Why is gender equality so hard to achieve? because it’s rigged!
Ten thousand years ago as agriculture replaced hunting- gathering, women’s status took a nose-dive around the world. Since then, no country on earth has yet achieved full equality of the sexes. Laws have changed in some coun- tries, but systems and many attitudes have not.
The system was rigged 10,000 years ago to ensure that men ruled the roost and women provided the backup ser- vices.
The system that perpetuates inequality still rolls on mostly unnoticed; in fact, it’s perceived as natural. Veronica Schwarz’s book, “Busting the Myths of Mars and Venus, Gender: Reality, Myth or Disaster, demonstrates how and why.
The key is gender stereotypes. Feminine and masculine. Female is a fact. Feminine is an act. Likewise, masculine is an act, a performance. The problem is not men, or women themselves, but a system that is rigged and reinforced. While laws have changed, the inbuilt biases and false be- liefs are still embedded in our brains, our myths, beliefs, languages and humour, as well as our processes, our enter- tainment and our institutions.
They continue to constrain both sexes from achieving their full potential, to the detriment of people, societies, econo- mies and the planet.
Veronica Schwarz’s research ranges across anthropology, history, sociology and psychology, myths and religions, phi- losophy and literature, but the book is written in an accessi- ble style with humour and anecdotes illuminating the re- search.
Veronica’s unique drawings add to the clarity of her story.
My Review
Written by an author with a lifetime of experience and wisdom, Busting the Myths of Mars and Venus is a highly readable and engaging read covering familiar ground for feminists and very much speaking to contemporary narratives of gender inequality and the need for change. The scope is wide, the brush broad, the chapters filled with insights and anecdotes. Written in an accessible, upbeat style and thoroughly researched, Busting the Myths of Mars and Venus achieves its aim in nineteen punchy chapters.
Veronica Schwarz has penned a book that can be dipped into a myth at a time, with lots of advice and tips and food for thought. This book would make a useful and insightful resource for educators and parents, and indeed it is for anyone wishing to help change the narrative, the attitudes and the behaviours that oppress women.
About Veronica Schwarz
Veronica Schwarz was born in Darwin and spent her early childhood on a cattle station, Victoria River Downs. Since then, she has lived in many cities, towns and other countries. During her career as a teacher, she has taught people from prep to eighty years of age and loved it. She has also worked as a machinist in a trouser factory in Germany, an office clerk in London, a secretary in Canada, a taxi driver in Melbourne, and curriculum developer and policy analyst in the area of equal opportunity for women and girls in the Education Department of Victoria. She is an artist and a web designer as well as passionate traveler within Australia and around the world. determined to give Gulliver a run for his money.
Veronica has been writing for more than fifty years except for the many times that life got in the way. Her first short story was published in Woman’s Day in 1965. Since that time, she has published several books for teachers and school children, as well as non-fiction articles on travel, history, mythology, language, politics and philosophy, a children’s picture book and a self-help manual on learning.
She founded, edited and published for ten years an alternative magazine for women entitled The Dawn after Louisa Lawson’s original nineteenth century newspaper for women.
Her last book told the story of Joan of Arc through a serious of imaginary interviews with Joan. The book, entitled Ride the Wind. Choose the Fire, took some fifteen years of research and several trips to France. It is available online. She also continues to write and publish non-fiction articles and short stories.
Busting the Myths of Mars and Venus is available on amazon. Search for Veronica Schwarz or use the links below:
