The progress and development of the women’s suffrage prior to 1893 to 2018 is depicted in these two illustrations. The first image represents time before 1893, were women were oppressed, and the second image illustrates 2018, where women such as Jacinda Ardern are in highly powerful positions.

IMAGE 1:

  • Bubble = represents the capturing of women as their form of “protection” from the wider world
  • Umbrella = sheltering women from freedom to have rights and be equal in society
  • 3 Floating women, with no hands or legs = they couldn’t “stand on their own two feet,” or “weren’t capable of doing anything themselves”
  • Faceless = no identity, devaluing women as an individual but being dressed in identical black dresses, restricting them from self-exploration
  • Chained to umbrella = physically restricting them from changing or making a difference in society, therefore, restricted to their designated role of domestication
  • Red rain drops = represents corrupt/oppressive power upheld by men, illustrating the struggle women had to go through to achieve their goals

IMAGE 2:

  • Jacinda Ardern in red = NZ Prime Minister for Labour, now wearing the power, empowering myself and many other New Zealand women to make a difference for our future daughters of the world
  • Closed umbrella and broken chain = breaking chain of oppression and closing the “protective” power men held over women
  • World = graduation on top, representing the graduation and development of the world as women now hold powerful positions such as Ardern

With Jacinda Ardern as NZ’s Prime Minister, I feel compelled, as a young feminist, to continue gender equality and development of society, so that we can complete our Master’s degree in Equality globally, for our women of the future to sustain.

Jasmine Bohlin
Baradene College of the Sacred Heart