Grace White
PENRITH High School captain Grace White wants International Women’s Day (March 8) to become irrelevant.
She would like to see the day when no one thinks it unusual for women to have the same expectations, opportunities and respect that men have.
‘‘It would be good if we reach the point where having a female prime minister isn’t seen as such a great upheaval of everything,’’ Grace said.
‘‘Where the news about her isn’t absurd, such as about what she’s wearing.’’
She said in her own case, being female has not so far prevented her doing most things she wanted nor has it curbed her ambitions.
‘‘I’d like to be an academic lecturing in comparative literature,’’ Grace said.
‘‘I’d love to keep interest in literature going because it’s not dead and it helps represent reality.’’
She is also interested in history and has noted how women fared in the past, from having to fight for the right to vote to today’s struggles for adequate child-care.
‘‘I appreciate the fact that women can now get as much exposure as men,’’ Grace said.
‘‘For instance, I never trail second to Penrith High’s male captain, Ross Penninkilampi.’’
She said as a child she sometimes accepted there were things a girl could not do.
‘‘Such as playing soccer instead of netball,’’ Grace said.
‘‘But I wasn’t that good at sport anyway so I didn’t care.’’
She did other things unusual for her gender, such as playing trombone in a swing band, but at least no one said she could not do it.