I am here today to talk to you about the real Australia, because I am concerned that many of you hold inaccurate or stereotypical views of Australia and Australians. For example, many of you may believe that we ride to school on Kangaroos, or that everyone lives in the outback. Those are some pretty strange ideas that have probably been portrayed through T.V shows and movies.
It's wrong to stereotype Australia as a whole because all Australians are individuals. The typical Australian has often been portrayed as a tall lean sun-tanned stockman working on his land, like in The Man From Snowy river. His wife is at home cooking, cleaning and looking after the kids, realistically their are some people like that, but the majority of Australian people live on the coastline, in towns and cities with their careers or jobs working from 9-5.
Australia has often been known as a white nation but that's not the case. In fact Australia is one of the most multicultural countries in the world with many ethnicities and races, which is rarely shown in our T.V adds and T.V shows. Characters portrayed in a popular Australian soap, Home And Away are predominantly white, there are not a lot of different people portrayed and the show is set on the beach which makes people from other nations think that we are a nation of beachy people. A more realistic show, Heartbreak High shows a different side of Australia with different mixes of people and culture. It is also showing that not everyone lives in the middle-class of society.
Not just Aussie men love sport, have a look at these women who love AFL just as much as any guy. Some say it's a social time for some it's the excitement. Whatever the reason women have never been portrayed as lovers of sports or even been portrayed as sports fans. Many women are involved in a wide variety of sports whether it be social or competitive. For example Surfing, golf, soccer, surf lifesaving, basketball, hockey and the list is endless.
