This last week, New Zealand has been celebrating 125 years of women’s suffrage, as we gained the vote back in 1893. I wrote a poem on my daily blog about it back in August – it was Poetry month – and thought I’d reproduce it below, not because it merits it, but because the subject matter does.
It is significant when we realise that the US will have to wait until 2045 to celebrate 125 years of suffrage, the UK until 2053, Australia will have to wait until 2087* and Saudi Arabia, until 2140. When I joke that we are ahead of the rest of the world (due to our position next to the International Date Line), I’m not entirely joking.
125 years later, our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is this week at the UN. She said at a public session the other day,
“We’ve had three female Prime Ministers. It’s really no big deal, guys.”
Unfortunately, for so many countries, it still is a big deal.
“As children, with no
Brothers, living in the
Country, we
Did
Everything a boy would, and more, because – mere
Females still – we were taller, stronger, faster.
Glimmers of hope for the future, were
Helped by remembrance of the past.
In our nearby town, there stood only one statue, which
Justified my hope that with
Knowledge and determination, my
Lot wasn’t predestined.
Margaret Cruickshank, my statuesque inspiration, was
NZ’s first woman GP, and alive in 1893, when
Our country led the world. Time has
Passed, 125 years now.
Quality is what matters, not
Restricted views on
She or he, no
Thoughts that might
Unfairly restrict our
Vote.
We celebrate our suffrage this year, though Pope St.
Xystus 1st would no doubt not approve of our leader, a
Youthful, unmarried, new mum. But fear not, men, this is no
Zugzwang. There’s no battle, and no loss.”
* Australian indigenous people, men or women, did not receive the vote until 1962.
I’m so happy to read this again. And appalled by the slowness of everything.
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I saw an article this morning reporting on her being at the UN with her baby. It noted that NZ had “only” had three Prime Ministers. We can’t win!
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I didn’t know that New Zealand gained the vote as long ago as 1893. Mali your poem is excellent: it reads really well. I don’t know the terminology but it trips off the tongue nicely: I think you have a talent there!
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You’re too kind!
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