I know the culture intimately being married to an Aussie man. My husband learned from my Asian culture of a softer male ego, of respect and cooperation instead of conquer and boasting. Australia is becoming less white and less frontier-macho, hopefully their society will be less "bro/mate" in. the near future. Women should ban together and feel empowered to speak up using the media, to declare that "boys are boys" attitude is no longer vogue or sexy, that mature men make the best fathers, husbands, and leaders. And, send them "boys' packing until they grow up.
5
Maybe, just maybe, Trump will read this article and run for office 'down under'. In return, USA can then airlift to the USA, Australians who are justifiably outraged by this part of their national culture. Aside of the improvement to both nations, nobody will find a difference.
2
Don't the mothers of men in Australia teach their sons and daughters how all people should be treAted with respect? The culture only persists when the inhabitants allow it to do so. Mothers have a duty to raise their children, teaching them tolerance, respect, and the importance of realizing that all people have feelings. That all people should be valued. I have been a tourist to Australia; the country is beautiful. But the women in Australia are too important to the society for them to be treated as trash.
8
Why should the upbringing of decent boys be the job of the mothers? In any society that calls itself civilized, fathers are also responsible for the behaviour of their sons.
But maybe the fathers are beyond improving.
But maybe the fathers are beyond improving.
17
The fathers need to be teaching their sons about such things.
Moms as well, but let's not let fathers off the hook. If present, they are the earliest and most important male role model for their children, and their sons will look to them to see how to act, to learn what is acceptable. If the fathers and other men in their lives treat women and girls badly, engage in sexist and sexualized "humor," and all such things, well the boys are going to grow up just like them.
Then have a larger culture of what a "real" man should be, and how he should act, that is so, well, toxic for both the boys and men, but also for the girls and women around them. Having such behavior tolerated or "expected" in primary schools, and then also in secondary schools by school administrators, staff, teachers and professors, and society in general just reinforces all of these negative ideas and actions. They are seen as normal, and how it should be. "Boys will be boys."
As long as such are tolerated, even cheered at time, and changes made systemically, things won't improve.
And that goes not just for Australia, but also here in the United States and far too many nations.
Moms as well, but let's not let fathers off the hook. If present, they are the earliest and most important male role model for their children, and their sons will look to them to see how to act, to learn what is acceptable. If the fathers and other men in their lives treat women and girls badly, engage in sexist and sexualized "humor," and all such things, well the boys are going to grow up just like them.
Then have a larger culture of what a "real" man should be, and how he should act, that is so, well, toxic for both the boys and men, but also for the girls and women around them. Having such behavior tolerated or "expected" in primary schools, and then also in secondary schools by school administrators, staff, teachers and professors, and society in general just reinforces all of these negative ideas and actions. They are seen as normal, and how it should be. "Boys will be boys."
As long as such are tolerated, even cheered at time, and changes made systemically, things won't improve.
And that goes not just for Australia, but also here in the United States and far too many nations.
6
Ever read about the treatment which immigrant Australians mete out to the native Australians/Aborigines? They have treated them much like the self proclaimed early settlers treated native Americans. Hostility towards the Natives continue on both continents. Its therefore small wonder that women are considered as objects for violence and derision in Australia as well. Hypermasculinity and high Testosterone have nothing to do with violence towards women.
9
There is no better measure of a fully mature man than to have learned to severely limit the use of testosterone to govern his actions, be they "romantic" or physically aggressive in nature — or economically aggressive (greed). Australia seems to best even the US in this hyper-"masculinity" contest, where men are men only if they are warriors, unfettered capitalists, or misogynists. As long as Western cultures permit these acts of immaturity toward other cultures, women, and the economically oppressed, this will remain a world where nothing fundamentally changes, where the predator mentality, dating back to the stone age remains alive and well far beyond its appropriate era.
12
Agreed. Though not sure that holding testosterone in check is the instigator as I've known terrific, brave, courageous, strong, caring men who didn't live by a fantasy-idea of domination and power over others to be powerful themselves. Some people think guns are required to assert manhood. Others think the narcissistic bully in chief is manly -- because of the appearance and trappings of power and attempts to dominate others. So sad, so obvious, so lame.
12
It's Australia, a place where addressing strangers as "mate" is considered acceptable. If I'm ever forced to visit the place, it will be much too soon.
3
Where are the Police in all of this, are Colleges in Australia sanctuary's?
12
Time for Wonder Woman. And hey gals, take self-defense training and band together and fight back with everything you've got. And marry men who aren't Australian.
7
I hate frat boy attacks. But, I say, let them show their true colors. We are all better off knowing what people are really like. Moreover, the bar owner should have the last say about what is acceptable behavior in his/her establishment. If people don't like that, they can go elsewhere. Feminist killjoys are overreaching again and will inevitably bring in another Trump, this time in Australia.
1
Well, I've taken Australia off my list of places to visit during retirement. Guess this will hurt tourism, maybe the only thing that will prompt change.
11
A few years ago during a federal election, I was working in voter polling, where we would interview a cross section of people from all walks of life and across all states of Australia. The sexism, racism and generally backwards attitudes we heard were widespread and shocking. It was so bad, that we even joked that it must be 1953 out there! Though nobody in the office was laughing.
12
- 1593!
1
Hey, We Americans Love That Stuff
That Australian sexism was a big hit here in the U.S. when, back in the 1990s, three Crocodile Dundee movies were all the rage ... and were even classified as comedies.
Give us Yanks more ocker!
That Australian sexism was a big hit here in the U.S. when, back in the 1990s, three Crocodile Dundee movies were all the rage ... and were even classified as comedies.
Give us Yanks more ocker!
4
First heard about Australia's hyper-masculinity more than 35 years ago when Australian and New Zealand friends were comparing notes, guess things have not changed much.
But then again, Vincent Chin was killed 35 years ago and Purinton murdered Srinivas Kuchibhotla and wounded two others this year in Olathe KS this year, progress is hard to come by.
More and more, the world is facing regression
But then again, Vincent Chin was killed 35 years ago and Purinton murdered Srinivas Kuchibhotla and wounded two others this year in Olathe KS this year, progress is hard to come by.
More and more, the world is facing regression
3
How is it hypermasculine to demean, threaten and rape women? Far from being manly, seems to me to be a sign of mental illness.
38
The saddest thing is that many women buy into this. Stockholm syndrome. And why are there so few comments on this article, compared to Trump articles?
5
Here, in the US, colleges and universities dragged their feet and brought Title IX down upon themselves after decades of co-education and taking the attitude that "boys will be boys." I wonder how many young women had their lives changed by this foot-dragging before the government acted. Title IX and its allied legislation is onerous and requires increased staffing to deal with it, but it was necessary. As the article states, assault still continues, but not to the same extent. Seems like Australia still has to get its act together.
16
I saw some pretty offensive behavior by Australian guys when I spent some time in Europe and I remember, thirty-five years ago in London, I was acquainted with a young Australian woman who complained to me about how young Australian men behaved. "There'll be a dance," she said, "and all the guys will spend the whole evening in the pub drinking, and when the dance is about to end, they finally come over and try to pick up girls." I had always assumed that, in the intervening decades, Australian males had probably made some progress. Guess not.
12
This saddens but doesn't surprise me. Some years ago, I was in Brisbane for a week-long international meeting. Every night, the police would congregate and round up the youth and adults for, drunken behavior, rowdiness, assault.
When back in Boston a few weeks later that year, I mentioned this to a waiter in the Outback Steakhouse.
He said, "Well, you see, we're rougher with our women in Australia than you are in the States."
When back in Boston a few weeks later that year, I mentioned this to a waiter in the Outback Steakhouse.
He said, "Well, you see, we're rougher with our women in Australia than you are in the States."
6
Whenever Government takes the role of Moral Judge and tries to modify behavior, it always falls short. People have to WANT to be moral. Government external control is not the answer. Christianity is the only way to bring lasting Good to a nation. All else is tyranny.
1
Patrick, it will be the recognition of the Divine within each woman, man, child, indeed every thing, that will bring lasting change. An aspect of God does not defame or harm another aspect of God. We are all Word. Word knows Who It is, What It is, and How It serves. Word recognizes Word whether it is Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, B'hai, atheist, or otherwise. I agree with you that re-membering our Divinity is the the only way to bring lasting Good. But until we know it within ourselves, we cannot know it in another. You can only hate yourself when you treat others hatefully.
Patrick: It's not "government external control," it's making violence towards women against the law to show the culture the issue of misogyny is a serious issue. Misogynistic men do not WANT to be moral. So the law tells them they'll suffer if they make women suffer. Women cannot wait for woman-haters to become moral, they don't have enough time in this life to wait for what will never happen on its own. For something this important & something this prevalent, woman-haters are first directed by law of the land on what's not acceptable & what's not moral, & then later true realization of the horror of misogyny may dawn on the misogynists. There's first the legal directive & then there's a "social lag" of years (sometimes decades & decades; think of racial discrimination) before realization sets in. Sociology 101.
5
As an Australian man, I should say that the representation of Australian campuses as "sexist", or where there is a "culture" of sexism toward women is erroneous, and I have spent time on three, in two states. While culturally Australia is associated with masculinity, the reality (if you read actual research on campus gendered violence) is that females on Australian campuses do about the same amount of sexualised violence as males (actually slightly more). (Griffith University, Thompson, Carleen, Dennison, Susan, Stewart, Anna) That tallies with longitudinal studies on DV, too. And open sexism by females in Australia regarding violence is so "normal", (i.e. wrongly attributing traits like that to all males) it is culturally accepted, even though it can be against the law (the Sex Discrimination Act 1984).
5
Speaking as another Australian male, who has spent many a year on NSW campuses, I doubt that the female to male "sexualised violence" that is purported to be carried out includes rape, beatings, and assault that the male-to-female behaviour so often ends in; this is a typical deflection of the "Hey, they do it too so this is unfair commentary!" type, including the referral at the end to the supposed illegality of common female behaviour.
The only point you missed in your stereotyped "yes-but" response was the mealy-mouthed "Violence against women is terrible but..." opening.
Open sexism by females in Australia is a relatively recent phenomenon, and I'm pretty sure you could sheet it home to self-defence. In other words, they only did it because the environment was in was not looking out for their safety, which reflects poorly on all Australians.
The only point you missed in your stereotyped "yes-but" response was the mealy-mouthed "Violence against women is terrible but..." opening.
Open sexism by females in Australia is a relatively recent phenomenon, and I'm pretty sure you could sheet it home to self-defence. In other words, they only did it because the environment was in was not looking out for their safety, which reflects poorly on all Australians.
6
"females on Australian campuses do about the same amount of sexualised violence as males"
Garbage! Nowhere on earth is that true.
Garbage! Nowhere on earth is that true.
15
Craig, please provide examples. Your list of research names is confusing.
2
The only silver lining, if there is one, to this sad story is that reports of assault are increasing. I take this to mean not that men are worse, but that women are now feeling comfortable enough to make the reports, and Australian society has changed enough to accept them. Because there was a time when those things were not true. Keep up the resistance!
46
If their statistics are as unreliable as ours (Sorry folks, wartime rape levelz in the Congo are not lower than at Universities in the US, which has lower assault rates than non-colleges), then the numbers mean nothing. Simply an excuse to demolish due process for men and abolish freedom of speech (why in the world would students expect expulsion - or any punishment - for words not even directed at an individual made on social media?)
9
How many reports are like the Duke Lacrosse Case? How many are one night stands where the woman assumes she's "in love" and finds out that the man was only "in like" for one night? Then she cries "rape" because she had convinced herself they were "in love". I'm tired of women crying "rape" where the sex was consensual but the attachment, on the part of the man, short term.
2
Of course, if their statistics are NOT as unreliable as ours . . . oops, there goes your whole argument. Sorry.
1
Men should be respectful towards women. But, I for one applaud the Australians for their "hypermasculinity" and their support of traditional gender distinctions.
6
Hypermasculinity and traditional gender distinctions are the roots of most of the violence in the world. Thank goodness, younger people today are moving beyond a medieval and completely unscientific view of the sexes. Applaud all you like; even in the Middle East gender roles are evolving.
30
Why?
5
Eric: Obviously you lack imagination. Imagine yourself--for even a moment--a WOMAN who is in a "traditional gender distinction" & the victim of your hypermasculinity. Remember: you're the FEMALE in your lovely masculine vision. Traditionally you are going to be under constant threat of being objectified, harassed, hit, & raped. Are you enjoying your position now? Not so much?! And remember, in your male-privilege world, as the woman you can't protest or get support or get justice. Because the men simply laugh & say they like their hypermasculine set-up, they applaud it! Not so much fun is it, when you imagine being on the receiving end of this deplorable dynamic?!
9
I lived and worked in Australia for a year. I was shocked by my Australian female friends who related their workplace culture was straight out of "Mad Men". In addition, being a 'visible minority', I experienced racism in ways I never have in America. New Zealanders like to say about Australia, "beautiful country, shame about the people" (in this case, the men).
47
I'm proud of many things as an "Australian American" but the pervasive sexism and racism of both countries fills me with shame. We can and we must do so much better.
27
Towards both genders...!
2
It's the opposite here in the U.S., where women regularly make false accusations of rape against men, and the men can't do anything about it.
8
That's a pretty bold statement. Any research to cite for that?
8
Elevate leaders who brag about ugly behavior toward women and you'll find that every other aspect of the common good suffers as well.
In the U.S., we're 100-plus days into that experiment.
Ask us in four yeas how it went.
In the U.S., we're 100-plus days into that experiment.
Ask us in four yeas how it went.
30
We are 8 years (very cool predator) and 100 days (very uncool predator) into presidents who treat women as objects. The previous 8 year-president is a well respected and popular figure. As a sign over my female colleague's desk reads "Sexual harassment will not be reported, but it will be graded."
What a nasty mob mentality.
12
I bet that dropping your pants in public is against the law. These men should be arrested. The security cameras in the dorms should be able to identify those men who have vandalized the women's rooms. This is another example of a university usurping the job of the police. As in the US, colleges seem to think that attacks on women are behavior code violations rather than misdemeanors or felonies. A slap on the wrist by the college is considered to be punishment for rape if the perp is a "valuable" athlete.
Instead of depending on weak and ineffective college staff to investigate and punish the men, the women should call the police and let the justice system handle the crimes. This is especially so if the crime is rape. Even if the perp is the most valuable football player, he should be punished as the felon he is.
Instead of depending on weak and ineffective college staff to investigate and punish the men, the women should call the police and let the justice system handle the crimes. This is especially so if the crime is rape. Even if the perp is the most valuable football player, he should be punished as the felon he is.
22
The behavior complained about is nowhere as pervasive as suggested. These incidents mostly occur in the residential colleges which are still big boys' clubs. The college population doesn't even make up 10% of the overall student population.
4
Activists are demanding action out of others instead of taking matters into their own hands. I have mixed feelings about this, but we need less hand-wringing and more attention to self-defense strategies and perhaps turning the tables on harassers instead of relying exclusively on authorities to do our work for us.
2
What's the alternative? Vigilante mobs? No, laws exist; the whole point of the legal system is that everyone has the same framework to operate by. All that's being demanded is that the framework be applied as it ought to be in order that all members of campus society can enjoy their time there.
3
The nerve of rape and sexual assault victims demanding action. (Keep fighting, ladies. ✊)
4
The anecdotes are sad and I hope behaviors can be changed. It's obviously hard to change horrific norms, but each nation has to try. It's how to do so that's not easy.
We have similar problems of course in the US, but I hope Australia doesn't follow the irrational approach of attempting to put a Federal Agency (Dept of Ed) separate from the established judicial system in charge of enforcing laws (Title 9) stretched to include sexual misconduct, by setting up a supposed parallel adjudication system of college administrators, separate from our centuries old, established police and court system.
When Harvard put in force their version of this approach in 2014, 28 Law School faculty members pointed out the following:
a) the new rules & procedures for deciding cases of alleged sexual misconduct lack the most basic elements of fairness and due process, and are overwhelmingly stacked against the accused.
b) the process allows for no adequate opportunity to discover the facts charged, to confront witnesses and present a defense at an adversary hearing.
c) when the functions of investigation, prosecution, fact-finding, and appellate review are all located in one university run compliance office, impartiality is absent.
e) rules governing conduct between students both of whom are impaired or incapacitated, are starkly one-sided and inadequate.
I wish the Aussies the best, but don't follow the US route. Try and educate students of course, but If an assault occurs, call the police.
We have similar problems of course in the US, but I hope Australia doesn't follow the irrational approach of attempting to put a Federal Agency (Dept of Ed) separate from the established judicial system in charge of enforcing laws (Title 9) stretched to include sexual misconduct, by setting up a supposed parallel adjudication system of college administrators, separate from our centuries old, established police and court system.
When Harvard put in force their version of this approach in 2014, 28 Law School faculty members pointed out the following:
a) the new rules & procedures for deciding cases of alleged sexual misconduct lack the most basic elements of fairness and due process, and are overwhelmingly stacked against the accused.
b) the process allows for no adequate opportunity to discover the facts charged, to confront witnesses and present a defense at an adversary hearing.
c) when the functions of investigation, prosecution, fact-finding, and appellate review are all located in one university run compliance office, impartiality is absent.
e) rules governing conduct between students both of whom are impaired or incapacitated, are starkly one-sided and inadequate.
I wish the Aussies the best, but don't follow the US route. Try and educate students of course, but If an assault occurs, call the police.
13
Universities should be taking a much more aggressive stance toward this violence and mistreatment of women. Maybe barring athletes and others who have a history of this activity in ceremonies like the Olympics might help drive some of this home. This behavior is inhumane.
8
Sexual harassment on campus is a serious issue and should be treated as such. But are we really trusting that anything meaningful will be done by campus presidents who cannot even guarantee the safety of conservative speakers on campus? And why should we expect universities to solve one of these problems but not the other. SHouldn't ALL people feel safe on university campuses?
8
My niece did her study-abroad in Australia 20 years ago. She was appalled at the treatment of women in universities. Guess things haven't changed much.
18
Wow, this is sad. And here I thought America was alone in the developed world with this type of misogyny. Why are men so determined to hurt and abuse women??
8
A sadly true criticism of Australia is its extreme chauvinism, so knee jerk and embedded in its culture that, for the most part, they don't even see it and are very defensive when it's pointed out (it still shocks my American husband when we visit). One reason I left. Shocked faces of my tech colleagues around the conference room (here in the US) when a brand new Australian hire turned to me (the only female) and sarcastically said, "Go and make us some coffee, love". I still look forward to visiting "home" but don't miss it in this respect.
28
Go figure that in countries where Rupert Murdoch's influence reigns the people are fighting with humanizing concepts such as respecting young women.
7
And yet another Neanderthal Nation does its misogynist best to infinitely maintain its megalomaniacal white male privilege.
Misogyny Knows Best.
Keep fighting the global male moral rot, females !
This man supports female rights and justice for all.
Misogyny Knows Best.
Keep fighting the global male moral rot, females !
This man supports female rights and justice for all.
34
Not sure if you are aware of this Socrates, but misogynistic behavior is not limited to white males, whether they are privileged or not. As a matter of fact, rape and assault are a daily occurrence across Africa and the middle east; not limited to 'college' campuses. It is a cultural issue, not a racial issue!
7
This is not a new problem. A male friend of mine visited Australia in the 1980's and said it was very much a masculine society with women being treated as 2nd class citizens. It won't change overnight but will take many years of women standing up for themselves and demanding respect, and not backing down until they do get the respect they deserve.
51
Too bad Australia is shooting its own foot by belittling the better half in our human endeavors, women. Can't we understand that the duality man-woman is fully complementary, that one without the other is implausible if not impossible? Our macho society is an aberration of sorts, a waste of talent and a gross injustice. Just thinking that some of my fellow men try to justify all this with a religious piety based on dogmatic prejudice? Shameful.
46
I visited Australia and was saddened by its misogynistic and chauvinistic culture. Bar fights were common, sexist language and aggression towards women were normalized. The racism was palpable too. The culture felt like English imperial entitlement blended with American aggression. Violence towards women in Australia, as it is here, is an issue of masculinity.
75
I visited Australia too about 25 years ago and found the same. Alone as a 20-something woman, I went to the hotel bar for a glass of wine. A few construction workers engaged me in conversation, which quickly turned aggressive as to why I was traveling away from my apartment in NYC and not "in the kitchen." I tried to make light of their comments, but it was awful. I would not travel to Australia again.
7
"We have a hypermasculine society."
Yet some definitions of masculinity include really caring for women. Many of us men think it is weak and cowardly to assault a woman. It is not a hypermasculine, but an insufficiently masculine, society.
Yet some definitions of masculinity include really caring for women. Many of us men think it is weak and cowardly to assault a woman. It is not a hypermasculine, but an insufficiently masculine, society.
86
Hear Hear! Back in my youth, decades ago, masculinity meant protecting women, sometimes to the point of (to put it gently) physical action against a man who was abusing a woman.
26
Basing a decision not to assault fellow human beings on some idealized concept of what it means to be a "man" is not as helpful as it might seem. It just feeds into different stereotypes that can be as hard on men as they are on women. What we need is a recognition that no human being deserves to be encircled by a group of screaming, naked fellow human beings, sexually assaulted, dismissed as a sexual object, and on and on. Whether the person in the middle of that type of behavior is a woman or a man, it's clearly intended to intimidate and threaten, and the person on the inside no doubt feels it acutely. If this happened to men more often (and it does sometimes) it wouldn't be so hard to have these kinds of discussions. It's just wrong.
54
I totally agree - what is described here is a culture of narcissism and cowardice. Unfortunately, this describes a lot of the behaviour that people commonly label as 'masculine' in this day and age.
13