Australian Identity
Is it thongs, the beach and the sun? Or Flies, kangaroos and the bush? Images such as these have been used to describe Australia for decades, however do they truly encapsulate the Australian national identity? The typical Aussie has been described as "male, easy going, fair and democratic, having a healthy disrespect for authority, and a dry laconic humor" Yet when we observe the Australian society many of these images contradict reality. During the 1990's social psychologists have stated Australia is facing an identity crisis , and if this is so where does this leave the Australian image today?Many dates in our past can be seen to shape the Australian national identity. From colonial beginnings (1788 to early 1800s), to the wild gold rush days (1850s), to Federation (1901), to World War One (1914-1918), to the Depression (1930s), to World War Two (1939-1945) with its threat of invasion (1941-1942) . It seems that from colonization to World War Two we knew where we stood. We were British subjects from a small British colony. We thought of ourselves as Australians, yet British-Australians loyal to the Mother Country. We believed our convict past (a history that we were at times proud of, at others asham
Another belief that Australians need to re-assess it the view that Australia is the 'Land of Opportunity'. Traditional views hold that Australia is a place where people who want to work hard can generally succeed, and that future prosperity is more or less assured. The economic reality is that long-term unemployment has begun to hit Australia hard, and unemployment figures have been around 10% for the last decade. These facts should also destroy the belief that Australia is an egalitarian society, dominated by a broad, comfortable middleclass. This is definitely not so with over 60% of Australian households either in the top or bottom group . It seems that there are many contradictions concerning the Australian national image. On one hand Australians are fond of describing the 'typical Aussie' as a battler with an infinite capacity to overcome hardships ; conversely on the other hand the 'typical Aussie' is frequently characterized as an easy going, apathetic person, who watches life go by . When the Australian Identity is put under the microscope it seems that the 'typical aussie' is a confused, schizophrenic
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Approximate Word count = 3574
Approximate Pages = 14 (250 words per page double spaced)
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