Yes, ladies and gents, I am about to vent about age discrimination in the
twenty-first century.
You would think that applying for work in the legal field would mean there is less discrimination, as they know these laws are enforced. WRONG. I am quickly discovering that the legal industry is one of the worst when it comes to discrimination, as they know HOW to evade the law. This realisation is slowly shattering my faith in humanity; or at least my faith in Australia's legal profession.
Nevermind the other aspects of myself that I could be discriminated against - namely the fact that I am female, or that I am a parent (and a single parent at that!). Oh no, let us focus on this one aspect, as it is the one that is hard to hide from potential employers. YES, I did just say "
hide from potential employers", because let's face it, I have to hide the fact that I am doing an amazing job raising Spawn on my own. Lest nobody hire me because I spend my 'free time' raising a human being.
I digress. The relevant subsections of s.3 of the
Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cth)* state the following:
The objects of this Act are:
(a) to eliminate, as far as possible,
discrimination against persons on the ground of age in the areas of work,
education, access to premises, the provision of goods, services and facilities,
accommodation, the disposal of land, the administration of Commonwealth laws
and programs and requests for information; and
(d) to promote recognition and
acceptance within the community of the principle that people of all ages have
the same fundamental rights; and
(e) to respond to demographic change
by:
(i) removing barriers to
older people participating in society, particularly in the workforce; and
(ii) changing negative
stereotypes about older people;
Bearing in mind the
international commitment to eliminate age discrimination reflected in the
Political Declaration adopted in Madrid, Spain on 12 April 2002 by the
Second World Assembly on Ageing.
And I KNOW this is happening to me. I know, because I was told that I would more than likely be unsuccessful at one particular interview, once she discovered what year I finished high school. Like, I knew she was fishing for my age without coming out and asking me directly how old I am, because my date of birth is irrelevant, but I honestly was not expecting to have that response straight to my face. It angered me so badly. Like, you cannot even begin to fathom the anger that flowed through my veins as I watched the expression on her face transform from pleasant to 'I need to hurry up and get this lady out of my office - a 29 year old trying to start a new career path is a waste of my time'. That is the EXACT look that came upon her face. Disgusting. I did think of later sending her an email quoting the Act, but thought better of it. I'm better than her - I'm better than all of those stinking discriminating bastards.
And that, people, is how you own the shit out of your circumstances. You OWN your flaws right alongside your strengths. Sure, I'm turning 30 this year. But I also won't be running off to take maternity leave in a couple of years. I won't be changing career paths, because this will be my career until I retire. I won't react childishly to certain things, because I've lived longer than some fresh out of school kid. I will handle pressure and bad days better than a teenager, because I put things into perspective and know that it's easier to just GET. IT. DONE. But whatever, their loss. Someone will hire me. And they won't regret it, because I am amazing, and I refuse to let this discriminative bullshit get me down. I will one day look down at those pathetic people and smile - smile because I won.
Peace out.
- L. x
**The Act can be found
here.
