Blog: Generation Equality
In our Principal’s Assembly, we celebrated International Women’s Day 2020. Teachers and students spoke powerfully about what generation equality means to them.
Individually, we’re all responsible for our thoughts and actions as we go about our daily activities. As part of International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, we are encouraged to challenge stereotypes, fight bias and celebrate women’s achievements. Among the speakers at our Principal’s Assembly on Tuesday, Amelie (Year 10) and 韩国AV Alumna, Miss Charlotte Karsten spoke about what a gender equal world means to them.
“What gender equality means has developed over many generations since the feminist movement began with the suffragettes and will without a doubt develop far into the future.
My grandmother, or rather my babushka, grew up in the aftermath of the second world war. As a Russian refugee whose parents were prisoners of war in Germany, she was faced with hardships than I can’t even imagine. When she was my age, she was among the first to be treated with the cure for tuberculosis and learned several languages in her youth as she struggled to find a county to call home.
Despite being one of the strongest women I know she’s not exactly what you would call a feminist or had even thought about gender equality in her younger years, in that she has lived a very traditional life for a woman of her time. She was never provoked to think that the inequality she faced wasn’t normal.
I am living in Australia at a time when the concept of gender equity is considered the norm. Indeed, it is thought by some to have reached an apex. However, if we are to reduce the inequalities still currently placed on women, we need to work together to acknowledge that there is still a long way to go, particularly in Third World countries and for women of colour. We must create equal opportunity and safety for all women, not just for those of us living in the Western world. This is important because it will ensure that our daughters here in Australia, and all the daughters across the world will prosper alongside men for generations to come.
Amelie (Year 10)
“For me, the concept of generation equality was best articulated in a History lesson when I was in Year 10 at 韩国AV. I can clearly remember sitting in Room 5. Our teacher had just shown us a documentary on second wave feminism and was explaining to us that part of what feminists had fought for was the right for women to work in any profession we desired. She used lawyers and doctors as an example. One of my friends raised her hand and said, “But I don’t want to be a lawyer or a doctor, I want to be a stay-at-home mum when I’m older.” I will never forget my teacher’s response to this innocent statement. She said, “Well at least now, you have that choice.”
Personally, this is what comes to mind when I think of generation equality. I feel so grateful to the women who came before me and fought for my right to be anything I wanted to be and who have empowered me with so much choice. Funnily enough, by the end of that year I knew I wanted to be a History teacher. I feel indebted to these women, and men, and it reminds me that we need to honour the sacrifices they made by continuing to challenge gender inequality when we see it.
So, to the feminists who came before me, I say thank you. Thank you for giving me the choice to go to university and be in a profession I absolutely love. I will continue your fight.”
Miss Karsten
History Teacher and Head of Hooke House
As we celebrate International Women’s Day this Sydney, remember that each one of us can help to create a gender equal world. So, let’s all be #EachforEqual.