So, Sue me! I’LL NEVER STOP FIGHTING FOR WOMEN
Even as a young schoolgirl, she was determined to make a stand
Activist, author, politician and feminist Sue Kedgley, 73, sits down with the Weekly to talk about her recent book, her favourite possessions and how to bake a persimmon.
What is the best thing about your life at the moment?
I actually have some time in my life to meet with friends and do things that I want to do. I don’t have to leap out of bed at the crack of dawn and race off to work. It’s been very nice to have a balance of work and a bit of time for doing things that I want to do; something to look forward to as one ages.
Your book Fifty Years a Feminist came out last year – what has the reaction to it been?
It seems to have been very positive, but I’ve been particularly surprised at the number of men who have read it and enjoyed it, and are recommending it to their friends. Also, a lot of women bought it for their daughters and that’s really pleasing because the main purpose in writing it was to tell the story of the half century of feminism and women’s liberation through the eyes of my own activism.
Where do you think the feminist movement is at the moment?
If you consider that just over a century ago in 1884 New Zealand women had no rights of any kind, we’re doing incredibly well. On the other hand, our rights still seem fragile when you look at what is happening in Afghanistan and Texas. Rights we have now taken for granted are disappearing almost overnight. I am constantly shocked at the misogynistic abuse that our women leaders, in particular our Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, are subjected to on a daily basis. There still seems to be a deepseated resentment of women being in charge.
You’ve spent most of your life involved in environmental and community issues as an MP, working at the United Nations, as a board member for a DHB and Consumer NZ, and on the National Council of Women – what drives you in this arena?
I would say that I was born an activist because I found an old school report and it was almost like my destiny was written there. I was a student representative, student council president, president of the United Nations association and I was praised for my leadership abilities. It sounds very corny, but I always tried to make things better rather than just passively accepting things as they were.
What have you learned from the Covid pandemic? How precious friends, family and social contact is, and learning to accept uncertainty. Most of us want to organise and control our lives, so we’ve had to accept that you can’t change things. Also we’ve really realised how the world is totally interconnected. We can’t just get rid of the virus in our house and ignore the rest of the world.
What is the one thing you couldn’t live without?
My family and friends, and regrettably I’ve now reached a stage where I couldn’t really live without my phone and computer.
I’ve become as addicted to my iPhone as everybody else has.
What is the nicest thing you’ve ever bought or done for yourself?
A series of paintings and posters that I bought in 1974 when I lived in New York and worked at the United Nations. One is from the Second World War of Joan of Arc encouraging women to help with the war effort, one is the International
‘Without hesitation, I picked up the duster and threw it back at him’
Women’s Year symbol I helped choose in 1975, and there are two environmental posters showing the planet wrapped in a bandage and pegged on a line. I lived next to a place called Frame It Yourself, so I framed them all and miraculously nearly 50 years later they made it back to New Zealand with me and still hang in my home.
What qualities does a good friend need for you?
Keeping in touch, supporting each other, being there for each other and being completely honest.
What advice would you give 15-year-old you?
To be a bit more assertive. What books are on your bedside table?
I’ve just finished reading and really enjoyed From Suffrage to a Seat in the House by Jenny Coleman. We put so much emphasis on how amazing it was that we won the vote, but it wasn’t until 1919 that we actually got the right to stand for Parliament and not until 1933 that Elizabeth McCombs finally made it in as our first woman MP. One of my favourite feminist writers is Caitlin Moran.
Her latest book More Than a Woman is so funny and accessible.
You’re cooking for friends – what is your signature dish? Baked persimmons. You cook them like a baked apple with maple syrup and some currants or raisins in the middle with some butter.
It all caramelises and you have them with cream. Delicious.
Tell us something we don’t know about you.
When I was about 10 at Roseneath School my sister and I were very naughty and at one point the teacher threw his wooden duster at me to shut me up. Without a second’s hesitation, I picked it up and threw it back at him and got away with it. It’s a bit of a metaphor for how I was going to end up living my life because certainly that quality of being fearless drove me in the feminist movement.