IN honour of International Women’s Day. which was celebrated around the world yesterday, The Guardian spoke with four local ladies from four very different sections of the Swan Hill community to gain their insights on how their gender impacts on their day-to-day lives.
We started Grizzly in 1982, it grew bigger towards the 1990s then we had the recession.
Now we have a staff of 35 and we’ve got orders out until July.
When I first started working for the Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG) [in the 1960s] I was one of two women on a floor of 50 in Melbourne.
There were appalling attitudes to women. I got a big shock.
You just learned to get by but it was difficult to get any kind of promotion.
You also had to resign when you got married.
I saw the Suffragette movie recently and what women had to go through to get the vote… that’s still pertinent today.
We’ve got to make more of a fuss to be the 50 per cent that we are.
I’ve always been independent.
In a sense I’m a feminist, but I’m not a rabid feminist.
I believe in equality.
Some people are nervous of feminism, they think it’s very activist but you have to stand up for women so we can find our place.
International Women’s Day means we need to be aware of those women who are underprivileged and don’t enjoy the same status in the community as men do.
There’s a real lesson to be learned among the Sudanese women here in Swan Hill.
In their traditional roles they did most of the hard work while the men looked after the cattle.
Coming to Australia the men found it difficult, they couldn’t establish a role for themselves.
Now we have very strong Sudanese women who do everything for themselves.
The Filipino women also find a lot of strength when they come here.
The Muslim women are not finding that independence — it will take some time.
I started working at Swan Hill Rural City Council as a temporary admin officer.
I never imagined that eventually I would progress to managing the day-to-day functions of the Media Department.
I’m confident in my abilities at work and I think that comes across to those interact with, both inside and outside the organisation.
I think the confidence I have in myself gives others confidence in me, and knowing that I can complete the job at hand is what matters.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt my gender has affected the way I’m treated in the workforce.
Although, there was one instance when I wasn’t allowed on a work-site as my five inch heels weren’t considered appropriate footwear.
When an opportunity arose, I put my hand up.
I wasn’t always successful, but those times were outweighed by the times I was.
