Mental Health

Australia’s Homeless Crisis: Detrimental Impacts on Older Women

Older single women in Australia are at high risk of facing a crisis. One brought on by neoliberal ideologies and policies which intersect with gender and wage bias, along with the historical marginalisation of women in a patriarchal society. This crisis is homelessness and why it is exponentially growing can be understood through the lens of feminist standpoint theory and neoliberalism.

Like all theories, feminist standpoint theory has its limitations and uses. It assists with analysing and understanding this particular social justice issue because feminist standpoint theory considers the individual experiences of the women involved. It also takes into consideration women’s historical roles in society. Standpoint theory emerged from Marxism wherein it was seen that members of society who were oppressed were privy to knowledge the privileged class were not aware of (Borland 2020). In 1983 when Nancy Hartsock published her book “Money, Sex and Power” she provided a theoretical method which took into consideration women’s unique perspectives within society (Hekman 1997, p. 341). This theory also justified feminist claims regarding women being oppressed members of society and feminist standpoint theory as a methodology began (Hekman 1997). During the 80s and 90s other contributors to this theory included Sandra Harding, Merrill Hintikka, Patricia Hill Collins and Dorothy Smith (Hekman 1997; Borland 2020). Harding was of the view that even though scientific researchers claimed to be neutral, their research methods and results were sexist (Borland 2020, p.1).

Harding saw that by implementing standpoint theory, it would reveal the power held within ‘scientific authority’ and would create ‘knowledge that is embodied, self-critical and coherent’ (Borland 2020, p.1). Patricia Hill Collins contributed an African American feminist perspective arguing that race, gender, class oppression and lack of privilege for African American women also provided a unique perspective to the feminist landscape which needed to be seen (Borland 2020). Whilst standpoint theory can be seen as essentialist due to the implied belief that a universal female standpoint exists, theorists utilising feminist standpoint theory have chosen to focus on the ‘political aspects of social position’ from a feminist view rather than speaking for all women (Borland 2020, p.1). Use of feminist standpoint theory and practice, however, has come under scrutiny as it appears to challenge the more recent feminist theories which have emerged from ‘postmodernism and poststructuralism’ (Hekman 1997, p.342).

Nonetheless, Hekman (1997, p.342) argues that feminist standpoint theory is based on the understanding that “knowledge is situated and perspectival, and that there are multiple standpoints from which knowledge is produced.” Hawkesworth (1999) sees feminist standpoint theory not as an epistemology but as an analytical tool. Both Hawkesworth (1999) and Hekman (1997) posit there are various types of competing feminist standpoints and that by critically examining those, problems can be illuminated which Hawkesworth (1997, p.152) states …’empirical research must engage’.

When looking at the issue of older single homeless women in Australia some of the specific gender-based factors for this cohort are that their earlier lives have been shaped by the societal norm they would marry and their husband would provide for them in their roles as homemakers, child-bearers and predominantly mothers (Darab & Hartman 2013; Hartman & Darab 2017). According to McFerren & Laverty (2010),a high percentage of older single homeless women have suffered domestic violence or experienced adverse tragedy in their earlier lives. Common themes found in various studies concerning lack of housing security available to these women both now and into the foreseeable future, are cited as being systemic issues; domestic violence; age, wage, employment and gender discrimination; and relationship breakups (McFerren & Laverty 2010;Darab & Hartman 2013; Hartman & Darab 2017; Irwin & Leeson 2016; Sharman 2017; Faulkner & Lestner 2020). Invisibility via research and media representation of this group of women, which results in a lack of service provision specifically tailored for them, along with housing unaffordability, are also cited as being factors which are contributing to the increasing number of older women who are, or are becoming, homeless (McFerren & Laverty 2010; Darab & Hartman 2013; Hartman & Darab 2017; Irwin & Leeson 2016; Sharman 2017; Faulkner & Lestner 2020).

In 2017 Hartman & Darab conducted a qualitative research project using feminist standpoint theory regarding older homeless women and pathways to housing in the rural area of the Northern Rivers, New South Wales. They found intersectionality was occurring between gender, relationship status, aging and lack of home ownership (Hartman & Darab 2017). The absence of employment opportunities combined with minimal public transport were also cited as factors contributing to older single women becoming homeless in the region (Hartman & Darab 2017). Reasons Sharman (2017) gives for the rise in numbers of older single homeless women in her Victorian study are that these women, due to the roles they played earlier in their lives were locked out of the labour market and as such were prevented from accumulating superannuation and savings. Sharman (2017, p.51) also cites ‘adverse critical life experiences’ which are ‘non-normative’, as being a factor. For example, the unexpected death of a partner, ill health, sick children, unemployment or disability all can impact on an individual’s ability to function as they would normally expect to (Sharman 2017).

Other critical life events which Sharman (2017) states have impacted on older single women have been rental increases, mortgagee repossessions, evictions and housing stress brought on by increasing costs where 30 per cent or more of household income is required to secure housing. In addition to the aforementioned factors women’s work is often undervalued, unpaid or underpaid (Sharman 2017; Healy & Kidd 2013). Many women’s working lives are interrupted by children and they are often pushed into the dominant female industries of health, teaching and retail (Sharman 2017). Mostly relying on less pay than male counterparts along with part-time or casual work to meet family responsibilities results in less savings and less superannuation being accumulated by the time they retire (Sharman 2017; Healy & Kidd 2013). Recent research by Faulkner and Lestner (2020) estimated “240,000 women aged 55 or older and another 165,000 women aged 45-54 are at risk of homelessness” in Australia.

Whilst no government is responsible for exceptional individual life experiences, under the United Nations agreements Australia is privy to, the State is responsible for the provision of certain basic human rights to all citizens, which it does not appear to be adhering to. In 1976 Australia ratified the United Nations International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. At Article 11, 1., it states that adequate housing is a fundamental human right (Marston, McDonald & Bryson 2014; Australian Legal Information Institute 1976; Australian Human Rights Commission 1976; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 1996). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Australia was a founding contributor to in 1948 and signatory of, at Article 25, states, “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and his family, including … housing” (United Nations 1948).Despite these signed agreements, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016 Census, there were an estimated “6,866” homeless older women and “5,820” older women who were “living in marginal housing” and “may be at risk of homelessness” (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017; Australian Human Rights Commission 2019a).

Further, older women are seen to be “the fastest-growing cohort of homeless Australians” evidenced by a 31 per cent increase occurring between 2011 and 2016. (Australian Human Rights Commission 2019a; Australian Human Rights Commission 2019b). Dominant neo-liberal ideology and practices which have been occurring in Westernised countries for the past 30 years are a major factor which impacts on homelessness (Bullen 2015; Hartman & Darab 2017). Neo-liberalism is a mode of governing which emphasises free markets, individuals being solely responsible for themselves and market like modes of service provision (Bullen 2015; Hartman & Darab 2017).

As a consequence of neoliberalism, there has been a shift away from discourses of homelessness being a social issue brought about by unemployment, poverty, domestic violence and disadvantage, to being one of a personal issue (Bullen 2015; Sharman 2017). This has consequently had a detrimental impact on service provision and created negative feelings of self-worth, blame and exclusion for homeless persons (Bullen 2015).  Policies implemented, which included the reduction of capital gains tax in 1999 and negative gearing in the late 1980s, have resulted in decreased housing affordability as house prices, compared to available income during the past 15 years, has increased sharply (Hartman & Darab 2017). Further, there has been a decline in public housing availability since the 1990s as the State’s focus has been on offering financial support for low-income earners via rent assistance within the private rental market, as well as implementing the first home owner’s grant, rather than providing public housing (Hartman & Darab 2017).

These policies have resulted in a rental market which favours investors and landlords (Hartman & Darab 2017). Media representation based on neo-liberal principles presents a perspective of homelessness, generally speaking, that some are deserving and undeserving of State assistance (Lyons & Smedley 2020). Those who are considered deserving are those who through no personal fault suddenly find themselves homeless and those who are classed as undeserving are often stereotyped as being slack due to the perception that they are incompetent (Lyons & Smedley 2020). What is missing from media representation regarding homelessness in Australia is a discussion concerning the growing number of single older women who are unable to secure a home (Lyons & Smedley 2020).

Whilst there is not a lot of research available regarding this sector of homelessness specifically, research does validate that a looming crisis is pending. Many factors are contributing to single older women becoming homeless in Australia, not the least of which are neoliberal ideology and practices that are proving to not only be detrimental to a whole generation of women currently but potentially also for women in the future.

Copyright C. O’Connor, November 2021.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2017, 2016 Census, viewed 23 August 2020 https://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/2016 

Australian Human Rights Commission 2019a, Older Women’s Risk of Homelessness: Background Paper, viewed 20 August 2020,  https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/ahrc_ow_homelessness2019.pdf

Australian Human Rights Commission 2019b, Risks of Homelessness in older women, viewed 20 August 2020, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/age-discrimination/projects/risk-homelessness-older-women  

Australian Human Rights Commission 1976, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, viewed 20 August 2020, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/commission-general/international-covenant-economic-social-and-cultural-rights-human-rights 

Australian Legal Information Institute, Australian Treaty Series 1976, No 5, Department of Foreign Affairs, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United Nations, New York, viewed http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/other/dfat/treaties/1976/5.html  

Borland E 2020, Standpoint theory, viewed 20 August 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/standpoint-theory

Bullen J 2015, ‘Governing Homelessness: The Discursive and Institutional

Construction of Homelessness in Australia’, Housing, Theory and Society, 32:2, 218-239, doi:10.1080/14036096.2015.1024886

Darab, S & Hartman Y 2013, ‘Understanding Single Older Women’s Invisibility in Housing Issues in Australia’, Housing, Theory and Society, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 1–20, doi:10.1080/14036096.2012.746944

Faulkner D & Lester L 2020, ‘400,000 women over 45 are at risk of homelessness in Australia’ The Conversation, viewed 23 August 2020https://theconversation.com/400-000-women-over-45-are-at-risk-of-homelessness-in-australia-142906

Hartman, Y & Darab, S 2017, ‘The housing pathways of single older non-home owning women in a rural region of Australia’, Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 54, pp. 234–243, doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.07.003.

Hawkesworth, M 1999, ‘Analyzing backlash: Feminist standpoint theory as analytical tool’, Women’s Studies International Forum, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 135–155, doi:10.1016/S0277-5395(99)00003-5.

Healy, J & Kidd, M 2013, ‘Gender-based undervaluation and the equal remuneration powers of Fair Work Australia’, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 55, no. 5, pp. 760–782, doi: 10.1177/0022185613491683.

Hekman, S 1997, ‘Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited’, Signs, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 341–365, doi:10.1086/495159.

Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 1996, Housing as a human right, viewed 20 August 2020 https://humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/content/pdf/human_rights/housing.pdf

Irwin P & Leeson G 2016, ‘Late Middle-Aged Single Women and The Risk of Homelessness in Rural Australia’, The Gerontologist, vol. 56, no. Suppl3, pp. 719–719, doi:10.1093/geront/gnw162.2932.

Lyons G & Smedley C (2020) ‘The new face of homelessness? Examining media representations of women’s homelessness in five Australian news sources’, Journal of Social Distress and Homelessness, doi:10.1080/10530789.2019.1709269

McFerran, L & Laverty, S 2010, ‘It could be you: female, single, older and homeless’, Parity, vol. 23, no. 7, ISSN:1032-6170

Marston, G, McDonald, C & Bryson, L 2014, The Australian welfare state: who benefits now?, Palgrave Macmillan, South Yarra. 

Petersen, M 2015, ‘Addressing older women’s homelessness: service and housing models’ Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 419–438,458, doi:10.1002/j.1839-4655.2015.tb00358.x.

Sharman A 2017, The Voices of Midlife Women Facing Housing Insecurity in Victoria, Australia, Social Policy & Society, Vol 16, No. 1, pp.49-63, doi:10.1017/S1474746415000603

United Nations 1948, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, viewed 23 August 2020, https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/index.html

Multicultural Australia. A reality or a myth?

Australia is a country of polarity and diversity which purports a political ideology of all-inclusive multiculturalism. Yet at the core of the nation lays a foundation of institutional systems built on implicit and explicit conditioning which have their roots in the social construct of ethnocentric racism. The racialisation and othering of those who are not white has emanated from Australian Governments and through media commentary into every aspect of life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since colonisation. Creating disadvantage, ill-health, intergenerational trauma and a lack of social equity for Indigenous Australians. An example of this racialisation and othering occurred during the public debate surrounding Adam Goodes stance against racism. A situation which could have been better understood and avoided if viewed through the lens of white habitus, cultural responsiveness and anti-racist practice.  

Historically, the Social Work profession is not exempt from creating catastrophic racist damage for Indigenous Australians. Issuing an apology to Indigenous Australians in 2004 for the profession’s role in creating inter-generational trauma, it was 2010 before the profession’s Code of Ethics was re-worded to include the ethical principles of social justice, human rights, respect for diversity, and provision of culturally competent, safe and sensitive practice which encompasses a commitment to valuing Indigenous Australians’ knowledge, experience, skills and relationships (International Federation of Social Workers 2018; Australian Association of Social Workers 2010; Green Bennett & Betteridge 2016). The Social Work profession, therefore, have a critical role to play in assisting with the de-colonisation of institutionalised racism.  

Since invasion by the British in 1788 ethnocentric implicit and explicit racism, originally based on social Darwinism, has permeated life for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Racist behaviours have been foundational to the nation’s identity (Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020). Aboriginals were seen by British colonisers to be a dying primitive race who were inferior to the British in culture, biology and morality (Hollinsworth 2006; Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020; Bennett & Green 2019). Racist conditioning occurred by way of social Darwinism being taught to ‘successive generations of non-indigenous (and indeed indigenous) Australians’ resulting in institutionalised racism becoming both explicit and implicit within the Australian psyche (Hollinsworth 2006, pp. 83-84). This type of conditioning and its’ ongoing perpetuation can be understood and also eradicated when viewed from the concepts of Bourdieus’ habitus theory and also Whiteness theory, which when combined create the theory of White habitus (Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011). Habitus, as seen by Bourdieu involved how people were socially conditioned via habits, dispositions and skills which determine their understanding of a situation and how they respond to it based on the cultural norms they have been exposed to (Emirbayer & Williams 2005; Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011).

Whiteness theory focusses on and calls for the critical reflection of how white people do not normally see themselves as a race which holds power and dominance over other races (Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011; Vanidestine & Aparicio 2019). When utilising White habitus, focus is moved away from othering and brought back to self, whilst also revealing how power relations and discourses are racially formed (Walter, Taylor & Habibis 2011; Young 2008). Explicit racism utilised by various Australian governments to maintain white ‘racial homogeneity’, originally involved extensive discursive efforts and repressive legislation to eradicate the country of the existing Aboriginals and their cultures (Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020, p.98; Bennett & Green 2019). For example, in Queensland, legislation was implemented in 1897 via the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act which served to codify beliefs that Aboriginals were a dying race, whilst asserting Australia as a white space in which Aboriginals did not belong (Sherwood, Osmond & Phillips 2020). Legislation such as this Act governed every aspect of Aboriginal life; their health, education, employment, housing, the justice system and welfare (Hollinsworth 2006; Briskman 2014; Bennett & Green 2019).

Australia’s institutionalised racism still exists, as was apparent in 2007 when the Howard Government implemented the Northern Territory Intervention, contravening international law in the process (Springer 2007). The Australian Bureau of Statistics (2016) states 2.8 per cent of the Australian population identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and in 2015 to 2016, according to the Australian Human Rights Commission (2017), 54 per cent of the complaints received concerning racism under The Racial Discrimination Act were received by Indigenous Australians. Racist practices, policies and media discourses have had and continue to have a major detrimental impact on Indigenous Australians’ health and wellbeing (Hollinsworth 2006; Briskman 2014). As the 2020 Closing the Gap Report indicates, current life expectancy for Aboriginal Australians involves the intersectionality of social determinants in which they are disadvantaged such as income, housing, education and employment, all of which are ‘estimated to be responsible for at least 34 per cent of the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’ (Briskman 2014; Australian Government 2020 n.p.).

Statistics released in 2018 indicated the mortality rate for Indigenous Australians is approximately 1.7 times greater than for non-Indigenous Australians and the initiatives implemented by the Federal Government to close the mortality gap between the two groups is not on target to reach its’ objectives by 2031 (Australian Government 2020). Disadvantage created by institutionalised racism since colonisation concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders is apparent in every area of Australian life and is often exacerbated by changing political policies and media discourses.

The Australian conservative media still perpetuate racist thinking, which would not exist if cultural responsiveness, white habitus and anti-racist practice was occurring across the board. The media provoked controversial public debate, involving the proud, highly accomplished Indigenous Australian Football League (AFL) player; Adnyamathanha man, Australian of the Year in 2014, Adam Goodes, divided the nation when between 2013 and 2015 he publicly stood against racism and freely expressed his indigeneity. Several examples of institutionalised racism from non-Indigenous media commentators Adam Bolt, Sam Newman and Alan Jones occurred, and as Waleed Aly pointed out facts were altered to support their racist views (Begone Abbott 2015; The Weekly 2015; Whoknowsuknow 2015). Various media outlets touted Goodes as a ‘sook’, ‘whinger’, ‘cry baby’ and it was stated he was ‘playing the race card’ (Guatum 2019, p. 17). When, in the AFL Indigenous Round, which recognises and celebrates Indigenous culture, Goodes performed a celebratory war cry dance, the situation escalated to the extreme where every time he played football he was loudly booed by the crowd in what de Souza (2018, p. 460) described as a ‘sonic barometer that measures who is accepted and who is rejected.’ Acting within a model of cultural responsiveness requires critical self-reflection, recognition of the impact social structures have on individuals, asks questions, allows for critical examination of the structures which create oppression and permits the challenging of those structure (Green, Bennett & Batteridge 2016).

A culturally responsive approach therefore would have de-escalated the situation by commentators asking questions in order to perceive the situation from Goodes perspective, whilst critically reflecting on their own behaviour, thereby showing respect and affirming the multicultural diversity which exists in Australia. Instead, inflammatory, derogatory, racist and ignorant statements were made which impacted on Goodes’ health (BBC HARDtalk 2020). A culturally safe response would have also encompassed being aware not only of Aboriginal history but of Goodes’ personal history because when he was racially vilified by a young girl and then subjected to the persistent media coverage and booing from crowds it all not only shocked him but triggered racist traumatic memories of childhood experiences (Green, Bennett & Betteridge 2016; BBC HARDtalk 2020). Whilst Eddie MacGuire, in his role as media commentator and Collingwood Football Club president, initially supported Goodes, both MacGuire and former Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett publicly criticised Goodes’s dance as being deliberately provocative and defended the crowd’s booing as being an acceptable response (de Souza 2018). The persistent booing and various criticisms which surrounded Goodes created a toxic workplace which pushed Goodes into a deep depression, resulting in him walking away from the sport he loved in 2015, for the sake of his mental health (BBC HARDtalk 2020).

In 2016 Australians spoke 300 languages and whilst the country purports to embrace multiculturalism, ongoing debate has occurred for decades amongst the media, politicians and academics concerning the concept and implementation of a multicultural society (Australian Bureau of Statistices 2016; Koleth 2010). Fear-based conservatives like John Howard and Pauline Hansen have been concerned that a true multi-cultural Australia will undermine the existing social structures and they have wanted to continue ‘preserving constructions of Australian nationhood and culture’ (Koleth 2010, n.p.). Yet, science has proven race is not a biological fact, but a social construct designed to have power over others who are different to the white majority (California Newsreel 2003), which is why anti-racist practice is useful in relation to dismantling institutional racism. Stemming from Critical Race Theory there is agreement that racism is a widespread oppressive social construct (Ladhani & Sitter 2020; Constance-Huggins 2019).

Anti-racist practice respects individual agency, whilst challenging and resisting injustices as it involves a commitment to creating ongoing equal opportunities for all that aligns with ‘equity of outcome’ (Berman & Paradies 2009, p.218). Given the multitude of culturally diverse individuals existing in Australia today, Australian society, as an evolving entity, needs to move beyond colonial based institutionalised racism due to the damage it has and continues to create.  By utilising white habitus, cultural responsiveness and anti-racism to eliminate the racialisation of people and the othering that white Australians in powerful public positions currently use, all Australians can move into a future which is more dignified, respectful and equitable. As Social Work now holds the previously mentioned principles, values and ethics at its’ core, all Social Workers have a duty, responsibility and obligation to assist in educating, challenging and changing institutionalised racism in this country because whilst multiculturalism is something Australians claim to embody, statistically and historically speaking multiculturalism and embracing cultural diversity, is a concept, not a reality.

Copyright C. O’Connor, November 2021.

References

Australian Association of Social Workers, 2010, Code of Ethics, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.aasw.asn.au/document/item/1201

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Cultural Diversity in Australia:2016 Census Data Summary: What is Cultural Diversity?, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/by%20Subject/2071.0~2016~Main%20Features~Cultural%20Diversity%20Data%20Summary~30#:~:text=WHAT%20IS%20CULTURAL%20DIVERSITY%3F,descent%2C%20and%20their%20religious%20affiliation.

Australian Government 2020, Closing The Gap Report, viewed 31 October 2020 https://ctgreport.niaa.gov.au/

Australian Human Rights Commission, 2017, Fact sheet: Racism, It stops with me: Community services announcements 2017, viewed 4 November 2020, https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/race-discrimination/publications/fact-sheet- racism-it-stops-me-community-service

BBC HARDtalk 2020, Adam Goodes, Former Australian rules footballer – BBC HARDtalk, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9M6IiAvl4U

Begone Abbott 2015, Racist Liars Rewriting History to Boo Adam Goodes, viewed 3 November 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo9S2k1RaxM

Bennett, B & Green, S 2019, Our voices: Aboriginal social work, Second edition., Red Globe Press, London.

Berman, G & Paradies, Y 2010, ‘Racism, disadvantage and multiculturalism: towards effective anti-racist praxis’, Ethnic and Racial Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 214–232, doi: 10.1080/01419870802302272.

Briskman, L 2014, Social work with indigenous communities: a human rights approach, 2nd ed., The Federation Press, Annandale, NSW. 

California Newsreel 2003, Episode One – The Difference Between Us; Video 1 of playlist “Race – The Power of an Illusion”, viewed 4 November 2020, https://usc.kanopy.com/video/race-power-illusion-0

Constance-Huggins, M 2019, ‘Critical Race Theory in Social Work Education’, Critical Social Work, vol. 13, no. 2, doi:10.22329/csw.v13i2.5861.

de Souza, P 2018, ‘What does racial (in)justice sound like? On listening, acoustic violence and the booing of Adam Goodes’, Continuum (Mount Lawley, W.A.), vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 459–473, doi: 10.1080/10304312.2018.1488524.

Emirbayer, M & Williams, E 2005, ‘Bourdieu and Social Work’ Social Service Review, vol. 79, no. 4, pp. 689–724, doi:10.1086/491604. 

Gautam, A 2019, ‘The monstrous other: Adam Goodes and the colonial legacy of “terra nullius”’ Social Alternatives, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 16–20. ISSN: 0155-0306

Green, S, Bennett B & Betteridge S 2016, ‘Cultural Responsiveness and Social Work – a Discussion’ Social Alternatives, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 66–72, viewed 4 November 2020, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1918326828/.

Hollinsworth, D 2006, ‘Race and Racism in Australia’, 3rd ed., Thomson Social Science Press, South Melbourne. 

International Federation of Social Workers 2018, ‘Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles’, viewed 31 October 2020, https://www.ifsw.org/global-social-work-statement-of-ethical-principles/

Koleth, E 2010, ‘Multiculturalism: a review of Australian policy statement and recent debates in Australia and overseas’, Parliament of Australia 2010, Research Paper no. 6 2010-2011, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp1011/11rp06

Ladhani S & Sitter K 2020, ‘The Revival of Anti-Racism’, Critical Social Work, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 55-65, doi:10.22329/csw.v21i1.6227.

Shepherd, M 2020, ‘Adam Goodes’, Encyclopaedia Britannica, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Adam-Goodes

Sherwood, C, Osmond, G & Phillips M 2020, ‘Aboriginality, Racial Discourse and Football Media in 20th-century Queensland’, Journal of Australian Studies, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 97–113, doi: 10.1080/14443058.2019.1668821.

Springer, R 2007, ‘A Nightmare of the Neocolonial Kind: Politics of Suffering in Howards’ Northern Territory Intervention, Borderlands e-journal, vol. 6, no. 2, Nuclear Territory News, viewed 4 November 2020, http://www.borderlands.net.au/vol6no2_2007/stringer_intervention.htm

The Weekly 2015, ‘Adam Goodes Controversy’, viewed 4 November 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vydY1UmWzAM

Vanidestine, T & Aparicio, E 2019, ‘How Social Welfare and Health Professionals Understand “Race,” Racism, and Whiteness: A Social Justice Approach to Grounded Theory’ Social Work in Public Health, vol. 34, no. 5, pp. 430–443, doi:10.1080/19371918.2019.1616645.

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Young S 2008, ‘Indigenous Child Protection Policy in Australia: Using Whiteness Theory for Social Work’, Sites: New Series, vol 5, no 1, viewed 4 November https://doi.org/10.11157/sites-vol5iss1id82 

Coming into One’s Own Power

Last week I shared some of the wisdom to be garnered from Dreams if we have obtained the knowledge and skills to use their guidance.  This week the story continues by illustrating just how powerful dreams can be in relation to uncovering the depth of a situation, assisting us to shed and heal conditioned patterns of behaviour we can repeatedly subconsciously attract to us, whilst also transforming our reactive behaviours into responses.

In Dreaming, a male I have known for over a decade approaches me, he has a blonde woman with him. I know they are here to tell me they are wanting to be together, and then he says so.  He appears intoxicated as a consequence of either alcohol or perhaps some type of drugs. It is obvious he is not thinking or acting clearly in his normally lucid non-reactive, kind and empathetic manner.  His aggressiveness in this situation creates a huge argument between us, the first ever, and to end it as I have no time or energy for arguing with anyone, I tell him that’s fine, off you go then, but don’t say I haven’t warned you about the woman you are choosing to involve yourself with. 

Then the woman in the dream is suddenly holding both my wrists and will not let go.  I feel infuriation at this violation and bondage.  I start screaming at her, using expletives, to let go of my wrists.  I struggle with her and eventually break free.  Her grip had been tight and left its’ mark.  Having freed myself, I am right in her face, screaming at her that if she EVER does that to me again, I will knock her out cold and kick her arse to the kerb.  I can’t recall feeling so enraged and explosive, in a very long time.

The scene shifts and I am now in “Observer Mode”.  My awareness is looking at the scene of the three of us. Paths appear, one to my left and one to my right.  The left leads towards a dark, murky, icky feeling place and the right to a space of brightness, vibrancy, colour, peace and love.  My friend and this woman take the left path together and as I am deciding which path I will take, the lines from Stairway to Heaven,

“Yes, there are two paths you can go by
But in the long run
There’s still time to change the road you’re on”

come to mind.

I do not follow my friend and this woman, for I choose, at that moment, to take the right path and see myself walking away in that direction.

For me left is symbolic of past, of what is needing to be left behind, is coming from the past or what type of behaviour is needing to be let go of if a symbolic aspect of Self moves in that direction.  Right is future and forward movement because all that yet awaits us is there on our “right” path.

Emerging from this experience, I felt clarity and peace regarding the action I now knew I needed to take, which I previously hadn’t been experiencing. A parting of the ways was coming between this friend and me and it was up to me to cut the ties after a month of retreating and putting together the puzzle pieces.  For the sake of both our continued growth and learning and perhaps even healing purposes, there was nothing more of value, for now, we could bring into each other’s lives. I knew whatever now awaited both of us, I would need some alone time and ultimately, we would both need different people in our lives to accomplish it with.  If subconsciously, or perhaps consciously, the obnoxious manner in which I felt I had been treated, was being done deliberately to push me away it was working effectively but it really was not necessary. An honest conversation would have been much more preferable but that is how he appeared to be choosing to deal with it. 

The dream’s messages and what this waking reality was showing me revealed that once again I was dealing with masculine energy I had been attracting since childhood. It was exactly the same energy as my two main male role models had been, unavailable in one form or another and/or abusive and disrespectful.  The woman symbolised the part of me who had been holding me back, keeping me feeling loyal to my friend and hopeful of the various things we had discussed we would like to do together, which never came to pass. Synchronicity began coming into play also with numbers and other symbols/signs that were coming my way.  The final confirmation arrived when I heard the song “Time to move on”, by Tom Petty, for the first time. 

The path before me was clear as were the underlying reasons for my friend’s behaviour.  The gift they were freely giving me was that I was in yet another, and I highly suspect and hope the last, process of freeing myself from this unfulfilling energy that I had always given my all to where others were concerned and in return I would be ultimately shocked by their behaviour, brought down, abused and held back.  

Events then occurred which showed me clearly those who try to fool me, only truly fool themselves as all I had intuitively known, came to pass.  I cannot say the process was painless, even though I acted swiftly, not dissimilar to the Queen of Swords energy in the Tarot, once I knew the time was right to state my intention to walk away and leave the pair of them to it.  So whilst my friend was busy reactively blowing up long-standing bridges to smithereens with myself and my family, thanks to my inner guidance and wisdom, I was able to fully grieve the loss of this longstanding friendship and walk away calmly, with peace and acceptance, grace, integrity and gratitude, taking many beautiful and funny memories with me. 

The only permanent aspect of life is impermanence and when I know intuitively, something is going on that just doesn’t make any logical sense I take extra notice of what my dreams are telling me. If I need to make a change in my life, regardless of how painful I know it will be for me, I will do so because if I don’t, I am just putting off the inevitable.  It’s a futile exercise and a total waste of what precious little time I have left of my life, as it just creates more pain and suffering for myself and others, the longer I put it off.  If I delay for too long, life situations will arise that historically have made the situation even worse, created very unpleasant memories, some of which have been traumatic and are akin to a Universal kick up the backside or clip around the ear, in order to keep me moving, changing, growing, learning and evolving.

The past six months or so have been ones of great change where my intrinsic values and boundaries of how I want to be treated by others have become a lot clearer and firmer. Many folk have fallen by the wayside as a result and the dynamics in some other relationships has also altered for the better.  To those who did fall by the wayside I wish you all well and am grateful for all the known and unknown love and support you have gifted me with, in my journey towards stepping back into my own power more fully after three decades, so far, of healing from the abusive and dishonest and unkind behaviour, I had been attracting most of my life, until recently, in one form or another.  Inner growth: It never stops.

© Cheryl O’Connor, February 2020.

Race and Racism in Australia.

Race as a social construct came into being alongside capitalism.  When European colonists arrived in Australian with their ethnocentric ideology, racist foundations became the building blocks upon which inequity and institutions were built. As a result, the trauma and inequality created for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders by colonialism has, and continues to, impact detrimentally on their health and well-being despite Governments expending large sums of money on programs and services to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes in relation to health. The colonialist mentality of racism in Australia towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is maintained by three main forms of racism; institutionalised, interpersonal and internalised. Institutionalised racism, particularly within the health system, is creating a plethora of inequity issues which are resulting in high mortality rates amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The publication of The Origin of Species, written by biologist and philosopher Charles Darwin in 1859, led to eugenics, phrenology, ethnocentricity and Social Darwinism, and subsequently race and racism began.  Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection proposed that differences between human beings, such as skin colour, equated to different races of human beings existing and therefore those who did not have the same attributes as Europeans were classified as being of a different species, or race (Hollinsworth 2006, p.32). His theory added scientific credence to, and fueled the fire of, the political, social and medical discourses being espoused by Herbert Spencer, an English sociologist, biologist and prominent liberal political theorist (Hollinsworth 2006, p.32). Darwin’s theory led to Social Darwinism being established within European society (Hollinsworth 2006, p.32). Race and racism was therefore founded on the politics of eugenics and the medical and political discourses which spread globally during the end of the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.209). Eugenics is the science of controlling breeding within populations so there is an increasing manifestation of the required genetic characteristics (Galton 1904, p.1). Indigenous Australians were seen by European colonists to be situated at the very bottom of a hierarchical ladder which Europeans existed at the summit of (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 284). This mentality was known as ethnocentricity which is when a belief exists that your own culture or ethnic group is superior to another (Bizumic & Duckitt 2012, p.887). It was also seen by Europeans that Indigenous people were inferior biologically due to the pseudo-scientific theory of phrenology which equated skull size and shape as being able to determine a person’s character (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 284).  With eugenics, phrenology and ethnocentricity firmly implanted in the minds of the colonists who invaded Australia, it takes little sociological imagination to understand why European colonists behaved as they did towards Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

When the invasion of Australia by the British occurred in 1770 they brought with them fixed mindsets of capitalism and Social Darwinism and the colonisation of Australia began. Colonialism relates to a system being implemented whereby an individual or group of individuals seek to dominate others (Horvath 1972, p.46). Sociological theorist Pierre Bourdieu referred to colonialism as a forceful system of oppression based on racist beliefs which seeks to reorganise social kinships and at the same time establish a crossbred society (Go 2013, p. 49).Colonialism is also a powerful and aggressive action taken by people to possess land and exploit it, along with the Indigenous people who occupy that land, with no regard to the original inhabitants, their culture or their existing laws (Horvath 1972, p. 46). Karl Marx believed this type of domination occurs out of an economic basis and is a symptom of capitalism (Horvath 1972, p.46). Horvath states colonisation creates and perpetuates social injustice (Horvath 1972, p.46). Colonists were of the fear-based view that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were savages who were dangerous, yet childlike (Hollinsworth 2006, p.33).As such, great measures to establish and maintain superior paternalistic power and control over Indigenous Australians began because of unconsciously based scientific racist beliefs (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 34). This fear-based power and control continued to have a stronghold in Australia into the later part of last century (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 34). Because of Darwin’s theory of natural selection, Indigenous Australians were seen to be a separate race of people who colonists believed were destined to die out anyway (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 35).It was often the situation that anyone who protested the horrendous treatment Indigenous people received whilst colonisation was occurring, were met with rebuttal (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 35).It was also seen to be worthy of celebration by colonists, not lamentation, that the extinction of an inferior race was occurring, with their help (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 35).  The attempted assimilation which occurred of trying to change the genetics of Indigenous Australians was a direct result of eugenics. It was these underlying beliefs colonisers held which established Australia’s institutions and created the systemic racism which still exists within those institutions today.

Institutionalised racism lays at the core of all of Australia’s systems and is closely linked with capitalism. Race and racism in Australia can be understood as being maintained institutionally when looked at through the sociological lens of Foucault’s theory that governmental control occurs via the power maintained in institutional systems, which then becomes internalised normality within society (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).From a Marxists perspective Governments would not want to change the existing institutionalised racism because to do so would alter the balance of power which would no longer serve the interests of capitalism (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).  Racism is defined as a discriminatory dispersal of chances, assistance or capital implemented by the dominant culture over minority groups of different race or ethnicity (Paradies, 2018, 0.42 – 1.44). Institutionalised racism has been defined as having its basis in historical social scenarios which continues due to frameworks that preserve prior discriminations (Jones 2001, p.1212). Institutionalised racism is often seen to be legalised and lays within the policies and practices of institutions, whilst also being apparent when procrastination occurs, instead of action, in relation to needs not being met (Jones 2001, p.1212). Evidence shows that racism, whilst not a set target in the Close the Gap Report 2008 (Parliament of Australia undated, p. n/a), has been recognised by the Federal Government in the Close the Gap Report Review 2018 (Australian Human Rights Commission 2018, p.3) and in the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023 (Australian Government Department of Health 2013, p.8). Due to institutionalised racism, which has become the societal norm, many Australians do not see their unconsciously conditioned biases perpetuate not only the racism the country’s systems were built on, but also that they serve to maintain the inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians which began over two hundred years ago.

Interpersonal racism, along with institutionalised racism and deficit discourses within politics and the media are having an adverse effect on the mental and physical health of Indigenous Australians. Interpersonal racism can be conscious or unconscious and appears in society by way of stereotyping, lack of service, ignoring, lack of respect and devaluation (Jones 2001, p.1213).Institutionalised racism, combined with interpersonal racism lead to internalised racism, which involves taking on the limiting beliefs about oneself which have been projected by the dominant culture onto the minority group (Jones 2001, p. 1213).Internalised racism can also lead to a lack of self-worth, lack of belief in peers and in one’s self (Jones 2001, p. 1213).  The general dominant political and media discourse in Australia is increasing the inequality many minority groups encounter from the dominant culture (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 246). Since 1996, when the Howard Government came into power, there has been a steadily growing manufactured erosion of social justice and equal rights occurring in Australia via an official discourse being implemented through laws based on fear and envy (Hollinsworth 2006, p 246). This stance will only lead to increasing inequality, endangering existing social structures and possibly result in an increase in violence occurring (Hollinsworth 2006, p. 246). Combined with these deficit discourses created by non-indigenous media and politicians in Australia towards Indigenous Australians, racism has been found to be detrimental to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders health as they all impact adversely psychologically, emotionally and in relation to their overall social wellbeing.

Perceptions of race and racism within Australian have been shown, through a variety of micro and macro level methods, to reveal health care barriers exist for Indigenous Australians which do not exist for non-Indigenous Australians. Systemic racism not only has detrimental outcomes such as depression, suicide, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder for Indigenous Australians, but it also creates significant economic impacts on society (Paradies 2016, p.1). In 2016 it was estimated that racial discrimination cost the Australian economy approximately 37.9 billion dollars per annum (Paradies 2016, p.1). A study conducted during 2012 and 2013 revealed thirty percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffer from extreme psychological and emotional occurrences of depression or anxiety (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015, p. 71). This figure is extraordinarily high when one considers that Indigenous Australians make up only three percent of the national population (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.211). Further, it was revealed in 2012 that Indigenous Australians experience higher rates of suicide than non-Indigenous Australians with deaths being predominantly higher for males between the ages of twenty-five and twenty-nine (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, p. n/a). The statistics of deaths based on a scale of one hundred thousand per population for this age group show that non-Indigenous male deaths by suicide peak at twenty percent and Indigenous males peak at ninety percent (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, p. n/a). In 2014 a General Social Survey was conducted to determine the degree racial discrimination intersects with other areas of discrimination such as, gender, sexuality, class and age within Australia, in creating access barriers to health care (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.209). The results concluded perceived racism was a major factor creating a barrier in accessing health care, particularly mental health (Bastos, Harnois & Paradies 2016, p.216). There is ample available research which indicates that the social construct of race is responsible for the ongoing high mortality rates occurring within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Racism in its various forms is not only creating barriers to accessing health care but creating ongoing psychological and emotional distress for a large percentage of Indigenous Australians.

According to sociologists, Australia has moved into a time of post-modernity and post-colonialism, but the evidence clearly shows the social construct of race and the racism which stems from it continues to be maintained by way of institutionalised racism. Post-colonialism came into being late in the twentieth century (Eagleton 2011, p. 222).It is defined as a time when physical violence is no longer being perpetrated to take land (Hollinsworth 2006, p.246). This may be the situation; however, it appears that a new form of racism has taken the place of the past brutal dispossession, assimilation and genocide. Known as new racism, this form revolves around the structure and appearance of racism in relation to pecuniary and socio-traditional variances which exist between the overriding and minority cultures within a country (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).Post-colonialism studies look at the relationships between oppressors and oppressed existing in countries that have been colonised (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 287).Indigenous identity, which post-colonialism also concerns itself with, has been revealed via various institutional policies to have been manipulated to implement and validate dominant policies (Germov & Poole 2007, p. 288).Colonialism was rooted in racism and whilst many perceive both exist historically and are no longer apparent, both still exist within capitalism as the Western thinking of those in power continues to be based on the taking of other people’s land who are not in positions to stop them (Jureidini & Poole 2003, p.246). It is in the continuation of institutionalised racism and subsequent racist policies and practices, by those in power within the Westernised political system, that inequity continues to grow and create an ever-widening gap between capitalist politicians and those who they deem to be inferior.

Race and racism are social constructs designed by the political upper class in Europe in the late 1800s based on ethnocentricity. Institutionalised racism has created discrimination, exploitation, distress and inter-generational trauma which is still impacting on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Whilst State and Federal Governments have spent voluminous sums of money on programs and services to bring about more equality between non-Indigenous and Indigenous Australians in relation to health, they have failed. Up until 2013 they did not recognise that systemic racism within Australian institutions is responsible for the lack of equity, agency, health issues, self-governance and self-determination Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have been and still are experiencing.

Copyright: C. O’Connor, November 2018.

Reference List

Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide deaths overview, viewed 21 October 2018, http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Products/40080452773CE5D5CA257A4500045E5F?opendocument

Australian Government Department of Health 2013, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013-2023, p. 8, viewed 18 October 2018 http://www.health.gov.au/natsihp

Australian Human Rights Commission 2018, A ten-year review: The Closing the Gap Strategy and Recommendations for Reset: Close the Gap 2018 – Human Rights, p. 3 viewed 16 October 2018 https://www.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/document/publication/CTG%202018_FINAL-WEB.pdf

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015, The health and welfare of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s, viewed 22 October 2018, https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/584073f7-041e-4818-9419-39f5a060b1aa/18175.pdf.aspx?inline=true\

Bastos, J, Harnois, C & Paradies, Y 2018, ‘Health care barriers, racism, and intersectionality in Australia’, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 199, pp. 209 – 218. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.05.010

Bizumic, B & Duckitt, J 2012, ‘What Is and Is Not Ethnocentrism? A Conceptual Analysis and Political Implications’, Political Psychology, vol. 33, no. 6, pp.887–909. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9221.2012.00907

Eagleton, T 2011, Why Marx was right, Yale University Press, New Haven.

Elias, A & Paradies, Y 2016, ‘Estimating the mental health costs of racial discrimination’ BMC Public Health, vol.16, no. 1(1), p.n/a, doi: 10.1186/s12889-016-3868-1

Galton, F 1904, ‘Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope, and Aims’, American Journal of Sociology, vol. 10, no. 1, pp.1–25. doi: 10.1086/211280

Germov, J & Poole, M 2007, Public sociology: an introduction to Australian society, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W..

Go, J, 2013, ‘Decolonizing Bourdieu: Colonial and Postcolonial Theory in Pierre Bourdieu’s Early Work’, Sociological Theory, vol. 31, no. 1, pp.49–74. doi: 10.1177/0735275113477082.

Hollinsworth, D 2006, Race & racism in Australia 3rd ed., Thomson Social Science Press, South Melbourne.

Horvath, R 1972, ‘A Definition of Colonialism’, Current Anthropology, vol. 13, no. 1, pp.45–57. doi:10.1086/201248

Jones, C 2000, ‘Levels of racism: A theoretic framework and a gardener’s tale’, American Journal of Public Health, vol. 90, no. 8, pp.1212–1215. Doi:10.2105/AJPH.90.8.1212

Jureidini, R. & Poole, M 2003. Sociology: Australian connections, 3rd edn, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W.

Paradies, Y 2013. ‘A Culturally Respectful and Non-Discriminatory Health System’, Viewed 26 August 2018, https://vimeo.com/11864669

Parliament of Australia, Social Policy, undated, viewed 20 October 2018, https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook44p/ClosingGap

(more…)

THE WISDOM HIDDEN IN FAIRY TALES

More Than Bedtime Stories

Most people think of fairy tales as sweet bedtime stories for children, pleasant little fables to pass the time before sleep. But when we look beneath the surface, their layers of meaning open like a map, guiding us through the inner and outer landscapes of our lives.

The Forest and the Journey

In almost every classic tale, the storyline begins the same way: a young soul leaves “home”, sometimes by choice, sometimes by circumstance, and ventures into the wider world. Along the way, they face trials and temptations: witches and wolves, dragons and goblins, wicked stepmothers and treacherous strangers. They may be imprisoned, lost in the forest, or lulled into a deep sleep.

The forest is one of the most enduring symbols in fairy tales. It is not simply scenery, but a living teacher. To enter the dark forest is to step into the unknown, leaving behind the familiar and the safe. It is here that old identities are stripped away, and we must learn to trust a deeper compass of soul. Every shadow and every clearing becomes a guide, showing us that what looks like confusion or danger is also the fertile ground of transformation. Rivers, storms, mountains, and caves serve the same role, thresholds that reshape us if we dare to enter.

Yet, just as often, help arrives, through animals, elemental beings, wise old helpers, or mysterious friends. And when they finally “return home,” they are not the same as when they left. For home is not a physical place at all, it is a return to one’s true self. The journey strips us bare, tests our faith, and teaches us who we really are.

It is important to remember these stories were never meant to be harmless diversions. Long before they were bound in books, fairy tales lived as oral traditions, told around firesides to transmit wisdom, warnings, and hope. They were teaching maps, guiding communities through danger, instinct, resilience, and transformation.

Villains, Helpers and Thresholds

And those so-called “villains”? I do not see them as villains at all. Patriarchy turned them into shadows, wolves, witches, dragons, fearsome figures to frighten us away from their power. But really, it is our own power they mirror back to us: instinct, intuition, raw life force, and the ability to transform. When we meet these figures within, we reclaim parts of ourselves long suppressed. The Witch becomes the Crone, carrying wisdom for thresholds and endings. The Wolf becomes a fierce protector of boundaries. And the Dragon? The Dragon is the guardian of our own inner treasure and power, waiting for us to grow strong enough to step forward and claim it.

Fairy tales also remind us of endings. Sometimes people leave our lives through choice, distance, or even death. As painful as this is, symbolically it may reflect a deeper truth: their energy is no longer aligned with where we are on our journey. In this way, every loss is also a threshold, one that asks us to meet more of ourselves, to grow into new awareness, and to walk forward carrying what was true in love.

Fairy tales remind us too that help often comes in overlooked forms. A talking bird, a humble servant, or a creature of the wild may hold the key to survival. The “simpleton,” mocked for being foolish, is often the one who succeeds where others fail, precisely because they trust what is small, quiet, or easily dismissed. These tales teach us that wisdom rarely arrives dressed in the power we expect. It slips in through the ordinary, reminding us that the sacred hides in plain sight.

Windows, Mirrors and Doorways

Windows, mirrors, and doorways are some of the ways life shows us these Selves. A window may let us see through to where another is truly coming from or reflect ourselves back depending on the angle of light. A mirror shows us our own reflection, sometimes sharply, sometimes kindly. And a doorway? That is the threshold another offers us into a new awareness. Often, whatever we see in another exists within us too, otherwise how could we see it? Some mirror to us where we are presently at and others where we have been at some point in time. Often, in any one interaction, all three roles are present at once. These are not accidents, they are guides.

The True Happily Ever After

Just like the characters in these tales, many of us spend years searching outside ourselves for happiness. We might long for “one true love” to sweep us away, believing they will complete us. And for a while, it might feel like they do. But no matter how romantic the promise, no person can be our everything, especially when we have yet to become that for ourselves.

This is where so many of us misunderstood the “happily ever after.” Disney did not exactly sell us a lie, rather, our culture mistranslated the deeper truth. Long before Disney, the tales themselves were pointing inward. The Prince and Princess were never really about someone else rescuing us. They are symbols of our own inner masculine and feminine. But growing up in a patriarchal system, we were taught to externalise everything: happiness, success, love, even salvation. No wonder so many felt or feel disillusioned when the promise did not hold.

When we look symbolically, the “kiss” that wakes the sleeping one is not about romance at all. It is about awakening, when our masculine energy of logic and clarity meets our feminine energy of intuition and creativity. In that inner union, something comes alive. Balance is restored. We no longer need someone else to complete us, though we may share life with another from a place of wholeness. This is the true happily ever after.

Every fairy tale also carries the rhythm of life itself, descent and return, death and rebirth, endings and beginnings. Sleeping Beauty is not just about a princess in slumber; it is about the necessity of rest and renewal before awakening to new life. Snow White’s glass coffin mirrors the suspended state we sometimes find ourselves in, when part of us has died but the rebirth has not yet arrived. To live consciously is to honour these cycles rather than resist them, recognising that every ending makes space for a new beginning.

The Hero Has Always Been Us

At the heart of it all, every fairy tale whispers the same truth: the hero has always been us. The dangers, helpers, and transformations we read about are mirrors of our own trials and triumphs. The quest is not about rescuing or being rescued, it is about remembering who we truly are. And in the end, to “return home” is to return to that true self, whole, awake, and fully alive.

When a child asks for a story, it may be the soul’s way of speaking, theirs, and yours. Children often choose the very tale that carries the medicine both need to hear. A bedtime request can be far more than whimsy; it can be a mirror of the family’s journey, a whisper of what the soul is trying to surface. In this way, our children become our teachers, reminding us of the truths we may have forgotten.

But we cannot hear these truths if our minds are always noisy. When we chatter constantly, whether in our heads or with our mouths, we block the whispers of Soul and nature wisdom. We need stillness. We need silence. As the saying goes: “When we speak, we only repeat what we know. When we listen, we may learn something new.”

For all of us, no matter our profession or path, this symbolic lens matters. We may find ourselves trapped in a “sleeping spell” of grief, stalked by a “wolf” of fear, or longing for the “helper” who reminds us of our strength and true nature. Fairy tales can be bridges, helping us name our inner landscapes in ways that ordinary language cannot.

The original tales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen hold far more than quaint moral lessons. They speak to the courage, faith, and trust needed to walk through life’s dark forests and return with wisdom. And they remind us that when a child asks for a certain story, it may be speaking directly to your soul as much as theirs, holding a mirror to where you are on your own journey.

After all, the so-called “real world” is itself the greatest fairy tale of all, an unfolding adventure, full of shadows and helpers, mirrors and doorways, dragons and wolves, Crone wisdom and childlike wonder. And the ending? Well, that is always up to us.

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✨ Reflective Questions

  • Which “villain” or shadow figure, Wolf, Witch, Dragon, feels most alive for you right now? What part of your own power might they be guarding?

  • When was the last time you found yourself standing at a symbolic window, mirror, or doorway? What did it show you about yourself?

  • In what ways are you seeking “happily ever after” outside yourself, and how might you turn inward to find it instead?

  • Where in your life could stillness or silence help you hear what the story of your own soul is trying to say?

  • As the hero has always been you, what chapter of your journey are you living through right now?

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📚 Recommended Reading

On the Feminine, the Crone, and Women’s Stories

  • Women Who Run with the Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estés

  • Crones Don’t Whine: Concentrated Wisdom for Juicy Women, Jean Shinoda Bolen

  • The Crone: Woman of Age, Wisdom, and Power, Barbara G. Walker

On the Masculine & Feminine Archetypes

  • King, Warrior, Magician, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine, Robert Moore & Douglas Gillette

  • The Heroine’s Journey, Maureen Murdock (a counterpart to Campbell’s Hero’s Journey)

  • The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, Sue Monk Kidd

On Fairy Tales & Symbolism

  • The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales, Bruno Bettelheim

  • Iron John: A Book About Men, Robert Bly (draws from Grimm’s tales)

  • Baba Yaga’s Assistant, Marika McCoola (a modern take on the old witch archetype)

On Myth, Archetypes & Shadow Work

  • Man and His Symbols, Carl Jung

  • Owning Your Own Shadow: Understanding the Dark Side of the Psyche, Robert A. Johnson

  • The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell

On Dragons, Treasure, and Inner Power

  • Facing the Dragon: Confronting Personal and Spiritual Grandiosity, Robert L. Moore

  • The Dragon’s Treasure: A Dreamer’s Guide to Inner Discovery, Tian Dayton

  • The Book of Dragons, Edith Nesbit (for a lighter, symbolic entry point)

On Silence, Listening & Stillness

  • The Sacred Embrace of Listening, Kay Lindahl

  • Silence: The Power of Quiet in a World Full of Noise, Thich Nhat Hanh

  • The Wisdom of the Enneagram, Don Richard Riso & Russ Hudson (includes silence as a transformative practice)

© Cheryl O’Connor, 1995, 2014 and 2025. All rights reserved.
Please do not reproduce without permission. Sharing with credit and a link is welcome.

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