Her World

Updated

Five young women talk about the change they want to see in the world.

They're future leaders, readers, writers and thinkers — but what exactly do young women want for their future?

For International Women's Day, the ABC asked five young women from across Australia about their inspirations, their fears, and what they hope the world will become.

Amta Audesh, 17, Sydney

Amta Audesh is in Year 12 at South Sydney High School.

She was born in Iraq and came to Australia with her family in 2004.

Her parents moved to Sydney hoping to give their children more opportunities. Amta is on her way to fulfilling her dreams and theirs — she was named school captain this year.

Who's one person you look up to?

My parents. They got themselves out of a hard situation and they managed to pick up their family and move here because it created opportunities for them that they couldn't have. It's lucky I've grown up here.

What's the biggest issue affecting the young women you know?

Social media and how it impacts young women's self image. It's hard to see these girls on social media and not compare yourself to them — to look perfect and to look beautiful. I find young women are finding it hard to love the way they look naturally by seeing these unrealistic goals. I don't want to be an Instagram model or be Instagram famous, so I try and concentrate on what I want, not what others are doing.

How do you think the world you grow up in will differ to that of your parents?

My parents had an education but there wasn't much opportunity for them to go further than that. They stayed in their little village and they knew that was their life. Now, there are more doors that are open for me and my siblings to go further than just primary or high school education. We can go on to university, and if we try our best, go further than just a village.

What's one change you would like to see in the future?

I'd like to see more women in the roles where you wouldn't consider, because of stereotypes, a woman to be, such as STEM (science, technology, engineering, maths) and construction. It's a stereotype that women don't belong in those fields.

In my physics class, there's only two girls in a class of 20, and in a few weeks' time I'm going to be the only girl.

Emma King, 13, Darwin

Emma King was born and raised in Darwin. She has Gurindji heritage and a grandmother who was a member of the Stolen Generations.

She attributes her outspokenness to her grandmother's struggle, alongside the fact she is the daughter of ABC broadcaster and laurelled human rights activist Charlie King.

At a live storytelling event last year, the 13-year-old shared stories of calling out casual racism in Darwin. The room erupted with applause.

Who's one person you look up to?

Hillary Clinton. She's just so tenacious and her views have always been — her whole policies were — around looking after children and families. No matter what anyone would say, she never backed down. She wasn't going to change her views based on how other people saw those views.

What's the biggest issue affecting the young women you know?

One of the biggest problems girls face is the constant sexualisation of their bodies. It comes not only through social media but just in everyday life. It starts in the classroom, then it goes to the workplace, and it just prepares girls for their place in society. There's little snippets of sexism that you see in everyday life, like on the back of people's cars. Those sorts of things build up to this culture of sexism in Australia that affects girls so much.

How do you think the world you grow up in will differ to that of your parents?

I think one of the big differences is social media. Social media plays such a huge part in young people's lives. I don't think parents quite know how to respond to that sort of thing, because they haven't really experienced that whole culture of it just always surrounding you. Social media is so influential in so many different ways.

What's one change you'd like to see in the future?

I think the biggest thing I would want to change is the fact that girls and women aren't safe — they're not safe in their homes, they're not safe on social media, they're not safe out in public. If you could change that, there would be such a big chain reaction through the whole process of sexism.

Jacqui Yorston, 18, Brisbane

Jacqui Yorston lives for AFLW.

Two weeks ago she debuted with the Brisbane Lions women's team, playing her first professional game in Melbourne.

The 18-year-old wants to see change in the way we see each other — young, old, male and female.

Who's one person you look up to?

I look up to my older brother as one of my main role models. He doesn't play professional football but he works hard every day and he plays local footy. When he has little things to say to me, to do with football, I listen to them more than anything else. [When] I debuted, he told me he was proud of me and that I had to crack on and play my own football. I feel like I did that.

What's the biggest issue affecting the young women you know?

Depression and anxiety is a big thing at the moment, and with girls it's to do with weight. I used to be a little bigger than I am now, and playing football and having the positive mindset that I'm doing what's right for my body helped me with that.

It's OK to not be perfect. That's something we have to emphasise.

How do you think the world you grow up in will differ to that of your parents?

Social media and technology will keep changing. I can now watch every game of footy whereas my parents could only ever watch what was on TV. Dad always tells me that as kids they spent more time outside — like typical parents. We're going to have a different mindset as we're always waiting for the next thing. You want everything at your fingertips.

What's one change you'd like to see in the future?

I would like to see people accepting people for who they are. If you hang out with the right people and don't worry about what people are saying on social media, then that thing isn't going to affect you. You need to be able to push things aside and not let things worry you so much.

What are you reading or watching? Amta: Emma Watson's HeForShe speech. The part of her speech that really drew me in was that she introduced men into the conversation rather than alienating them. That's really important.

Emma Watson's HeForShe speech. The part of her speech that really drew me in was that she introduced men into the conversation rather than alienating them. That's really important. Emma: The Sun And Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. Lots of people my age read that book and post it on their Instagrams.

The Sun And Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur. Lots of people my age read that book and post it on their Instagrams. Jacqui: Conor McGregor: Notorious on Netflix. He came from nothing and he had to fight his way to the top.

Conor McGregor: Notorious on Netflix. He came from nothing and he had to fight his way to the top. Molly: A documentary called Cowspiracy, which is endorsed by Leonardo DiCaprio. It's about our environment and the impacts of animal agriculture.

A documentary called Cowspiracy, which is endorsed by Leonardo DiCaprio. It's about our environment and the impacts of animal agriculture. Meutia: Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She spoke beautifully in a Ted Talk back in 2009 about the dangers of a single story.

Molly Lynch, 16, Cygnet

Molly Lynch is in Year 11 at Hobart College.

She lives in Cygnet in Tasmania's Huon Valley.

Who's one person you look up to?

Emma Watson. She's a really inspirational woman, she's a great role model for young girls. Obviously she's known for her role as Hermione in Harry Potter, who in herself is a great role model for young girls, and she transitioned out of that role into a real-life inspiration. She really endorsed the #MeToo movement, which has been amazing, and she's very well spoken.

What's the biggest issue affecting the young women you know?

Body image. Through social media and platforms like Facebook and Instagram, there are certain influences and things in magazines that lead young women to think they have to look or act a certain way, and I think it's limiting on them being themselves. I think it's a daily obstacle.

How do you think the world you grow up in will differ to that of your parents?

Technology and how we are constantly connected. Whether I'm at school or at home, I can be talking to anyone and seeing everything from around the world. Whereas, when my parents got home from school, that was it and there was no contact with their friends. We never really go offline and detach ourselves from technology.

What's one change you'd like to see in the future?

I'd like to see overall kindness to each other and to animals as well. We get so caught up in issues and problems that we forget the basics and being kinder to each other in the future would be something to work towards.

Meutia Widodo, 21, Melbourne

Meutia Widodo is studying political science at Melbourne University.

She also works with the Sir Zelman Cowen Centre on a leadership program for young Muslim women and considers herself as an avid photographer and videographer.

Who's one person you look up to?

I've admired Margaret Zhang for the longest time. She's a photographer, director, writer, pianist ... she juggled her creative career while finishing her commerce law degree at the University of Sydney. Her photography work and her creative portfolio is phenomenal and I really admire how she has taken ownership of her Asian identity.

What's the biggest issue affecting young women you know?

I think it might be what my friend Ying calls an internalised apologetic femininity. Facebook's [chief operating officer] Sheryl Sandberg hits the nail on the head when she says women systematically underestimate their ability and have a harder time than men owning up to their success.

But it's not easy changing this mental framework if women have been strongly socialised to follow the rules, constantly.

How do you think the world you grow up in will differ to that of your parents?

Technology has multiplied the way we bring local concerns to the global stage, since we're more able to broadcast the issues that matter to us globally. But inversely, as well, global messages also have the ability to shape local concerns. So for example, I see now there's a lot of young people who have been instilled with a sense of global compassion ... which I think, a great deal, is due to the free flow of knowledge and information today.

What's one change you would like to see in the future?

I think such a heavy question doesn't really deserve such a vague answer, but personally I feel that there's a lot in the world today that needs to be addressed — from single-use plastics to misconceptions around immigration. I'd like to think if we spent more time and resources helping develop individuals into smarter, happier, more virtuous, capable people, they'd be more inclined to labour in the service of virtue and to individually have a more lasting and positive impact for society at large.

Topics: women, womens-status, feminism, multiculturalism, race-relations, relationships, family-and-children, community-and-society, people, human-interest, melbourne-3000, brisbane-4000, hobart-7000, darwin-0800, sydney-2000

First posted