was I was skeptical of the unknown but I had my childrens interest at heart and since you cannot eat your cake and have it,I decided to come.We got the children into schools.There are three of them .Two boys and a girl.Once they could find their way to and from schoolI decided to get a job.I sent applications and my resume evreywhere and anywhere but no one would hire me . I needed the job, one,to earn an income and also to get me out of the house. I was very lonely and because I was used to doing something all the time, I couldnt stand the thought of staying home twenty four hours doing nothing. In all this the weather was also foreign ,it was either too cold or too hot,I missed home terribly.To kill time and break my boredom sometimesI would go to the local church and do some volunteer work,but this didnt stop me from missing home because half the time I was all by myself ,with the kids at school and the husband at work I was virtually alone.The change was radical,at home we were surrounded by friends and family,we could greet people on the streets without knowing them without them thinking we were going to ask for money from them ,there was always someone with a smile or a kind word out there,but it was so different here,people were so busy minding their own business,they made it obvious they did not want to know,some actually made you feel like 'nothing'.At that point in time ,I just wanted to go back home,it wasnt easy on the children either,they came back from school with stories about other children being so unkind to them.It was all a nightmare.It was hard to comprehend since we were brought up to love people irrespective of colour , race or social status. My husband was not happy with his job either so he applied for a change and Hawker was available so we left Whyalla for Hawker.Hawker is a small country town in the Flinders ranges with a population of about four hundred and fifty people but with a catchment area of about a thousand people for the hospital.Majority of the people in Hawker are warm and receptive .My husband loves his work with them. Our children had moved on to high school and tetiary level respectively in their education and we needed to move to a town that would cater for these requirements.We looked for proxity to Hawker and decided on Adelaide.To regress a bit, overseas doctors in Australia have to serve a number of years in the countryside.The country towns fell under various categories. Depending on what part of country town the doctor works will determine the number of years he has to serve.The number of years range from five to ten years.Until this requirement is met, they are unable to work in the cities.My husband has roughly about a year and a half more to be able to get his unrestricted provider number that would enable him work anywhere in Australia.With the education of our children being a priority, we moved to Adelaide at the begining of February 2005. My eldest son came to Tea Tree Gully Tafe , the second ,a girl went to Flinders University ,and my last a boy went to St Ignatius College.I believe in the saying that ,"behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining."Things have improved, especially with the chidren, they have made friends and are doing well in school . My youngest son is in his first year in University of South Australia , the girl is in her third year doing a double degree at Flinders Uni and the eldest is doing his diploma in Business and Financial Studies here in TTG. We have also obtained our Permanent resident visas and that has brought a great deal of relief in the amount of money we had to spend paying school fees for the children. The fees have actually reduced to about a third of what we had to pay previously In comparison Adelaide is much more exciting with varied opportunities . I have been able to enrol in this course and have met a lot of wonderful people . Most people in Adelaide are much more receptive.There are a lot more Africans and I have met some from my country as well.I have been back home since.I lost my Dad last year in August so I went back for the funeral.It was a mixed kind of feeling,meeting all the family once more but under those circumstances was more than one could take but what can one do but to take it in one's stride.Little by little we are getting used to the lifestyle some of the ways of the Australians.In the past it was so difficult to understand most people when they speak to me in English, even though I could read and write, I became like an illiterate due to the Australian accent. Sometimes I cant help but wonder what it realy is like for my other brothers and sisters who have been displaced by war in their various countries and are here on humanitarian visas, some cannot speak a word in English. For me Its much much better now, and the fact that I can go back home anytime is enough consolation .In effect, I could look back and reflect on the Whyalla days as a learning period, hard as it seemed then.I still miss home though from time to time .The children like it here and are thinking of making Australia home but for me I guess you cannot teach an old dog new tricks, home will forever be Ghana.
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