#IWD2019 #Balanceforbetter

#IWD2019

This years theme is #BalanceforBetter, a summon to seek equal rights for both sexes in in all aspects of life.  Notionally, Australia does have significantly better equality among the sexes compared to countries such as Yemen or Saudi Arabia (Haines, G. 2017).  But out of the top twenty countries listed, Australia does not get a mention but oddly enough Rwanda is in the top 5, which one could speculate that both sexes suffer equally in this war torn nation.  Before I digress too much from the reliability of this source, in land down under, we as women are encouraged to hold gainful employment, permitted to vote and drive as well as have access to health care in comparison to Jordan and Pakistan.  All reliable indicators of an equal opportunity. But as the Australian Human Rights Commission image in Figure 1 illustrates, women are still trailing behind in wages and in positions of power. The AHRC (2018) and Haines, G (2017) depict women in Australia at a high risk of personal safety. AIHW (2018) finds that that biggest risk factor for illness, injury and death for Australian women aged between 25-44 is not childbirth or war crimes, but rather just the presence of a partner in their lives.  This fact is horrendous and continues to be a major issue across all Australian states and territories. One only needs to recall the tragedy of Dr Preeti Reddy’s brutal murder in Sydney this week as a frightening reminder of the brutality that can occur behind closed doors ( Gooley G., & Stewart S., 2019).

Figure 1 – Infographic AHRC (2018)

I was musing these thoughts as I was setting up my display for #IWD2019 and one of my regular lunch time visitors interrupted me.  *Rick (name changed) could not understand why I was setting up the book display as “I had it good”. Whilst I was inclined to roll my eyes and tell him to shuffle off, I refrained.  For those that know me, tact and discretion ARE NOT one of my strong suites so this was an unusual occurrence for me. Instead I asked him to help me with the rest of the display and racked my brain with what I was going to say.  

#IWD2019 display

It then occurred to me that out of the roughly ten thousand items we have in our library, I struggled to find biographies of modern women to put in my display.  Granted we have a few books about Elizabeth I, Boadicea, Mary MacKillop, Cleopatra and Florence Nightingale; but our collection of biographies about strong successful MODERN women was limited.  Even though the majority of our regular readers are girls and young women, we seem to have a plethora of books about male sports stars, political leaders, heroes and inventors, but scanty sources solely dedicated to women and their successes.  

I recalled this video I saw a few years ago that illustrated the lack of book choices for our girls that portray strong female protagonists aka rebellious girls.  Then it made me realise that unless our young girls are given the option to imagine being intelligent and tenacious, they will continue to shoebox themselves into the roles of damsels in distress or tire women of great men.  Magras, D (2019) in her article  surmises that strong female characters in books and movies show our young girls that their voices matter and that gender stereotypes can be challenged. It is common knowledge that books stretch the imagination, and it would amazing if books could challenge and inspire our girls.  

Back to Rick* and his statement… Well in true Trish form, I plonked him on my chair, showed him the infographic I had put aside for this blog and then played him the youtube clip.  Once it was over, I asked him what he thought of the video. He hummed and tried to vacillate but eventually settled for “guess you may be right Miss”. I have not have convinced him to become a feminist but maybe I challenged a stereotype in his mind about the need to push for a #BalanceforBetter future.

 

References

Australian Human Rights Commission (2018) Face the facts: Gender Equality 2018.  Retrived from https://www.humanrights.gov.au/education/face-facts/face-facts-gender-equality-2018   accessed 6/3/19

AIHW (2018) New national statistical report sheds light on family violence.  Family, domestic and sexual violence in Australia, 2018 Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/2018/february/new-national-statistical-report-sheds-light-on-fam accessed 6/3/19

Gooley, C & Stewart, S., (2019) Sydney dentist Preethi Reddy’s body found in suitcase, ex-boyfriend dies in fiery car crash. ABC News.  Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-06/body-of-sydney-dentist-preethi-reddy-found-in-suitcase/10874212 accessed 6/3/19

Haines G., (2017) Mapped: The best (and worst) countries for gender equality. The Telegraph UK.  Retrieved from  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/maps-and-graphics/mapped-the-best-and-worst-countries-for-gender-equality/ accessed 6/3/19

Magras D., (2019) Feminist AF: Hearing Their Voices: Supporting Female Empowerment in Middle Grade Fiction for Tweens and Teens. School Library. Journal.   Retrieved from http://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2019/03/feminist-af-hearing-their-voices-supporting-female-empowerment-in-middle-grade-fiction-for-tweens-and-teens-a-guest-post-by-author-diane-magras/ accessed 6/3/19

Rebel Girls (2017) The ugly truth about children’s books.  Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Jbd4-fPOE&t=10s accessed 6/3/19

Saner E., (2017) Books for girls, about girls: the publishers trying to balance the bookshelves. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/17/childrens-books-for-girls-publishers-writers-gender-imbalance accessed 6/3/19.

Dr Seuss Week

Happy birthday Doc!

He is one of the world’s most famous children’s book authors. Loved by millions across the globe. This week is Dr Seuss aka Theodor Geisel’s birthday.

And quite frankly I don’t care.

I was never much into the man and his talking animals.  Whilst I did love Hugh Lofting’s ‘Doctor Dolittle’ and his charming adventures with the animal kingdom, I failed to be engaged with the Seuss.

So it surprised me when I saw this article pop up in my Feedly. Maybe I didn’t engage with Seuss because I didn’t relate as a person of colour. Or maybe I just do not like rhyming stories. Or, just maybe I felt they were weird. But then my personal library is filled with other weird and wonderful stories, so they may be in fact, no logical explanation. Just a whim, an idiosyncrasy, a foible of mine.

Either way happy birthday Doc!

Dr. Seuss Books Can Be Racist, But Students Keep Reading Them

 

The Academy Award goes to….

 

The Academy Award goes to….

To commemorate the Academy Awards that were held this morning, this display of books illustrating movies that have won an Oscar was assembled.

The reasoning behind this display and other similar ones I assemble is twofold. Firstly, the displays try and mimic the events in the outside world. Secondly, it supports our theme that the library is promoting this year, which is “Read the Movie”.

Unfortunately there are a large number of reluctant readers at my school and this idea was one I floated at my interview last year to increase reading for pleasure which in turn improves literacy and long term educational learning outcomes.

We’ve also noticed that rather than reading a book prior to watching a movie, the current generation of teens will often read a book only if the movie or Netflix has appealed to them.

In keeping with this promotion, we’ve decorated the library with movie posters and regularly show feature films in our seminar room over a week during lunchtimes.

We will have to wait to see the results in a few years.

initial shock

Last week I received a major shock to my inner sense of well-being.  I had just spent the drive home from work congratulating myself on achieving nirvana whilst still possessing a heartbeat.  I was very happy  with how my life was panning out. My family was and still is healthy, my children delightfully rambunctious, my relationship with hubby comforting and my workplace peaceful and content.  I had smiled with happiness at the joy my friendship circle brings to my life and was anticipating a night plonked on the couch with my crochet and peppermint tea.

So after the usual busyness of dinner and bath-time of three children 8 years old and under, I kissed cheeks, read stories and tucked them into bed.  I will mention that my inner sense of peace was challenged briefly by one child that did have to be tucked in multiple times but that is the nature of a feisty three year old that struggles with impulse control.  The anticipation of my evening of crochet and tea was a siren call but I firmly put that aside as I quickly decided to check my CSU account as I wanted to get familiar with interact2 before the session started.

And there it was.  The subjects and their outlines.  At first I was excited and opened the outlines up to read the tasks and then that excitement quickly became dread.  Both subjects I had enrolled for had assessments due on the same day as the another one.  Further inspection of these dreaded documents only revealed that the tasks were heavily weighted and very heavy on the word count.  It was 8pm and my inner sense of peace and happiness was overtaken by a sense of dread and anxiety.  My panic stricken brain could not compute how I was going to balance my work days with my family commitments and now academic pursuit.  Was I actually completely insane?

Insanity has often been bandied around me by well meaning family and friends.  I have a habit of biting off more that I can chew.  Like moving interstate solo with three little children (one an infant of four weeks) with a deployed husband.  Or starting and finishing a portfolio for full registration in just under six weeks.  Is that perseverance or tenacity or just plain insanity.

It’s been six days and my fear is subsiding… what will the next six days bring?

 

The Last Thursday

The last Thursday. It’s not the last Thursday of the month, nor is it the last Thursday of the school term. Today was the last Thursday I could have to myself for a long time.

I am very passionate about a work life balance. Granted, it is not for everyone as for many, long hours of work are essential to cover living expenses.  But in my own little bubble world of middle class mediocrity, part time employment has enabled me to have an active and engaged role in motherhood. Even though my youngest is three years old, I still feel like my kids need me to be around.

I had the privilege of growing up with a mum who worked school hours.  Consequently I spent my afternoons lounging on the couch scoffing biscuits and regaling stories of the days adventures to my mother.  My children are less fortunate. They shuffle between afternoon activities and after school care. Their school days are often 8-9hrs long.

So I have Thursdays off.  On Thursdays I am a parent first. I do the school run and hang around for the chit chat. I take the toddler for sneaky milkshakes and donuts.  In the afternoons, Abby and I snuggle for our naps together. I still get great joy from the way she refers to our naps as ‘mummy snuggles’. I do the school pick up and have a battle Royale with the car park crush. We eat afternoon tea all together in the backyard whilst I get bombarded with the days events. The big kids do their homework whilst I draw pictures for the baby.

On Thursdays I also look after me. I attend a weekly craft group whilst Abby goes to a community run playschool program.  It’s only for 3 hours a week but it’s the only guaranteed time I truly get for me. These craft sessions have gained me more than just spotlight points.  I have learned how to be patient cos impatience leads to unpicking. I’ve learned numeracy in trying to work out yardage and the stuffing it up by cutting fabric without checking. I’ve learned literacy skills by reading patterns and instructions.  I’ve learned how to use various pieces of technology in my quest to make quilts. I’ve learned how to respect and interact with women of such varied backgrounds. I’ve learned how to problem solve, think critically about pattern matching, analyse my work and evaluate my process.

I love my Thursdays. It is because my Thursdays bring me such joy, it will also be there to reward me when this semester is over.  Continue reading “The Last Thursday”