The future lives of women have changed drastically. As a growing number of women agitate for change, it is time to demand what women want. Through the lenses of work, love, and body, this powerful and essential essay collection asks: Will the Australia of tomorrow be more equal than the one we were born into? Or will it be a country where women and girls remain left behind? One thing is very clear: The future is now and it is female.
While our country was shrouded in smoke in the early months of 2020, Australian women went about their daily business. They went to work. Picked kids up from school or checked in on sick neighbours. Made dinner. Ticked off their to-do list and postponed looking after themselves because life and commitments got in the way.
Then, in March, everything changed. Australians were told to lock down. Women held the health of our communities in their hands as they took on the essential jobs to care, to nurse and to teach despite an invisible danger. For all the talk of equality, it was primarily women who juggled the intense demands of work, kids, schooling and care of ageing parents. We were told to stay home and to keep each other safe. But one year later, women across the country would march on behalf of those who were not safe in their own homes.
Never before has change been thrust so abruptly on modern Australian women. 2020 impacted our working lives, relationships, and our health and wellbeing. So where do we go from here? Future Women have the answers.
