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On September 19, 1893 Lord
Glasgow, the governor, ratified a new landmark law
on the Electoral Act which resulted in New Zealand
becoming the world’s first self-governing nation to
allow all its women citizens suffrage in elections
of the parliament.
It was not until after the end of
World War I that women in the United States, Great
Britain, and other democratic countries were given
the right to vote.
The fact that New Zealand led the
world in women's suffrage is a vital part of the
country’s image as an innovative laboratory for
social change.
Kate Sheppard led the campaign for the women’s right of
suffrage. Her involvement to the identity of New Zealand has
been recently recognized on the New Zealand ten dollar note. |
Currently, the old custom that does not allow women to vote
is an idea completely alien to New Zealanders.
During the general election of 2005, about a third of those
elected to Parliament were women. In today’s society, women
have taken on the nation's major constitutional positions
such as governor-general, prime minister, chief justice, and
speaker of the House of Representatives.
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The culture regarding the rules of dating is dead.
Today, young women of New Zealand are often drinking
too much and are on the prowl in groups searching
for men to have sexual intercourse with.
This is just one of the conclusions of a TVNZ Sunday
study into the women of New Zealand’s sexual
conduct.
The producers of the program told the story after
the Durex Sexual Wellbeing Global Survey declared
Kiwi women as the most promiscuous worldwide the
previous year.
It was reported that Kiwi women have twenty sexual
partners at an average which is double the average
number of British and Australian women and about
three times the world average number of seven. |
Janet McIntyre, a correspondent of TVNZ Sunday
claims that there was unreliable proof from the 5
women on the show that the findings of the Durex
survey were valid.
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She says there is a new type of mating ritual which
makes use of sex as an entry point into the
relationship.
If sex for the first time between
couples is unsatisfactory, women were not ready to
invest any more time in trying to make the
relationship work.
The culture of dating is gone.
During interviews,
women in their twenties who were asked about their
experiences sexually would candidly say that they
felt that sex empowered them and that they wanted to
enjoy and celebrate it.
According to McIntyre, each and every one of the
women who had indulged in one-night stands had
imbibed in alcohol, circumstances which usually
results in their getting reckless and ending up
having sex with someone, even total strangers.
The impact of such sexual practices used by women is
not lost on the men and they are well aware of such
behavior. |
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Last year’s survey of the Sunday Star-Times on “Being a
Bloke” discovered that of the 5000 men interviewed, 29
percent of them felt they had been coerced into performing
sexual intercourse or had been forced into participation.
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