Changing Roles of Men and Women Adapting to Changes in Work and Family Life in Australia

Changing roles of men and women adapting to changes in work and family life in Australia.

Roles of men and women have changed in today’s context, unlike the past, it was caused by cultural and sociological changes around the communities. Roles can be defined as the characteristic and expected social behavior of an individual. The aim of this essay is to investigate the changes in responsibility of men and women, adapting to changes in work and family life in Australia. This essay will focus on three main points, namely, the roles of men and women in former times, their changing roles in Australia, and gender equality.

The first point of this essay will focus on men and women roles in the former time. Firstly, Women’s roles were determined by the tradition and not by what women wanted to do. According to Ford Foundation, The population in 1940 did not agree with married women working. Instead, they were expected to stay at home and managed the housework. It also stated that there was pervasive societal belief that women were responsible for the home. (Changing roles of men and women, internet, 2006). It seemed visible that because of the pervasive societal belief, there were not many jobs or occupations available for women in Australia then. The community believed that women could not do men’s job. Therefore, women did not have much option at that time as they were unable to find work outside. In 1899, women started to work outside, but their jobs were still limited to “women’s work”, like secretary or nurse. Lewis points out that there seemed to be traditional arrangement where men were responsible for the economic needs of the family while women were responsible for the emotional needs of the family. (Lewis et al, Men’s changing roles in the family). This statement proves that tradition is a factor which controls men and women‘s roles in the former time in Australia, and the roles of women was to be at home instead of working outside and earning income for the family. The opportunities of jobs for woman were limited since the community did not give women any choice.

The second part is about the men’s roles in former time. Men’s roles in the family were to be a good father and provide income for the family. Kimmel's findings shows that men's main goal in life was to succeed in their work and to get a higher salary to provide for their families (Kimmel, 1987, 32). This shows that men's responsibilities were at work instead of at home. Men were rarely at home, let alone taking care of their families as they were the bread winners of their families. Kimmel also points out that the structure factor of the male role is three dimensional which is status, toughness, and anti-femininity (Kimmel, 1987, 33). It is clear that men were independent and superior as compared to women. In addition, they were willing to do “women's” chores such as washing and cleaning (anti-feminity). The traditional believe that men were not fit to work at home had already became a habit or the way of thinking as in the society. Moreover, the social structure of the community saw house men as strange and could not accept it.

Next, this essay will focus on men and women changing role in Australia. The first section will concentrate on women’s roles. In this Australia modern society, women’s job is not only to be a housewife but to be independent and engaged in the business world. Igglehart reports that women started to work because of the conditions of World War II, where all men were required to go to the battle field and the women who left behind by their husbands needed to find work in order to meet their needs. Furthermore, that is probably one of the reasons why women could find jobs on at that time was because women’s salary was much cheaper than men and women position is still below men at that time. In addition, women needed to find jobs to fulfill their consumption so those women have to accept any jobs available to them. However he also points out that most people thought that after war, the wives would quit their job and retreat back to their home, but the fact was that the wives were divided into two groups. Half of them went back home while the other half still continued their work (Igglehart, married women and work, 2). It was likely that World War II was one of the biggest causes of changing culture and social aspect in the Australia communities and made men and women roles start to change and having reformation. There is possibility that it was one of the factors that caused the influx of married women into work force. Iglehart also presents that working married women are having dual responsibilities in home and at the work place (Iglehart, Married women and work, 59). It shows that although women have been working outside, they still have responsibilities to do the house’s