A young expat living and studying in Australia has responded to a media firestorm after causing a stir by declaring the country has a “dark” problem that is “worse” than other cultures she’s experienced.
Despite ruffling some feather with her claim about the “unspoken dark side” of Australia, the young British woman said she still loves the country, “even if you don’t love me anymore”.
Eloise Juliet drew attention with her observation about people Down Under, describing a lack of emotional availability as “a very Australian-specific issue”. The woman, who is living on the Gold Coast, argued that it stemmed from a prevalence of misogyny in Aussie society and that men generally act “strangely towards women” and “treat them like objects”.
“It’s just a lot worse here,” she claimed in the clip that has been watched more than half a million times.
Noting the media attention on Friday, she said it would be the last time she addressed the issue but explained she was just trying to get her observation out there and “make other people who have had that same experience as me, feel less alone”.
“And maybe just spark some conversation among people about why this is happening and what we could do about it,” she added.
“Australia I still love you even if you don’t love me anymore,” she captioned the video on TikTok.
While Eloise did not respond to Yahoo’s request for further comment, she has remained outspoken in recent days, and indeed sparked the conversation she was hoping for.
“Your video made me feel very heard,” one follower commented overnight. “Moved to the Gold Coast last September at 18, and also go to university here but moving back to England in June,” they wrote.
On her original video, there was a mixed reaction with some Aussies critical of her take, while others thought it might have been down to a misunderstanding on her part. However plenty of others agreed there is a “sharp divide between the sexes” and a lack of emotional vulnerability among a majority of people in this country.
In the viral video, she described a certain emotional shallowness at the core of social life in Australia.
“There’s this weird oppressive strange sensation in the air where you can feel, ‘I’m not supposed to really share anything genuinely authentic about how I’m feeling.
“There’s this sense that if you do so you are not safe and it will not be well received because people here don’t know how to receive it,” she said.
It’s far from the first time a migrant has made waves with their assessment of Australian culture.
In 2023, an expat who had spent 15 years in Australia went incredibly viral after penning a lengthy essay critiquing their adopted country, diagnosing many of the same issues as Eloise, describing a sharp gender divide, a flippant attitude to social engagements, and saying that living in Australia felt like existing in the 1970s.
Gender issues takes backseat this federal election
Unlike previous federal election campaigns, the issue of violence against women, and general attitudes towards women in Australian society, have not been major talking points ahead of the May 3 poll.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has previously called it a “national crisis” while Opposition leader Peter Dutton has suggested a Royal Commission was needed to address the issue.
The topic loomed large last federal election after then PM Scott Morrison refused to meet women outside parliament during the March 4 Justice rallies, which took place around the country.
Independent MP Zoe Daniel recently wondered why the issue had seemingly fallen by the wayside. “Why is no one talking about violence against women in the lead up to the election, when women are being killed at rate of more than one a week,” she said in a video on her Facebook page last week.
Meanwhile earlier this week, Peter Dutton’s Liberal party was forced to dump a candidate who believed women should not serve in the Australian Defence Force.
Survey shows nearly a third of Australians think there’s a war on men
According to the Plan International Australia Gender Compass, which ran a survey of 2,048 Australians aged 16 and older and published the results earlier this month, there is a gap between perception and reality regarding gender equality in Australia.
“While 60 per cent of people believe we are close to or have already achieved gender equality, real-world data on the gender pay gap, workplace discrimination and under-representation of women in leadership tell a different story,” Plan International Australia chief executive Susanne Legena said.
“The fact that 50 per cent of Australians believe women are treated fairly in most areas of life ignores persistent challenges such as unpaid labour disparities, gender-based violence on our streets and in our homes and systemic barriers in career advancement.”
The survey also suggested Australia has a way to go to achieve gender equality, with 30 per cent of respondents saying there is a war on men.
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