For a bit of 2012 and most of 2013 I borrowed the Auckland Frocks on Bike bike to see if I could get around on two pedals. I've written about that experience here. In November last year I decided I'd been dipping my toes in for long enough and invested in a bike, complete with basket, bike lock, rear rack, and good intentions galore. My mum gave me The World's Largest Bike Bell. I decorated the basket with some flowers from a broken plastic lei.
It's actually going well. I have worked out I have poor balance (I fall off quite a bit, have trouble with take off too), and that's not all that likely to go away. I'm also rather scared of going fast, so I use the brakes a lot going downhill. People smile at me more when I have the basket on, and it's quite delightful to be able to get around my suburb and a bit further afield and say hello to those I meet on the street; something I could never do in a car.
What I've worked out is that when I cycle I feel I am a part of the neighbourhood I'm moving through, with all my senses, as opposed to being separated from it by the steel and glass shell of a car. And that's a good feeling.
Cycling has become an important part of my self-care regime, along with nice-smelling stuff from Lush, visits to Savemart, a daily dose of anti-depressants, cuddles from young children of my acquiantance, reading novels, naps, eating cake, a monthly visit to a psychotherapist, and saying a cheery hello to people on the street.
At Suffrage Day last year my colleague and friend Pippa Coom, deputy chair of the Waitemata Local Board, spoke at Khartoum Place about what a bicycle meant to women in the 1800s; freedom. I must admit I initiatlly thought that was a bit OTT, but on reflection I can feel that freedom whenever I ride. For me it's a very different freedom from that of my foremothers and -sisters, but still it is freedom that is meaningful to me now. Freedom from relying heavily on oil, freedom from traffic, freedom from being shackled to using roads to get around (cycleways through parks FTW!), freedom to experience the city around me directly. Freedom to park for free, and get some sneaky inadvertent exercise, and get more sun, and ring a bell at people with good reason.
I'm not in this for health, although cycling does help me feel better. I'm not in it to save the planet, because I know I can't do that on my own however much I can set an example. I'm not in it to save money, appreciated consequence though that is. I'm in it because in my current circumstances it is simply the best way for me to get around most of the time, and it helps me to feel well.
The bike I was previously borrowing felt like it acquired a name after a while (Bertie), but I haven't taken the step with the new one yet. I've thought about Decca, and Agnes, and Ingrid, but I'm open to your suggestions. Bruiser or Freedom seem more appropriate some days! Feel free to leave your ideas in comments.
Showing posts with label Suffrage Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Suffrage Day. Show all posts
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Women's Choice 2011 - Auckland, 7pm, tonight!
WHO: Speakers from Labour, the Greens, ACT, Mana and National are confirmed - all Parliamentary parties have been invited. Dr Judy McGregor, the EEO Commissioner, will chair.
The party reps are:
National - Dr Jackie Blue MP
Labour - Carol Beaumont MP
Greens - Catherine Delahunty MP
ACT - Kath McCabe
Mana - Sue Bradford
VENUE: In LibB10, which is directly underneath the UOA General Library, on Alfred St in the heart of campus. (Link to map below)
FORMAT: Three minute stump speeches from each party, followed by written questions from a variety of women's organisations. At last count we have at least 10 of these, which is a great response. After that there will be written questions from the floor, as time allows.
FB event page
A preview of the event in The Aucklander today.
A map of the University including accessible parking spots.
Monday, 19 September 2011
NZ Speculative Fiction Blogging Week: Women in Power
I'm super happy to be able to kill two birds with one stone and write a post that serves as not only a suffrage day post but also part of NZ Speculative Fiction Blogging Week. It's a snapshot of an honours research essay in progress and all my half formed ideas about the texts, so my apologies for this being so 'bitty' and the lack of conclusions - I'm not even going to make an attempt to have the paragraphs naturally flow into each other.
The topic is looking at two novels written the late nineteenth century which portray a future New Zealand in which women hold political office. I'm looking at how far these matched and related to the reality and the conceptions of gender they explore.
The two main texts (their titles link to free ebooks via the NZETC):
Julius Vogel's ‘Anno Domini 2000: Woman’s Destiny’ imagines the world in the year 2000, in which women, by common though not universal assent, are the primary holders of political office simply because they are believed to be better suited to the task. It primarily follows both the political career and romantic exploits of 23 year old Under Secretary for Home Affairs (later Imperial Prime Minister) Hilda Fitzherbert, but large sections of the novel are devoted to explorations of both political systems and technological developments. Vogel was a prime minister of New Zealand, responsible for introducing an earlier (unsuccessful) suffrage bill, and 'Anno Domini' is widely - though inaccurately - considered to the the first NZ science fiction novel (though it was certainly one of the earliest). It received a lot of attention in the year 2000 for the accuracy of its prediction, not just in terms of women's place in society - in his introduction to the rereleased version Roger Robinson lists some of these (I would dispute some of his points, but they are still significant).
Less well known, and considerably more bizarre, is Edward Tregear's 'Hedged with Divinities' which follows the journey of a male protagonist who wakes us from a trance to find that all men (globally) have died of a plague which remains unexplained. In their absence, and in the face of the incompetence and shock of the remaining women – the socio-political institutions and the infrastructure of the country have collapsed, and Jack (the protagonist) sets about restoring the country to a functioning society. However the question of repopulation remains, and he reluctantly agrees to a mass marriage, despite his only interest being in his lover, Nelly, and at the end of the novel, as babies (both male and female) are born to his wives, he sets sail for a remote pacific island with her.
Things I am writing about, or that I've noticed, include:
The topic is looking at two novels written the late nineteenth century which portray a future New Zealand in which women hold political office. I'm looking at how far these matched and related to the reality and the conceptions of gender they explore.
The two main texts (their titles link to free ebooks via the NZETC):
Julius Vogel's ‘Anno Domini 2000: Woman’s Destiny’ imagines the world in the year 2000, in which women, by common though not universal assent, are the primary holders of political office simply because they are believed to be better suited to the task. It primarily follows both the political career and romantic exploits of 23 year old Under Secretary for Home Affairs (later Imperial Prime Minister) Hilda Fitzherbert, but large sections of the novel are devoted to explorations of both political systems and technological developments. Vogel was a prime minister of New Zealand, responsible for introducing an earlier (unsuccessful) suffrage bill, and 'Anno Domini' is widely - though inaccurately - considered to the the first NZ science fiction novel (though it was certainly one of the earliest). It received a lot of attention in the year 2000 for the accuracy of its prediction, not just in terms of women's place in society - in his introduction to the rereleased version Roger Robinson lists some of these (I would dispute some of his points, but they are still significant).
Less well known, and considerably more bizarre, is Edward Tregear's 'Hedged with Divinities' which follows the journey of a male protagonist who wakes us from a trance to find that all men (globally) have died of a plague which remains unexplained. In their absence, and in the face of the incompetence and shock of the remaining women – the socio-political institutions and the infrastructure of the country have collapsed, and Jack (the protagonist) sets about restoring the country to a functioning society. However the question of repopulation remains, and he reluctantly agrees to a mass marriage, despite his only interest being in his lover, Nelly, and at the end of the novel, as babies (both male and female) are born to his wives, he sets sail for a remote pacific island with her.
Things I am writing about, or that I've noticed, include:
Happy Suffrage Day!
Although as AnneE points out some people seem to have neglected to remember what today means, I've been heartened by the tweets and Facebook status updates expressing Happy Suffrage Day sentiments. Not just from women either. Take this example from Idiot/Savant marking the day, and also how far we still have to go to achieve fair political representation for women, even here in Aotearoa New Zealand where women have had the vote for 118 years now.
It's also a timely point to thank our readers, and the blogging team, for the community that we all contribute to here. There have been some tough times since last Suffrage Day, and The Hand Mirroristas still have some work to do on issues identified by readers, so we thank you for your goodwill and feministy comradeness as we work through those behind the scenes.
And if you're in Auckland on Thursday night we would love love love to see you at this year's Suffrage Eve debate - Women's Choice 2011 - 7pm in LibB10, in the basement of the University of Auckland's main library, on Alfred St in the city. If you do the Facebook thing you can find lots of info here, and if not then there are links to helpful stuff like maps here. Oh, and since I wrote that last post we now have a fifth candidate confirmed - Sue Bradford speaking for Mana. Hope to see you there.
Don't mention the day
Yesterday's Sunday Star-Times had a great article by Anthony Hubbard, "The blokes are back in charge", pointing out that women still don't have anything like equal representation in political power and have in fact lost ground. But strangely he didn't once mention that today marks the 118th aniversary of New Zealand women winning the vote.
Not that I expected any of the national media to notice this. Even Kathryn Ryan this morning seems to be ignoring it completely. With no apparent sense of irony, she's hosting a discussion by "two elder statesmen of NZ politics", Michael Cullen and Jim Bolger, on "how MMP really works and its future in New Zealand". No doubt they were going to talk approvingly at some point about how it has increased the number of women MPs. (For a neat video showing its impact, go here.)
Ridiculous dream of the month: a new national holiday marking Suffrage Day, with events all over the country celebrating how much progress NZ has made each year in terms of gender equality and looking at how we can do better still. Nothing like the WC, of course, and no government funding. We know our place.
Hubbard did point out that the WC is the ultimate blokefest. I'd missed the astonishing incident where the Prime Minister of Australia was ordered off the leaders' bus and told to travel on the spouses' bus, but it did seem to sum up very neatly where we've got to: now and then a woman gets to be leader, but she's never allowed to forget that she's out of place, and it will be a very long time before another one is able to make it that far.
Not that I expected any of the national media to notice this. Even Kathryn Ryan this morning seems to be ignoring it completely. With no apparent sense of irony, she's hosting a discussion by "two elder statesmen of NZ politics", Michael Cullen and Jim Bolger, on "how MMP really works and its future in New Zealand". No doubt they were going to talk approvingly at some point about how it has increased the number of women MPs. (For a neat video showing its impact, go here.)
Ridiculous dream of the month: a new national holiday marking Suffrage Day, with events all over the country celebrating how much progress NZ has made each year in terms of gender equality and looking at how we can do better still. Nothing like the WC, of course, and no government funding. We know our place.
Hubbard did point out that the WC is the ultimate blokefest. I'd missed the astonishing incident where the Prime Minister of Australia was ordered off the leaders' bus and told to travel on the spouses' bus, but it did seem to sum up very neatly where we've got to: now and then a woman gets to be leader, but she's never allowed to forget that she's out of place, and it will be a very long time before another one is able to make it that far.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Women's Choice 2011 update
Three invites are outstanding, to United Future, Mana and the Maori Party. We've still yet to talk to an actual person from the first, and will be chasing all three up in the next week. If anyone has any inside contacts in United Future in particular please let me know! Reasonably confident we'll have someone from Mana, no idea about the Maori Party.
Plus we have a snazzy poster, which you can see illustrating this post, thanks very kindly to Nick at AUSA for the designing and the Women's Rights Officers there for organising it.
WHAT: Women's Choice 2011 - The second Suffrage Eve Debate, featuring women , political discussion, and cupcakes
WHEN: Thursday 22nd September 2011, 7pm
WHERE: Lecture Theatre LibB10, under the University Library, University of Auckland, Alfred St, City
WHO: Female candidates from each of the Parliamentary parties giving a short stump speech and then responding to questions from various women's organisations and the floor (see below for more info). Chaired by Dr Judy McGregor, the EEO Commissioner.
WHO BY: Organised by the Auckland Women's Centre plus bloggers at The Hand Mirror, and with the graceful assistance of the Campus Feminist Collective of AUSA.
HELPFUL LINKS:
- Facebook event page
- UOA City Campus Map [PDF] - look for building 109 (General Library), includes locations of parking (including accessible parking) and bus stops
- Google Map of UOA City Campus
Confirmed speakers so far are:
- Chair - Dr Judy McGregor
- Greens - Catherine Delahunty
- Labour - Carol Beaumont
- National - Dr Jackie Blue
- ACT - Kath McCabe (scroll down to no. 9)
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Women's Choice 2011 - this year's Suffrage Eve debate
WHAT: Women's Choice 2011 - The second Suffrage Eve Debate, featuring women , political discussion, and cupcakesWHEN: Thursday 22nd September 2011, 7pm
WHERE: Lecture Theatre LibB10, under the University Library, University of Auckland, Alfred St, City
WHO: Female candidates from each of the Parliamentary parties giving a short stump speech and then responding to questions from various women's organisations and the floor (see below for more info). Chaired by Dr Judy McGregor, the EEO Commissioner.
WHO BY: Organised by the Auckland Women's Centre plus bloggers at The Hand Mirror, and with the graceful assistance of the Campus Feminist Collective of AUSA.
HELPFUL LINKS:
- Facebook event page
- UOA City Campus Map [PDF] - look for building 109 (General Library), includes locations of parking (including accessible parking) and bus stops
- Google Map of UOA City Campus
Confirmed speakers so far are:
- Chair - Dr Judy McGregor
- Greens - Catherine Delahunty
- Labour - Carol Beaumont
We are approaching various women's organisations for a written question from each which they can supply ahead of time. Feel free to suggest organisations for us to approach in comments.
Please note this is NOT an Auckland Central debate. We have specifically asked parties not to send their Auckland Central candidates as we want this to focus on women's issues in Aotearoa New Zealand. Would love to see any Auckland Central candidates in the crowd, of course!
The inaugural Suffrage Eve debate was in 2008. While intentions to do this annually have been frustrated by Real Life, maybe we'll get around to making that work in 2012...
Sunday, 19 September 2010
Suffrage Day!
Cross posted
On this day, 117 years ago, women in the New Zealand got the right to vote. On 19 September, 1893, the Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed the Electoral Act giving all New Zealand women the right to vote. New Zealand was one of the earliest self-governing territories in the world to enfranchise women, and the earliest nation to do so. It's a proud moment in our history. Alas, it took another 26 years before women were entitled to stand for Parliament, and another 14 years after that before Elizabeth McCombs became the first woman to win a seat.
The suffragists fought a long battle to gain the vote, presenting three massive petitions to Parliament. The third and final petition had 32,000 signatures on it. The petition is on display in the National Archives in Wellington, and you can walk in there and take a look, just like that.
When I looked at the 1893 suffrage petition, what struck me was the street addresses of the people who had signed it. There was signature after signature from the same street. It is a record of a woman, or perhaps a man, going from door to door, up and down the streets, knocking and asking for signatures.
There's a lovely story about one signature on the petition. It comes from Mrs Perryman's account of the suffrage campaign and voting for the first time on the elections.org.nz site.
If you are in Wellington, do take a moment to have a look. The Archives are at 10 Mulgrave Street, just across the road from the Thistle, where Te Rauparaha is said to have had a drink from time to time, and one block over from Parliament.
On this day, 117 years ago, women in the New Zealand got the right to vote. On 19 September, 1893, the Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed the Electoral Act giving all New Zealand women the right to vote. New Zealand was one of the earliest self-governing territories in the world to enfranchise women, and the earliest nation to do so. It's a proud moment in our history. Alas, it took another 26 years before women were entitled to stand for Parliament, and another 14 years after that before Elizabeth McCombs became the first woman to win a seat.
The suffragists fought a long battle to gain the vote, presenting three massive petitions to Parliament. The third and final petition had 32,000 signatures on it. The petition is on display in the National Archives in Wellington, and you can walk in there and take a look, just like that.
When I looked at the 1893 suffrage petition, what struck me was the street addresses of the people who had signed it. There was signature after signature from the same street. It is a record of a woman, or perhaps a man, going from door to door, up and down the streets, knocking and asking for signatures.
There's a lovely story about one signature on the petition. It comes from Mrs Perryman's account of the suffrage campaign and voting for the first time on the elections.org.nz site.
It meant hard work to collect those signatures, and we met many women who told us quite emphatically they wanted nothing to do with politics. Mrs T. E. Taylor, wife of a very prominent independent member [of Parliament], used to tell a good tale about one of these reluctant women. The lady firmly declined to sign the petition, and firmly shut the door in Mrs Taylor's face. But before Mrs Taylor could reach the front gate she was called back. 'Yes', said the lady, 'I will sign your petition, just to vote against that man Tommy Taylor'.
If you are in Wellington, do take a moment to have a look. The Archives are at 10 Mulgrave Street, just across the road from the Thistle, where Te Rauparaha is said to have had a drink from time to time, and one block over from Parliament.
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