Beyond Kate

RNZ Originals

Women won the right to vote in New Zealand in 1893. On the 125th anniversary we look back at battles won & debate battles still being fought. Historians and ordinary women share their stories.

Season 1

  1. EPISODE 1

    Unwrapping the Suffrage Petition

    Gaining the vote was a battle hard won for New Zealand women. Episode one of Beyond Kate visits the petition, hears about the woman whose name sits atop it & looks at the lives of rural women then and now. It's a frosty, wintry Christchurch day when Peter Aitken and his wife Margaret take me on a drive to a cemetery in Yaldhurst where his great grandmother, Mary Jane Carpenter, and her husband, George Frederick Carpenter are buried. While those names may not mean much to you, Mary Jane's should. She has a special place in the story of this nation and we're at the cemetery - where Peter used to have acorn battles as a child - to record part of this week's episode of RNZ's suffrage podcast, Beyond Kate. The Kate in the title is of course, Kate Sheppard. But this series will look at the lives of other women back in the 1890s and the lives of women today to ask how far we have - and haven't - come in the 125 years since New Zealand became the first country where women were able to vote. Mary Jane Carpenter is one of the more than 30,000 women who signed the 1893 petition that successfully went through parliament. That was a quarter of all adult Pākehā women in New Zealand at the time. The petition comprises of around 500 sheets of paper that together measured 270m. They were glued together, rolled up on a segment of a broom handle and presented to parliament. What makes Mary Jane's name special is that hers is the signature right at the top of page one. The very first. Mary Jane lived first in Yaldhurst, and later Riccarton, where all the action was taking place around the petition. Kate Sheppard led the campaign along with a group of women who were members of the Women's Christian Temperance Union. The sheets were mailed out around the country to other members of the WCTU who circulated them door-to-door to households across the country. "Formidable, that's how I would describe ," says Aitken. "To be proactive on women's rights or seeking women's vote...you had to have a fair bit of guts to stand up and propose those sorts of propositions". Mary Jane arrived in New Zealand in 1870, with her parents and two siblings. She was in her early twenties and a domestic servant. But before long she married George, having seven children and helping run their 260 acre farm. As well as climbing the class ladder, Mary Jane was a staunch Methodist. And for many women who supported suffrage, religion and temperance were the driving force behind the movement… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    52 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    The Useful Woman

    Episode Two of Beyond Kate explores politics, the reality of women at the polling booths, and Victorian attitudes that kept women in the home. It's 2018 and we have our third female Prime Minister. Back in 1893 when women's right to vote was being debated in parliament, opponents mocked the mere idea of women MPs and laughed at the scenario of a nursing mother handing over her baby to address the House. So much has changed in the 125 years since women won the vote, and having a Prime Minister who has given birth while in office is empowering to women like me. It challenges even my own stereotypes of women who make it to the top and the choices they make to get there. It reflects new ideas of womanhood and, lest we forget, having our third female Prime Minister is a big deal. Most countries still have never had a single woman leader, let alone three. Professor Charlotte McDonald from Victoria University says the vote - and the leadership roles that have come since - were not easily won. "It wasn't something whereby you woke up the next day and low and behold, women have got the vote. It was a big, energetic campaign," she says from her sunny Wellington office. "They had to rely on pretty labour-intensive forms of political agitation most of didn't have vast amounts of money or time." If we look back to the 1890s, while the class structure was flatter than back in 'the home country', it wasn't exactly an egalitarian landscape for a woman. Public life was for men; women stayed at home and church. Polling booths and parliament were definitely no-go zones for "the fairer sex". They were seen as raucous environments where foul language was freely used, and which, women would be best protected from. That was one of the key points used by those opposed to women's suffrage. On the surface it was an argument purporting to support women, but from the 21st century it looks more like a male attempt to maintain the status quo and keep women out of the business of politics. So why was New Zealand the first self-governing nation where women could vote? Kate Hunter, professor of history at Victoria University, says it was partly out of practicality. "In Victorian Britain, women's roles were narrowly confined the stereotype was that were the 'angel' in the home," she says. That angel might have been doing needlework by the fireplace, learning French and playing piano. But here in New Zealand the demands for women were very different. Hunter says the places where women gained the vote were those where women as workers were crucial to daily existence. … Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    52 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Standing Their Ground

    Episode Three of Beyond Kate explores property and divorce rights for women, the age of consent, and even the right for women to wear what they want... early social reforms still being debated today. We have a tendency to view great moments in history through a lens of great people and their extraordinary skill and will. We look back and see social upheaval - such as New Zealand becoming the first country where women could vote - as almost inevitable. But nothing happens in isolation; we're not celebrating 125 years of women's suffrage this year simply because Kate Sheppard was a great organiser or because Prime Minister Richard Seddon mishandled the politics. No, a number of trends, events and individual actions played a hand in winning women the vote, including advances in technology and fashion. Because the story of women's power in this country is also the story of pedal power. And of fashion choices. And even of a wife willing to take her husband to court. The "quiet heroines" at the heart of these lesser known moment in history are key to the social reform that came with women's suffrage and are the focus of this week's episode. In the 1880s, the "safety bicycle" started to spread through the country and for women who could afford them, it was a liberation. It gave women, so often confined to the home and its endless household duties, access to public life. They could travel under their own steam; to meet and organise, to rally, and to collect petition signatures. When women came together to ride, it was also a chance to talk about the change they wanted to see. Kate Sheppard, for example, belonged to the Atalanta Ladies' Cycling Club in Christchurch; the first all women cycling club in Australasia. They organised picnic and day trips and, before long, petitions. Te Papa's senior curator in New Zealand History and Culture Claire Regnault said Sheppard was a founding member and that with the cycling craze came other social reform. "Women are moving into a public sphere and are beginning to adapt to more male clothing," Regnault said. They moved away from impractical silk and corsets to more hardy tweed. That meant more freedom. Yet changing your clothes did not come easy. In 1892, the Atalanta bikers wore knickerbockers on one ride and found abuse and even stones being hurled at them… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    54 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    Rights and Ownership Over the Female Body

    From crotch-less bloomers and women's fashion in the late 19th century to contraception, menstruation and abortion. Episode Four of Beyond Kate explores the politics and double standards around the female body, and women's access to public space. Women's bodies are political. While that might sound like a big statement, there are a multitude of layers and double standards that exist around the female body. Women throughout history have been subjected to the male gaze. They have been told what they can and can't wear. Women have been outright excluded from public space, and have, for more than a century, been subjected to physical and sexual violence. If we look at New Zealand's history, women had very few rights over their own bodies. This included the number of children a woman might bear and her access to safe contraception. In the 19th century, women were fighting for rights to raise the age of consent from 12 to 16 years of age. Even a woman's fertility was seen as beneficial to a nation that needed to grow. Between 1840 and 1880 New Zealand births were among the highest in the world. Colonial women were averaging approximately seven to nine births each, compared to four of five births in Britain at the same time. Stephanie Gibson is a curator at Te Papa and says there were laws against talking about contraception in New Zealand. "The word was considered obscene and doctors didn't talk about it, or they didn't know about it. So women might have passed down secrets about how to prevent pregnancy," Gibson says. The public had little knowledge of safe contraception and some women resorted to homemade concoctions that were neither safe nor effective. Part of the reason contraception wasn't talked about was that it was a highly moral issue. Young women were expected to be virgins before marriage. "There was a lot of societal pressure on women," says Gibson. "Having an illegitimate child was a complete disaster...so many children were given up for adoption in this country." So how far have we really come since suffragists more than a century ago fought for the right to make decisions and have control over their own bodies? Wellington-based, Dame Margaret Sparrow is a leading figure in sexual health reform in New Zealand. In the 1950s she terminated her own pregnancy so that she could continue her studies. She was also a guinea pig for the first contraceptive pill, and later, went on to advocate for student access to contraception at a time when only married women were being prescribed the pill. She says the battle for women's sexual health rights is not over yet… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    1h 1m

  5. EPISODE 5

    Women Caught Between Two Worlds

    Being a woman of colour in a predominantly white society brings with it a complex set of rules and expectations that are often not spoken about. Episode Four of Beyond Kate looks at some of the Maori suffragists who fought for women's rights and explores how decisions made in our history have impacted on women from non-Pakeha backgrounds today. It's been more than a century since women gained the right to vote in New Zealand, and since that time our cultural landscape has changed dramatically. Today, New Zealand is made up of a tapestry of diverse cultures. But back when the suffrage movement was taking place, it was largely driven by colonial Kotahitanga women. At least, that's what the history books would tell you. Māori suffragists were also part of the movement, but have largely gone unrecognised. Lizzie Marvelly is a singer, a columnist for the NZ Herald and a public speaker on women's issues. She's currently co-producing a documentary about Māori suffragists called He Māngai Wāhine, which traces those stories of Māori women who were politically active around the time of the suffrage campaign. One of those women was Mere Te Tai Mangakāhia, whose father was a Rangatira. "She was only 24 when she stood at the Kotahitanga and presented a motion asking for women to be enfranchised," says Marvelly. Importantly, Mangakāhia also fought for women to govern. But in order to have a say, Māori women would have to give up something fundamental to them. In joining Kate Sheppard's suffrage movement, Māori women were presented with a pledge from the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU). The pledge explicitly stated that along with vowing not to consume alcohol or smoke tobacco, they would also have to forgo receiving their Moko (or sacred female facial tattoo) in order to join the movement. "They were being forced to adopt this potentially anti- Māori framework - one that had no understanding or respect for the cultural practice of Moko Kauae," says Marvelly. It is around this time that the practice of Moko Kauae becomes less common: "On one hand it's a vow to join this temperance movement, which was about prohibition, but in order to have that you've got to give up your cultural practices," she says. So what was really at stake for Māori women? Were they prepared to give up almost anything to have a say? While the temperance movement was the driving force behind women's suffrage, it had serious flow-on effects for Māori. It was a matter of survival and a fight to keep their land… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    53 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Women Should Be Seen and Heard

    Is the arts a place where women have equal opportunity? And if not, why not? That's the big question at hand in Episode Six of RNZ podcast, Beyond Kate. Today, women are more visible than they've ever been before. The #MeToo Movement has put the needs and concerns of women front and centre, asking us to question how and what has happened to allow women's voices to be swept very directly under a trampled on, moth-eaten, dusty rug that is finally being shaken and aired out. But while we acknowledge that women deserve to have an equal place in society, that doesn't mean that women's voices are truly being heard. Listen to Episode Six: Women Should Be Seen and Heard Subscribe free to Beyond Kate on iPhones: Apple Podcasts, RadioPublic or Spotify. On Android phones: RadioPublic, Spotify and Podbean. It's easy to assume that the arts provides a liberal and accessible space for women. But if we look to our past there were talented women who made significant contributions to our artistic heritage who have been left off the pages of our nation's history books. One of those women was portrait photographer, Harriet Cobb. She was one of New Zealand's first female photographers who was brought up learning the family trade in Bournemouth where her father set up the family business in 1862. "They were very against women...in those days they didn't count," says Auckland-based Len Cobb, Harriet's Great grandson. There were two barriers standing in Harriet's way at the time. The first was that photography was considered to be a commercial venture in the 19th century, rather than being valued as an art form. Secondly, society's views around women were so deeply entrenched that they dictated decisions, even those made by Harriet's own father. Harriet and her sister Mary were talented portrait photographers. Mary went on to photograph the Swedish royal family, and sold a photographic book of children world-wide. Harriet's father used his daughters work to promote the business. But neither Mary nor Harriet were ever credited for their work, which meant they remained ever invisible, even within their own family. And that prompted Harriett to make the big move to New Zealand in 1884. A year later, she and her husband set up a studio in Napier, and opened another the following year in Hastings. Harriet's husband would later try and elbow her out of their successful business, which would have been a disastrous move… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    50 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Sure to Rise

    Mathematics, science and English might be what we consider the core elements of a good education today, but back when women won the right to vote, learning to bake the perfect scone was considered an essential for girls...Find out more in the latest episode of Beyond Kate. A four-year-old girl twirls around at home in front of the TV. She's wearing a pink and purple fairy costume, a glittery pink headband and a pair of pink plastic Mary Jane jelly sandals with purple glitter hearts on the top of them. She's a girly-girl who refuses to wear the colour blue. She likes horses and owns half a dozen My Little Pony figurines. And when she grows up she wants to be...a princess, of course. But where do children learn to differentiate their identity as male or female, and how has education contributed to the lives of girls - shaping their roles and careers into adulthood? In the late 19th and early 20th century, both girls and boys had access to education. Missionaries were heavily involved in setting up schools in New Zealand and for many new young settlers, educating their children was a priority, according to Dr Charlotte McDonald, Professor in History, Political Science and International Relations at Victoria University. "One of the features of New Zealand in the 19th Century was that schools were important and all over the place," says McDonald. New Zealand had an egalitarian approach to schooling right from the outset. Settlers had come from all over Europe, and in many instances, had limited access to education back home. Making a new life in New Zealand, meant being able to take a progressive approach to setting up schools and universities. The first university was founded in Otago, twenty years before women gained the right to vote in New Zealand. "The University of Otago was set up with the possibility of young men and young women attending," says McDonald. Otago also granted opportunities for young women to not only attend the university, but also gain a degree, which was not the case in England during the same period. But although education was accessible and the prospect of gaining higher qualifications looked good on paper, the reality played out quite differently. McDonald says many people questioned the need to educate children beyond the age of twelve. "Surely you knew enough by the age of twelve to go off and do things," she says. Sending children to school was expensive, and beyond primary school it was more economical to keep them at home to help with chores, or even send them out to work. Education then and now is about preparing children for the future. And during the 19th and 20th century, much of that life for women centred around the home… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    51 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Fighting the Same Fight

    Feminised or gendered roles in the workforce were carved out in our past and still impact on the lives of women in the workplace today. Find out more in Episode 8 of Beyond Kate. Girls can do anything... or so the saying goes. But although women now work in industries previously dominated by men, they still don't have equal footing in society. Nowhere is this clearer than in the gender pay gap, which reflects where women are really at, and how their work is perceived and valued by society. This year, teachers and nurses have taken strike action as they demand higher wages. And now, midwives are fighting for better working conditions and pay. But why are they still fighting the same fight - one that appears to be ongoing and where there's no apparent end in sight? One of the problems that hasn't really been talked about when these stories of pay parity hit the media headlines is the way these jobs have been historically constructed as "gendered" or feminised professions that were performed mostly by women. From the late 19th century, New Zealand women began increasingly working outside the domestic environment. Domestic service roles were not appealing to young women who were moving towards a more egalitarian way of thinking. And besides, domestic service jobs involved excessively long hours and very little pay. New Zealand women wanted independence, as well as to be more active in public life. But entering the workforce came with barriers. One of those was a lack of provision for female workers. "A women's toilet would be separated from the men's toilet just by a calico sheet, or the women would have to walk through the men's toilets to get to their own toilet," says Te Papa history curator Kirsty Ross. And, that is if there was even a toilet available for women in the first place. New Zealand during the late 1800s, when women won the right to vote, was a place that was still largely clinging to Victorian values. Women in the workplace created a great deal of tension and questions around how they would retain their respectability. Even the simple act of being seen going to the bathroom was perceived as "a reduction in women's privacy." It was also a time when the concept of the "male breadwinner" was prevalent, according to University of Otago historian Barbara Brookes, author of a History of New Zealand Women. "The assumption was that a man should earn enough to support his wife and family. And that becomes part of the award system," Brookes says. It also brings into question the differentiation between paid and unpaid work for women, and what is perceived as valid or valuable… Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    52 min

  9. SEASON 1 TRAILER

    Beyond Kate Trailer

    Beyond Kate is a podcast exploring women's suffrage in New Zealand 125 years after women gained the right to vote in New Zealand. The series launches 19 September commemorating women's suffrage. Beyond Kate is a podcast that traverses stories from past to present, exploring themes across 8 episodes that address women's suffrage in New Zealand and the complex, hidden and nuanced challenges that women face in a society where the rules continue to shift. Producer Sonia Sly meets contemporary women who share their thoughts on education, work, diversity, gender and more. And she meets historians, archivists and descendants of women who signed the 1893 petition to unlock the history of the suffrage petition that won women the right to vote in the 1893 election. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    1 min

Trailer

About

Women won the right to vote in New Zealand in 1893. On the 125th anniversary we look back at battles won & debate battles still being fought. Historians and ordinary women share their stories.

Information

  • Channel
    RNZ Originals
  • Creator
    RNZ
  • Episodes
    9
  • Seasons
    1
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © (C) Radio New Zealand 2025
  • Show Website
    Beyond Kate

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