2011-09-25, 10:50 PM
As long as everybody has to vote in private, and it is illegal for anybody else to see you vote (so men can't tag along with women), and reminders are always given that everybody's vote should be their own opinion, then I think there's hope for the system.
Despite the general culture, there are still some very liberal females there. I have a friend who is one, and I know for sure that she would vote the way she wanted to vote regardless of what males in her life said. If that could potentially put her in danger, she'd probably lie to them about what her vote was. Additionally, as soon as she came to New Zealand (she's a student here for a few years), she got a driver's licence. She follows her religion; doesn't eat pork, doesn't drink, keeps fasts, goes to the mosque, and wears a veil. But she does not believe at all that males are superior to females at all. So she basically makes her own decisions about what to believe and follow. She's very interested in other peoples religions, and talks a lot about how people need to not blindly follow what they are told, and instead make their own decision about what to follow and what to not. I'm sure there's others like her out there too. (Some would say that wearing a veil is contradicting, BUT she has her reasons for wearing it and has thought carefully about that aspect as well).
Despite the general culture, there are still some very liberal females there. I have a friend who is one, and I know for sure that she would vote the way she wanted to vote regardless of what males in her life said. If that could potentially put her in danger, she'd probably lie to them about what her vote was. Additionally, as soon as she came to New Zealand (she's a student here for a few years), she got a driver's licence. She follows her religion; doesn't eat pork, doesn't drink, keeps fasts, goes to the mosque, and wears a veil. But she does not believe at all that males are superior to females at all. So she basically makes her own decisions about what to believe and follow. She's very interested in other peoples religions, and talks a lot about how people need to not blindly follow what they are told, and instead make their own decision about what to follow and what to not. I'm sure there's others like her out there too. (Some would say that wearing a veil is contradicting, BUT she has her reasons for wearing it and has thought carefully about that aspect as well).