Girls CAN Do Anything, as Network Ten / Netflix Teen Drama Dive Club Reminds Us. Compared to our menopausal generation and the battles we fought for recognition, things are looking up.
Girls Can Do Anything
Growing up in the 1970s the messages on the posters on the walls of Greensburg Elementary School boasted ‘Girls Can Do Anything’. As a small town Kansas girl I internalised that message and took it to heart.
But what we weren’t told was it would be an uphill battle.
We could and did do anything, but I challenge you to find a woman over 50 who doesn’t have a story of a major career battle that was fought because of her gender.
Learning to navigate the issues of gender bias, handsy bosses, and male colleagues who still believed a woman’s place was in the home were essential skills in the unwritten playbook of making it to the top in the 1980s.
I’ll never forget making my way to the podium at age 24 for one of the proudest moments of my academic life only to feel a sharp pinch on my bottom as I made my way past the vice chancellor. The colleague beside him confirmed that indeed they felt I was a ‘bit of all right’. I can confirm the bloke who received the same research fellowship the year prior didn’t cop a pinch.
The Extras Experience
A recent foray into the world of being a film set Extra brought home how much the world has changed. The message is no longer ‘Girls Can Do Anything’; today it is ‘Women Are Doing Everything’ and it is not a big deal.
Side comments and unwarranted physical advances like so many of us experienced in previous decades today result in the offenders being walked off set and struggling to find industry work ever again. And that discovery is how my feminist brain came to explode with resounding joy.
Brisbane based production house The Steve Jaggi Company made Port Douglas in Far North Queensland their Australian COVID-safe home for the filming of Season One of teen drama Dive Club.
This ray of hope during an otherwise rather dreary year injected nearly $8 million into the Queensland economy. The region was abuzz with excitement having them here to film in a remote location instead of the usual big city studio locations.
A social media post calling for local Extras to play Cape Mercy townsfolk provided the perfect excuse for me and a friend to reprioritize spending time together, even if it meant the uncomfortable COVID nose jab to be allowed on set. Best intentions of quality time were superseded by losses of immediate family members, arrivals of little ones and harried schedules, so committing to a filming schedule provided the perfect solution to guarantee a proper catch up.
Most Extras bemoan the long periods of waiting to be called, but for my bestie & me those were the bits we’d been yearning for. We giggled and laughed our way through the idle hours.
Reconnecting and renewing our friendship was the perfect remedy for those menopausal blues. But the best bit for both of us was watching the crew on set move together as a well-oiled machine, completely oblivious to how magical the crew’s gender imbalance was. A gender imbalance in the favour of women, that is.
Yes, Dive Club was a predominantly female led crew right the way through.
The Dive Club Powerhouses
No one thought it unusual that director Hayley MacFarlane would need maternity leave mid-shoot. Remember in the ‘80s when even mentioning that you might want to start a family heralded the death knell for any opportunity or promotion? This talented director could be honest about her pregnancy and still be selected on her merit. Yes! Did I mention my feminist brain exploding with joy?
Award-winning screenwriter Claire J Harris was among the talented pool of writers. And for any of you Brazen Hussies fans out there, you’ll be pleased know Kylie Pascoe co-produced Dive Club alongside Kelly Son Hing.
Male crew members didn’t feel threatened by female leadership. Times. Have. Changed. Watching this tight knit crew work their magic from a female base made our little Extras hearts soar. Gender did not matter to any of the crew.
Screen Australia research reports that 56% of all Australian produced media have at least 50% female representation on their creative teams, compared with 14% female directors in the 1970s.
A friend who was a successful camerawoman in Europe turned her hand to a different career when she emigrated to Australia in the 2000s because she didn’t want to face the battle of working her way up through a predominantly male dominated segment of the industry all over again.
Those woes are a thing of the past as American cinematographer Rachel Morrison recently proved. Rachel became the first woman nominated for Best Cinematography at the Oscars. Morrison hopes she’s paving the way for other women to be recognized for their talent and their work.
My daughters pursued hitherto male-dominated careers. They are still seen as female firsts. But now with this next generation, the phrase ‘girls can do anything’ is no longer relevant. Girls ARE doing anything. Regardless of profession, gender is irrelevant.
Less Gender Barriers for the Future
The same week as my friend and I began as Extras on the Dive Club set I attended the Radiance 2020 Illuminating the Strength Within conference. Keynote speaker James Mousa, founder of Life Sumo, provided us with Piper’s Guide, a 6 point reference guide to life for his newborn daughter.
Nowhere in his message was there any mention of barriers his daughter would face growing up because of her gender.
It was the most wonderful ‘A-ha!’ moment. The Dive Club crew, a new father, not seeing gender as an issue… I am thrilled beyond belief at how much our world has changed. For the better.
Kids, you’ve got this! You’re all going to grow up doing what you want to do, being who you want to be, and totally rockin’ whatever makes your heart sing.
There will still be bullies, there will still be occasional barriers, success will still require tireless effort and dedication, but fighting to be accepted because of your gender is one less fight you’ll have to fight.
To all my fellow feminist activists and the bra burners who preceded us— we did it. I know we’re still battling for equal CEO representation at the top, emotional labour equity and full transparent equal pay across all sectors, but in Dive Club we have had a major win.
Let’s Celebrate and Binge Watch Dive Club
Let’s celebrate the victories and shout them from the rooftop, or, in this case, from the reef.
Time to pop the champagne and celebrate. I know that’s what I’ll be doing when binge watching Series One of Dive Club on Network Ten later this year. If you’re reading this outside of Australia, you can catch Dive Club on Netflix across the globe from late 2021.
Dive Club was filmed on Eastern Kuku Yalanji Country whose Elders past, present and emerging this proud extra honours & acknowledges with deep abiding respect.
