Formalities

My ex picked me up yesterday afternoon enroute to the youngest’s pre-year 12 formal drinks.

I was carless because the youngest had commandeered it for the day to get all her various primping and prepping done.

She looked so glorious and joyful when we arrived at her friend’s house. I was proud and teary and thrilled and sad all at the same time.

(She accessorized with a friend who went to her old sports high school. Good on all the boys who turned up to a house full of strangers to be dates for the night.)

The youngest is so grown up. She is leaving home soon. I loved her intensely.

As my youngest child hurtles towards official adulthood, I find myself becoming emotional about the opportunities and obstacles she will face.

I got teary while reading a media release from Sydney Airport this week, regarding the new flyover into the domestic airport being named after aviation trailblazer Deborah Lawrie AM.

Lawrie was the first woman in Australia to become a pilot for a commercial airline, but this only happened after a ground-breaking legal battle.

Despite being qualified, Deborah’s applications to be a pilot were repeatedly rejected due to her gender.

In 1979, she won Australia’s first successful High Court sex discrimination case for employment, a decision that paved the way for women to get equal rights in workplaces across the country.

She made history on 22 January 1980 when she co-piloted an Ansett flight from Alice Springs to Darwin.

The Deborah Lawrie Flyover has been named in recognition of her significant service to aviation and her advocacy for gender equality.

Just reading those words again as I write this post made my eyes well up.

I am stunned that I was so unaware as a teenager that such discrimination still existed. And I am belatedly outraged that Deborah’s applications to become a pilot were knocked back because she was a woman.

Unfathomable. And yet we keep finding ways to discriminate against one another. No sooner do we demolish a barrier to one segment of society than we put up one for another.

Humanity, huh? I will never understand the desire to oppress others based on sex or nationality or religion or age.

As my daughter approaches her 18th birthday, I hope she gets every opportunity to follow her dreams.

Song of the day: Helen Reddy “I am woman”