Erasures of gender in/equity in Australian schooling: ‘The program is not about turning boys into girls’

ABSTRACT

This paper is a making, a cartography that maps gender equity policy in Australian education. I suggest that entrenched reductive sexist, racist, homo/transphobic and misogynistic practices have not significantly shifted materially since the implementation of inaugural gender equity programs in the 1970s, despite the investment of much money, research and purported policy changes. My cartography intentionally draws attention to how policy material impacts precarious bodies in education; those that remain firmly classified as girls and the intersecting disadvantages of students who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), gender diverse, and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Queer, Intersex (LGBTQI+). I propose that gender in/equity that continues to flourish in our schools is a consequence of an ongoing patriarchal heteronormative education policy that has efficiently removed gender from the equity equation. At present gender, inequity is hidden in plain sight and gender and sex-based violence and harassment remain rife in schools, covertly entangled in practices and processes.

KEYWORDS:

• Education policy
• cartography
• equity
• gender
• new materialism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melissa Joy Wolfe

Dr. Melissa Joy Wolfe is a Senior Lecturer at Southern Cross University who works in creative education and applies a research framework emerging from engagement with feminist new materialist, posthuman, and affect theories. Her research method of re/active documentary centers on utilizing affirming affective pedagogies that promote equity, with a focus on notions of gender. Her accolades include, the International Visual Sociology Association Prosser ECR award (2016), the Australian Association for Research in Education ECR Award (2016), the Mollie Holman award for best education thesis (2016) Monash University, and a commendation award from the Australian Association of Educational Research (2017). Her filmic research and publications are available on her academic website affectionsthatmatter.com.au.