Gendered identities disciplined by society have important consequences for labour market inequity

Gendered identities disciplined by society have important consequences for labour market inequity

Gendered identities disciplined by society have important consequences for labour market inequity

In 1972 the Commonwealth Government of Australia ruled that women should receive equal pay to men for equal work.   In 1984, the “Sex Discrimination Act was passed prohibiting discrimination on the grounds of sex, marital status, pregnancy or family responsibility.   Some 30 years later girls recognise that they have the same educational and career opportunities as boys and believe that “women’s struggle is over” (Volman & ten Dam, 1998, p.535).   Statistics paint a different picture.   Women are still earning less than men and are concentrated into lower paid occupations and non-managerial positions   (Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 1995).   In order to understand this imbalance within the labour market it is necessary to examine the social structures and hierarchies that discipline the interactions between genders.   The purpose of this essay is to explore how despite equal opportunity legislation, our society produces different outcomes for males and females.   It is divided into two sections.   Firstly, a discursive approach will be adopted to explore how society produces gendered identities.   Examination of the existence of labour market disparities between the genders will also be undertaken.   Secondly an investigation into the thoughts, values and views of a group of year 12 schoolgirls reveals that society has socialised these girls so well that they don’t even realise that gender inequity even exists.   The essay will conclude that education units that explore and deconstruct the history and development of gendered identities are effective in helping students become critically aware that such practice exists.

Society is governed by the particular discourse of its members at a particular time.   Discourses are ‘ways of talking, listening, reading, writing, acting interacting, believing, valuing … in particular settings and at specific times”...