All Marxist vanguard groups have taken a feminist stance. That is, they’re adamantly pro-choice, anti-sexist, despise use of the word “bitch,” and occasionally feature women’s issues in their publications.
So why do women continue to experience sexist repression from the male leaders and members of these groups?
The short answer is, because they’re products of their society as well. All men (and women) are raised to be exploitative to the “lower” classes, genders, races, and sexual orientations. And most progressive and radical folks recognize this, admit to their places of privilege, and try their best not only to to transcend them but fight the good fight along with their oppressed comrades.
However, things do fall through the cracks. Women are rarely seen in positions of leadership amongst vanguard parties, and the ones who do write on feminist issues for a party’s newspaper usually tack the issue onto the party’s agenda as a whole, not necessarily in regards to why women’s issues deserve specific, individual attention.
So today I’m just venting like this. Feeling “put down” by some of my male comrades who believe themselves to be better versed on feminist issues than I am, I’m writing up some things I wish all progressive and radical males and vanguard groups in particular would consider. I realize I’m putting myself at dire risk of being a culprit of dreaded “identity politics,” but sometimes those carry some validity as well. Sometimes.
Here we go.
I have experienced gender oppression first-hand, so don’t tell me how I should react to it. That would be like me, a white woman, telling an immigrant Hispanic family exactly how to deal with the day-to-day racism that shapes their lives and criticizing them for dealing with it in ways that contradict my personal vision for racial justice.
An overthrow of patriarchy does not necessarily require an overthrow of the capitalist system. I may believe that as well, but sometimes you just sound obnoxious and opportunistic when you try to win over the hearts of feminists in that way. It’s fine to have an egalitarian discussion on the topic with feminists, but a woman’s dedication to a feminist movement is not an “in” for you to make your move in trying to “convert” them to your particular -ism.
I don’t need to be told how to view “Juno,” or any other movie for that matter. My abortion at age 18 was frightening and painful and left permanent scars on my attitude towards future childbearing. I’m not a bad feminist just because I think it’s fine for someone to make a movie about a girl being to afraid to go through with it, especially considering the lousy support systems available for women today. My experience is valid, as are all women’s experiences. I trust women to make the best decisions they can obtain, and will always work to better those options. I am 100% committed to reproductive justice, and view abortion as a tangible experience in many women’s lives, not as an issue to push my agenda.
I am not “taking a step back” when I sit down to knit a scarf for my partner, a man who I love. My decisions to partake in stereotypically “feminine” acts are enlightened, and I am not a bad feminist because of it. I would be a bad feminist if I thought less of women who did NOT knit hats for their partners. But I’m not doing that now, am I?
Women do not, in fact, hold up “half the sky.” Women, especially in pre-revolution China, hold up far more than half the sky. Gender equality requires not only women being able to step up to a better life, but for men to take a step down from their places of power. If women were to obtain the same amount of power as men, we would only continue to compete for more power, and would end up exploiting not only each other but people of other races and classes in particular. Male power is capitalist power. It is white supremacist power. And all need to be relinquished in order for social justice to be obtained.
Acts like “gender fucking” and cross dressing do not mean women are “trying to be like men.” Masculinity being the norm by which all other genders are measured, it makes sense that in attempting to be comfortable and in control, women will start to look an awful lot like men. We are not “abandoning” our femaleness here, just our femininity that causes so much discomfort and subjugation.
