What would Kate think?

The 130th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New Zealand was celebrated yesterday.

We’ve come a long way since then and I wonder what Kate Sheppard and the others who fought so hard to gain votes for women would think about where women are now?

Women hold, and have held, roles that used to be the preserve of men including Governor General, Prime Minister and Chief Justice.

In many ways women are now more equal than men in that women are more likely to be accepted in what were considered men’s roles than men are in what used to be considered women’s roles, for example kindergarten teaching.

But not all progress has been positive.

Would Kate and her supporters be happy or horrified that people who stand up for biological reality are vilified as transphobic?

Would they be happy or horrified that many, including the Prime Minister, struggle to define the word woman?

Would they be happy or horrified that after decades of work to get rid of drugs in sport, competitors who have gone through puberty as males are permitted to compete against women in sports?

Would they be happy or horrified that biological men are allowed into women’s changing rooms and loos?

Would they be happy or horrified that a tiny minority of radical trans activists are attempting to rename female body parts so as not to offend trans people?

Would they be happy or horrified at the manipulation of language to cancel women by for example by replacing mother with birthing person?

Kate and the others fought to give women the right to vote, 130 years later radical trans activists are trampling over a whole lot of other rights.