Gender Discrimination and Media

This article discusses the issue of gender discrimination in Australia, particularly in the context of early childhood education. It explores the role of media in shaping public opinion and highlights efforts to promote gender equality in schools. The article also includes a literature review on the subject and reflects on the challenges faced during the research process.

Running head: EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA
Early Childhood Education in Australia
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA
Gender Discrimination and Media
Australia has struggled with many social and cultural issues for decades now.
Between these issues gender inequality and discrimination has become the most worrying
issue ("Face the facts: Gender Equality 2018 | Australian Human Rights Commission", 2018).
This gender discrimination has its roots in the history of Australian culture and post-colonial
recovery. Many factors lead to such gender inequality are gender inequality in childhood and
transition education, lack of education in gender equality in schools, culture and belief, lack
of awareness and failure of media in highlighting the issue (Evans et al.).
Gender Issues Voiced in Australian News Pages
Internet has been the source of knowledge and awareness since the last decade. People
nowadays depend on internet to deliver them with the latest of news and articles. It is also the
responsibility of these media to empower the readers with relevant contemporary issues to
create awareness. In Australia, the issue of gender inequality has sustained for long (Hyland,
2010). It has gone on to such depth that the newspapers, television media, as well as social
media have actively focused on the issue.
The Herald Sun reports that Australian education system has introduced lessons on
gender equality for young students of three years. The lesson will focus on deconstructing the
prescribed gender roles of males and females in Australian households. They will be given
the teaching that their fathers can take care of the children in the house whereas their mothers
might work. This $145,000 program will focus on the children that are aged from three to
four. They will be teaching the boys to become more sensitive and the girls will be directed to
become risk takers (Susie O’Brien & Argoon, 2018). This program aims to create gender
equality at a grass root level where the children learn to challenge the societal norms of

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gender divisions. Australian online news platform news.com.au reports that students
belonging to some primary and secondary schools in Western Australia will engage in a
learning program that aims at breaking the gender roles of society and reducing domestic
violence in Australian household. The program received much criticism from opposition and
other educationists (Foster, 2019).
Gender Issues in Australia and Social Media
Social media and its effects on people’s lives have become a worldwide phenomenon
right now. It has the ability to affect and shape opinion of mass people all over the world. It
has been found out that peer and parental education is elemental in childhood learning that
shape gender ideas within young minds. It was found out in a study that social media
platforms create gender-biased ideas within its users. The users that used more time surfing
internet and social media sites, have more conventional ideas of gender based social structure
and duties. Even though social media brings all the cultures, races and genders into one single
platform and people exchange ideas and opinions that are far more universal still it has not
been able to eradicate gender discrimination. The reason behind this is the way social media
works. People generally have their peers and friends in their circle. The ideas that are
discussed are from the same viewpoint. In the case they come across anything that negates
that idea, there is no one to guide the youngsters to right path and they might label the issue
belonging to other cultures and thus, inapplicable to theirs.
Literature Review
According to McCartin, (2016) students while entering early childhood education
from their home might face several issues. They might face difficulty as they might not have
been educated of the social, cultural and familial issues that might shape their gender
opinions. The study proposes a framework or program that will help the students to get ready

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for their transition to school. The study suggests that students with gender bias have a greater
risk of getting disengaged or disinterested if they find difference in environment. The
confusion that arises with different environment and structure may lead to their disturbed
growth. The author points out a perpetual problem of the situation. The problem lies in the
fact that it is difficult to identify one integrated method that will be able to eradicate the
gender discriminations of all the young students. The study shows that in Australia boys face
much more problems adjusting to the transition than girls. A study conducted with 1175
children concluded that children who had come from pre-school and kindergarten were much
more susceptible to adapt. It is consistently argued that girls show much more healthy
disposition emotionally in their younger years. The article finally concludes that family
practices, preschool experiences, expectations of society play an important influence on
transitions of children in their early education. These problems may lead to underdeveloped
adjustment skills predominantly in boys. Thus, it is necessary to develop skills for social
interaction as well as behavioral and language skills.
Hyde, (2013) in his article analyzes the root of the problem of gender distinctions, the
similarities and dissimilarities of gender. The author focuses on the theories of gender origin
such as Evolutionary Theories, Sociocultural Theory as well as other theories of gender
similarities. These theories each propose different viewpoints on the origin of gender
differences. The Evolutionary Theory suggests that the differences generated through the
mating rituals and habits of the males and females where males used to fight for the mating
privileges with the other gender whereas the females had parenting preferences while
choosing a partner. This shaped gender roles and developed gender differences subsequently.
The Sociocultural Theory proposes that due to due biological differences between the genders
like strength and their build and structure, each gender were attributed specific tasks suited to
them. This division of labor slowly stemmed onto psychological division of gender roles. The

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author then proceeds to a statistical as well as Meta analyses of gender similarities and
dissimilarities. Mathematical capabilities, emotional, psychological and logical responses to
determine the similarities and dissimilarities of both genders. Factors like self-esteem,
depression, leadership, communication are considered and each gender is assessed separately
in these contexts. It concluded that in most aspects, the gender difference is not much
pronounced but in some qualities like aggression, agreeability are predominant in particular
genders.
Salter, Crofts and Lee, (2013) analyzes how overlooking the concerns of sexting and
creation and circulation of erotic images online in the child education program has led to
increased number of teenager prosecution. The gender aspects in these cases are also
overlooked. This problem has created moral panic among the citizens as it prematurely
commodifies women and creates sexualized notion within the younger minds. In most cases,
the debates regarding these issues does not take into account the increasing vulnerability of
women in online platforms as it less likely they will self-victimize themselves. The problem
stems from the practice that women are coerced and pressurized by the other gender to send
sexualized pictures and the subsequent effects when they are published online creates a sense
of insecurity and fear in many societal as well as online experiences. The practice of this kind
of behavior has normalized this issue and has almost become mandatory to maintain any
romantic interactions. The study concludes that campaigns and programs to create awareness
about the dangers of these kinds of behaviours and the prosecution that they will be facing
must be included in the school curriculum of the teenagers as the habit of violence begins
from a person’s adolescence. It will also develop social consciousness and reduce sexual
offence and domestic violence in a broader context.

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Comparison of Information Gathered from the Literature Review and Media
The above information, if analyzed properly will contribute to the result that the real
gender scenario in Australia is quite a reason for concern. The literature reviews suggest that
the cultural, psychological and familiar issues have led to the gender discrimination that the
Australian youths face (McInnis). The though recognizes these problems and in few instances
have voiced their opinions and programs that aim to eradicate these social problems. There is
a lack of coverage and discussion in media platforms regarding these issues at grass root level
while they focus on gender issues in later stages of job and performance.
Reflection on the Assignment, Challenges and Measures
The assignment comprised of specific research on gender issues and child education
in Australia. While doing the research, the skills that I developed were many. First, due to the
specific nature of the research much insight was gained on the gender issues that pervade
many cultures in the world. Though Australia is well developed, this problem persists there.
From the research, I gained in depth knowledge about the subject and the issues that stem
from the same. Through the research, I learned the method choose a research subject and how
to identify which topics are more relevant and approachable. Second, my interpretational
skills improved. Through this assignment, the information that I gained were analyzed and a
broader understanding of the world scenario was established. Developing a successful paper
includes planning the project, scheduling the works to be done, setting the goals, managing
the time given to successfully complete the assignment on time as well as a communication
needs to be established between the guide and the student (Neuman & Robson, 2014).
Following all these steps gave me a fair idea of a research procedure. The data collected were
synthesized and critically evaluated to determine the role of media, their effectiveness in the

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child education and gender issue. It gave me a thorough understanding of media shaping
public opinions and their role in reducing sociocultural problems.
During the research, many problems arose that slowed down the flow of the research.
First, due to the lack of media intervention and initiative regarding the specific child
education problem arising from gender issues there were less amount of news pages that
talked about it. Second, the social media sources were also difficult to get as gender issue is
not much concerned on when it comes to child education in Australia. Gender issue is
considered in much later stage where it is difficult to eradicate. Research done on this issue is
also limited. The lack of material and direction for this issue creates a gap in this matter.
Another challenge was the time assigned for the research. Due to the unavailability and
complex nature of the research, it took much time to collect all the information necessary.
The problems that arose limited the findings in many ways but some measures were
taken to overcome those issues. With the help of internet I found Australian governmental
sites and journals that talked about the issues at some length and considered the gender issues
in child education in other perspectives. The lack of media involvement in such a serious
matter as this created an initial confusion regarding the successful completion of the
assignment. It took intensive research and sifting to find out news and discussions in different
media platforms. Thus, this problem was solved as well. The time problem was solved by
managing the research in a technical manner Burrows & Savage, 2014). The agendas were
divided and time was segregated according to the importance of each part.

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References
Burrows, R., & Savage, M. (2014). After the crisis? Big Data and the methodological
challenges of empirical sociology. Big data & society, 1(1), 2053951714540280.
Evans, M., AM, V., Halupka, M., & Rowe, P. (n.d.). From Girls to Men: Social Attitudes to
Gender Equality in Australia. Canberra: University of Canberra.
Face the facts: Gender Equality 2018 | Australian Human Rights Commission.
(2018). Humanrights.gov.au.
Foster, A. (2019). School kids encouraged to explore gender roles. www.news.com.au.
Gender inequality in early adolescence must be addressed for health and well-being
throughout life. (2019). World Health Organization.
Hyland, N. (2010). Social justice in early childhood classrooms. Young Children, 65(1), 82-
90.
McInnis, S. (n.d.). Girls, Schools . . . . . and Boys Promoting Gender Equity Through
Schools: Twenty Years of Gender Equity Policy Development – Parliament of
Australia. Aph.gov.au.
Neuman, W. L., & Robson, K. (2014). Basics of social research. Toronto: Pearson Canada.
Salter, M., Crofts, T., & Lee, M. (2013). Beyond criminalisation and responsibilisation:
Sexting, gender and young people. Current Issues in Criminal Justice, 24(3), 301-
316.
Susie O’Brien, S., & Argoon, A. (2018). Kindergarten kids to learn about gender
equality. Heraldsun.com.au.