Women’s suffrage, suffer the men.

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I sometimes wonder if it could at all be possible to limit men’s voting rights, just for a few years. Would the world become a better place? I mean women have only gained the rights to vote fairly recently so it would be no big deal if, even for the sake of some historical redress, men would be barred from voting. Perhaps just for five years or so.

What is little known is that it was New Zealand that gave women the right to vote (1893) first in the world, soon followed by all Australian states, excluding Victoria. Finland was first of the block in Europe but at that time was still a Grand duchy of the Russian Empire. Finland is outstanding in that women’s suffrage gained in 1906 also immediately allowed women to stand for elections. This did not happen in New Zealand and Australia till much later. Women to stand for elections in New Zealand did not happen till 1919 for the lower chamber and 1941 for upper chamber. In Australia it also took many years for women to be voted into parliament. (1921 Edit Cowan.) On a federal level it wasn’t till 1962 that aboriginal people were even allowed to vote! It was mainly the temperance movement that gave women their voting rights in NZ and Australia which resulted the US in following suit soon after. (Disclaimer; find out your own facts on this.)

The possibility of Abbott becoming a PM would certainly not happen if men were barred from voting. Perhaps Julia would still be here. I am not sure K.Rudd would be around either. Some of you might well think that events would not be any better or much different even without men and their penile driven peculiarities. They often recall the combatetive and warlike natures of Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher. Yes, quite so but they only got there by imitating the worst of their male counterparts. Joan of Arc or Mother Theresa would never have been Prime Ministers or heads of state with the inclusion of males in the voting world.

When our possible future PM Tony Abbott came out with his pearl of ‘suppositories of Wisdom’, declaration, women voters would have made him a court jester instead, never a PM. They are just too caring to allow a man with such a curious state of mind being wasted on being a mere PM.

The more I think of barring men from voting the more it starts to appeal. It is almost daily when I read about road rage. Yet, all road rage is indulged in by men. I have yet to hear a case of female road rage. Are the troubles in the world an expression of male road rage, a colliding of cultures or differences being just the vehicle for unlimited killings and brutal murder, total mayhem and illogical demented behavior with male minds running amok, thrusting rockets and bullets mercilessly into each other?

Look at the treatment of refugees in Australia. The ‘suppository wisdom’ party now rallying support from even more inhumane treatment by promising the voters that the thirty thousand refugees already in Australia will never gain residency here. What utter contempt for others, what total madness, but… also note that it is mainly the women who front up with compassion and humane treatment, often with genuine tears. They are not at the forefront of retribution and brutality against refugees. What bastardy for the possible future Prime Minister Abbott (Mr Suppository) to try and dive even lower than his party’s Liberal predecessors. Where are the tear stained faces of the men, with hearts of stone with fossilized emotional reactions to anything needing compassion and understanding.

What next? Will the mainly male driven parties keep responding with ever increasing tougher measures; line them up, shoot them, or send them to concentration camps? They’re almost doing that now.

So, ban men for a while from voting. Give it a go.

We have nothing to lose.

Suffer the men. Make that ten years.

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22 Responses to “Women’s suffrage, suffer the men.”

  1. Andrew Says:

    Gerard, you are on dangerous ground. I guess you support allowing women to drive too. I think road rage could be a new Olympic sport. Far better than synchronised swimming.

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  2. gerard oosterman Says:

    Yes, me is pretty fearless. 😉 Yesterday traffic stopped on the M3 -to Newcastle by people trying to end two male drivers in a road rage punch up. The excuse was that an overtaking vehicle became enraged when the other car refused to drive in the slower lane.
    The overtaking vehicle driver was charged with assaulting the slower driver who had a wife and two children in the car.

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  3. petspeopleandlife Says:

    Gerard, this is another fine article. I like reading about your views on equality, politics and so on. It is quite interesting. Maybe there would be fewer corrupt politician if only women voted.

      

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    • gerard oosterman Says:

      Yes, it would be worth a try. I don’t think it will happen. Even so, it is nice to ruminate over a system whereby men would be barred from voting and what the results would be. I don’t doubt the attitude to boat people would be vastly different, much more compassionate.

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  4. Lottie Nevin Says:

    MR HARDACRE!!! If he wasn’t so damn amusing, I’d punch him in the ……

    Gerard, Much as I like your idea A LOT I can’t see it working. Women are their own worst enemies. There would be some really nasty bitchy factions going on and an awful lot of back-stabbing. My formative years of schooling were spent entirely in single-sex schools, I promise you that women running a country is a bad idea! Let’s just pray for a proper balance. 50/50 – equal pay, equal rights but extra portions of chocolate for the girls 😉 I think that might be the closest we get to political nirvana.

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  5. gerard oosterman Says:

    Well, I am not sure. Do women led events ever lead to violence or wars? Have their been cultures were women were the leaders. I believe in Egypt, even today, the women are heads of the household and in case of divorce, they decide on the settlements of any estate.
    Still, Egypt is hardly peaceful today.
    Ah, it is all so difficult, but… the treatment of refugees by Australia is abysmally cruel and I doubt women would be queueing in the front line to make it even worse.
    Still, more chocolate gives me hope too.

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  6. roughseasinthemed Says:

    Dangerous ground indeed. Mainly because you are challenging the whole basis of patriarchal society. And yet at the same time confirming it by assuming that women are by nature nurterers and carers. While your conclusion is valid, the way you have got there isn’t. Basically, women with half a brain don’t play the same games as men. That doesn’t mean they are caring or sympathetic, just that they don’t waste resources of any type and are far more pragmatic. Without writing a blog post for a comment, your post throws up far more questions than can be answered here.

    Anyway, I knew about NZ and wrote about it a couple of years ago:

    Female suffrage? Equal rights anyone?

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    • gerard oosterman Says:

      Thank you, roughseasinthemed.
      This is the second response by women that seem to have some doubts about the generosity and compassionate-ness of women overriding that of men. Don’t sour my wine at this stage now. Surely women are mainly nicer creatures publicly. Just read political blogs; in no time the men are at each other throats with women trying to smooth and soothe.
      Perhaps it is a case of women knowing their own sex so much better than Tom Foolery believing men.
      This as an aside…but has anyone noticed men queueing at Doctor’s surgeries much more than before. Why? There are now car magazines and Hooves and Horse, Guns and Hunt mags as well.

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      • roughseasinthemed Says:

        I’m guessing your are referring to Lottie’s comment.
        But I think you haven’t got my premise, which is that women are largely compassionate because they are brought up to be so. You know teachers, nurses, mothers and yet more boring stereotypical images. And when I was visiting schools as a reporter, how many teachers were female and how many heads were male?

        I’m not casting a doubt, but I don’t agree with stereotyping by gender, when there are much deeper issues to consider. There has been plenty of action on my blogs and I have no intention of soothing anything, nor would I do so on someone else’s blog.

        Women DON’T know their own sex.

        Anyway, let alone having female suffrage only, surely the correct answer would be to have female candidates only:) Still gives men the vote. So no discrimination there. That would be an interesting one.

        I don’t go to the doctor’s surgery. Ten years in the NHS has left me with severe anathema for dcotors. Which is why I am hobbling around on a sprained ankle rather than visiting the hospital/doctor for them to tell me I have a sprained ankle and to rest it. I can work that one out myself.

        Go to the doctor to promote shoot the shit out of animals? Great idea.

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    • gerard oosterman Says:

      I went to the quack not for myself. I had an eye operation, (too many birthdays) a few weeks ago and apart from a vasectomy ( performed by Dr Barbara Simcock) in the early seventies I never really have a need for one, let alone go there to learn shooting animals. How’s your ankle?
      I know I am on shaky grounds but if women are compassionate because of upbringing, surely that is better than being brought up as bastards by upbringing.
      You are from the UK, so, may be, I having grown up in Holland and my partner in Finland has made me more acutely aware of gender differences and the importance of equality between the sexes, that despite early foray into women’s suffrages in Australia and perhaps in other Anglo societies, gender equality still seems to be lacking more in the English speaking world. Australia is still a country of men and nervous sheep.
      Or, am I wrong again?

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      • roughseasinthemed Says:

        I’m not sure how many eye ops I have read about recently. Seems to be the in thing. My optician vaguely mentioned it to me, so I shan’t be going back there in a hurry.

        Ah vasectomies. That is a post in itself, but I will have to ask Partner before I bare all, so to speak. (’twill be on Clouds if it appears – the post, I mean)

        Ankle is not bad, but front of foot is now complaining. Hey ho.

        You are indeed on shaky grounds. Indoctrination is not good. A basic course in feminism is prescribed.

        I’ve always admired the Netherlands and Scandinavia. They have some good attitudes and we’ve had good friends from all those countries. I had a penfriend from Finland, Hrepna I think, it is 40 years ago though.

        Equality on the surface is one thing. Changing beliefs is another. I see no evidence of that on any blogs I visit. That is the real issue. Equality doesn’t even scratch the surface.

        Maybe I’ll write a post about ‘equality’.

        Wales also has its fair share of nervous sheep as does NZ.

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    • gerard oosterman Says:

      I had the operation to prevent one eye from getting even worse. It is called vitrectomy. Perhaps that’s what the optician was referring to you.
      Look forward to your post on equality. There is hope for all of us.

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  7. auntyuta Says:

    I would say barring men from just one election could achieve possibly a real lot and restrain ‘beastly’ women sufficiently if they know after the following election the vote of men has to be counted in again. I wouldn’t like women to achieve too much power. They need the balance of level headed thinking men like for instance the influence of men like you, dear Gerard!

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  8. gerard oosterman Says:

    Ah, auntyuta.
    You’ve made my day. It’s the auntyutas of this world that make me think the world would be a better place if they were given half a chance. They had it with Julia Gillard but they, including many women, did not want it. I am sure history will be good to her.

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  9. The End is Nigh | All downhill from here Says:

    […] out investigative journalism with their bullying tactics, Princess Di is back in the headlines, Gerard is planning to ban men from voting (not necessarily a bad thing), the People’s Front for the Liberation of Gibraltar is […]

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  10. hilarycustancegreen Says:

    Great idea – not because it is ever likely to happen, or would necessarily be a good thing, but because it turns the system upside down for a moment and we can all look at it in a new way. I suspect that the kind of women who seek power have very similar personality traits to the men already in power, so you might not get the changes you need. Yet I agree that if the gender balance in boardrooms and governments were more equal, you would probably have more compassionate and less aggressive policies. Even if nurture not nature is the cause, this would still be a good thing.

    Yes I knew about New Zealand giving women the vote first. I read the manuscript of a book by Jenifer Roberts about one of the colony founders, James Edward Fitzgerald (Fitz). He also proposed total equality in governance and voting rights for the natives of the islands. I believe the book will be published next year in NZ.

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    • gerard oosterman Says:

      The level of misogyny that raised its head when Julia Gillard became our first female PM in Australia was astounding. There is still a deeply ingrained suspicion and dislike even from women, as if owning a vagina is somehow a basic mistake of creation.
      Perhaps single sex education with boarding schools are the main breeding grounds or is it the love of sex differentiation in bringing up children. Blue for boys and pink for girls etc. Girls are special with mothers and boys roughing it with dad with rugby!
      I am pretty sure it is not remotely like that in Holland or the Scandinavian countries. Or, am I wrong?

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  11. kaytisweetlandrasmussen83 Says:

    An amusing thought Gerard, but you and I both know it will never happen! Sort of like making men have babies. Well, maybe not that drastic. My Danish husband agrees with you, and cites the women in history who have successfully run their countries. Merkel in Germany right now is a good example. The U.S. is ready for a woman president but haven’t seen anyone waiting in the wings yet. I did not know that NZ has the distinction of being first. Good on them. It took a lot of fighting spirit until we got the vote over here. I am always incensed to hear women say they “forgot to vote”, or “they didn’t have time”.

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    • gerard oosterman Says:

      Yes Kaytisweet,
      having babies I left too late. Chuffed that Dr. Advice agrees that women would be a better option for leading countries. I think he knows he’s on a good wicket.
      You think Hillary is hoping to become US’ first president?

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  12. Patti Kuche Says:

    Gerard, I suspect you are being too kind regarding the warm fuzziness of the sisterhood but rather than beef about the voters, who in Australia face fines if they don’t vote, I can happily beef forever about the candidates and the chips on their shoulders which drive them to seek office in the first place!

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  13. gerard oosterman Says:

    Perhaps my experiences has left me bereft of having felt the wrath of female scorn or revenge. So far so good! Yes, you are right, voting is compulsory in Australia, an oddity of democracy. There are some candidates, mainly women, who seem without chips on their shoulders. They are mainly from the green side of politics keen on saving the ecology and kindly disposed towards asylum seekers.
    Perhaps I am blinded by optimism.

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  14. kaytisweetlandrasmussen83 Says:

    Sadly, I do think Hillary hopes to make another run for the presidency. Obama did a tricky move when he made her Secretary of State. Maybe hope it tired her out enough so that she won’t run! With the recent health issues she has had I think people may be a bit skittish about voting for her though.

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