Women's Suffrage - 120 years on

NCW speaker Rosalie welcoming us
 to the breakfast at Heavey Hall, Napier.

On Saturday I attended the annual Women's Suffrage breakfast, organised by the National Council of Women to commemorate women getting the vote on 19 September, 1893 - 120 years ago now.  

The theme was women in non-traditional work, and as Rosalie, who welcomed us on behalf of the NCW said, women still have a long way to go.  

Fewer than one percent of our builders are women, two per cent of electricians, only 13 per cent of engineers.

On this topic, we heard from four women who were working locally in non-traditional jobs - a chartered accountant, a mechanic, an electrician and a firefighter.

The speakers - Elizabeth, Anna,
Nicky, Danny and NCW chair Kay.

Their stories had recurring themes: of having to prove themselves every day; of being mistaken for the receptionist; of comments like: "can I talk to one of the boys?"; of feeling like they have to be better than the other workers, because of their gender.

Danny, a mechanic who is now service manager in a local garage, came to New Zealand from Switzerland, fully qualified but had to start out as a car groomer.  

When she did get a job as a mechanic she had to go over the road to use a toilet, and had a broom closet for her changing room.  She loves her job, and wants to own her own workshop.

The indominitable Isabel Morgan
putting a smile on our faces.

Nicky, who's been a fire fighter for nine years, said that unlike the police, women have to meet the same strength standards to qualify, such as dragging a 90 kg weight, because she had to show she could cope with rescuing a 100 kg man.  

Like the others, she loves her work and wishes she had started earlier.

Anna, an apprentice electrician, said she'd had few problems, and was working for her father.  She said older women clients seem particularly happy to see a woman doing their "sparkies" work.  

Elizabeth, the chartered accountant said fewer than 10 per cent of her colleagues were women when she entered the profession in the 1980s, and locally only three to four per cent.  

Breakfast!

One of the problems she had was men-only networks such as men's clubs and Rotary which excluded women. Now over 40 per cent of the profession, women have proved themselves.  

While New Zealand was the first country in the Commonwealth to admit women into the profession; but reports at the time showed women were regarded with suspicion because they were "too impulsive and full of sentiment".

As well as these women, I looked around and saw others in "non-traditional" jobs. 

Local Body Candidates
Michelle Pyke (Napier Mayor and Councillor candidate);
Pauline Elliot (HB Regional Council candidate);
Beverley Fullerton-Smith (HB DHB candidate) and
 myself (Nelson Park ward candidate)

Barbara Arnott, Napier's Mayor, was there, part of a council six out of 13 members of which are women; and sitting at my table, a dentist. The message came across loud and clear: follow your dream, don't be put off by the stereotypes, and have faith in yourself and your abilities. 

And make sure you vote in the upcoming local body elections: it's another way of honoring and thanking the trail-blazing suffragists who fought for us to participate fully in democratic government.