Identify Aspects Of Australian And Iranian

Society And Culture That Are Similar And

Different
There are many aspects of Australian and Iranian society and culture that are different, as well as a
few that are similar. In comparison to the similarities, there are more dominant differences. These
aspects include certain parts of Australian and Iranian history, ethnicity, language, social structure,
and ideals and beliefs.

In terms of history, Iran’s history dates back way further than Australia’s, due to Australia’s
discovery being more recent than Iran’s. Iran has had a few periods of political and social unrest,
whereas to this point, Australia hasn’t had many issues. Between 224-651 A.D Sassaniors ruled
Iran and Zoroastrianism was the dominant religion, but soon after, the Arabs invaded and
introduced Islam. By 1500, kings started ruling Persia. Between 1941 and 1978 there was political
unrest. Shah came under the western powers influences. The year after, Shah was forced into exile
and the religious leader, Ayatallah Rhomeneii returned from exile and proclaimed the Islamic
Republic of Iran. Not long after, the Iran-Iraq war took place, so as can be seen, many problems
dominated Iran. In Australia, 40-60 years ago, Aboriginal people were found to have lived ere. In
1770, Captain Cook ‘found’ Australia and claimed it for the British Empire as he saw the
Aboriginals as not being a ‘civilised society’. Aboriginal people were disposed of and lost their
culture and identity. Over the next 200 years though, diverse groups of people migrated to
Australia in ‘waves’, for example, the Chinese and Lebanese.

Ethnicity is also an aspect which shows differences and similarities between Australian and Iranian
society and culture. For example, both countries contain diverse groups of people. Australia is
filled with diverse groups of people who all migrated and set up new communities, such as the
Vietnamese, Chinese, Lebanese, Aboriginal, New Zealanders and so on. Iran also has a
considerable ethnic diversity because of groups that have invaded. The minorities include Azaris,
Kurds, Arabs and Lors.

Language is an aspect which shows a clear difference between these two countries. The main
language spoken in Australia is English, whereas the main language spoken in Iran is Farsi. While
English is the main language in Australia, different ethnic groups have their own languages as well.
The same case goes for Iran, as Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish and Bakhtari are spoken there too.

Social structure is another aspect which highlights the differences and similarities between
Australia and Iran. In terms of similarities, both of these countries have a patriarchal society. In
Australia though, males and females are seen as ‘equal’, which is not the case in Iran, where men
are seen to be superior to women. Here, the nuclear family consists of 2 parents and 3 kids. There
are also single parent families, same sex couples, de facto families and extended families. In Iran
the families are small, but rely heavily on extended families. Also, the elderly members of the
families stay at home, not in nursing homes.

Another aspect of Australian and Iranian society and culture which differs is the ideals and beliefs.
Here, in Australia, we have ‘Australian values’, which mainly refers to our background rather than
our religion. We have a multicultural and multi-faith society which allows more people to vocalize
their opinions and views. Australia also consists of a diverse range of religions such as Christianity,
Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. It is also a nation which is more open about
controversial views. In Iran, the dominant religion is Islam, although people of other faiths such as
Judaism and Christianity live there as well. Iran is a country which has quite a large number of
restrictive views on many topics such as premarital sex, sex education, homosexuality and divorce.
Another difference in this aspect is that that in Australia, independence, equality, balance and
privacy are highly valued, whereas that is not quite the case in Iran.

In conclusion, these two countries, Australia and Iran have many similar and different aspects in
regards to their society and culture, despite one country being a western power. This goes to show
that not many stereotypes should be believed, and even though there are differences between
societies, there are also similarities which can be just as dominant.