Feminists in Struggle

Happy Women’s Equality Day

Posted on August 26, 2019 by feministwriter

Keep this handy next time someone claims that 2nd wave feminists had no race consciousness and didn’t care about children. The graphic attached was an ad that ran in the Village Voice regarding the first Women’s Equality Day march and rally– which was called as a strike– and where 50,000 marched down 5th Ave in NYC. Another of the ads said, “Don’t iron while the strike is hot.”

In 1971 Bella Abzug, Congresswoman from NYC, introduced the following resolution into Congress and it was passed:

Joint Resolution of Congress, 1971 Designating August 26 of each year as Women’s Equality Day

WHEREAS, the women of the United States have been treated as second-class citizens and have not been entitled the full rights and privileges, public or private, legal or institutional, which are available to male citizens of the United States;

and WHEREAS, the women of the United States have united to assure that these rights and privileges are available to all citizens equally regardless of sex;

and WHEREAS, the women of the United States have designated August 26, the anniversary date of the certification of the Nineteenth Amendment, as symbol of the continued fight for equal rights;

and WHEREAS, the women of United States are to be commended and supported in their organizations and activities,

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that August 26th of each year is designated as Women’s Equality Day, and the President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration of that day in 1920, on which the women of America were first given the right to vote, and that day in 1970, on which a nationwide demonstration for women’s rights took place.

A Different Perspective on Abortion

Posted on August 22, 2019 by feministwriter

Jenny Brown, organizer for National Women’s Liberation and author of Birth Strike: The Hidden Fight Over Women’s Work, presents a different perspective on the rather successful attempts to make getting an abortion– if you are poor– harder and harder.

Brown cites statistics demonstrating that U.S. women are having fewer and fewer babies, right now our birthrate is below simple replacement levels in the population. This is of great concern to the 1% who fear there won’t be enough workers to exploit in the future.

Besides being a woman’s fundamental right of sovereignty over her own body, Brown reminds us that “The production of children, and who will pay for it, is a key economic battlefront.”

She discusses the carrot and stick methods that governments have used to increase birthrate. The “carrot,” preferred in Europe and Scandinavia is to provide generous parental leave, good inexpensive childcare and other programs that makes having a child easier. The U.S. has used the “stick” approach– trying to ban abortion and now going after birth control.

contributed by Kathy Scarbrough

The ‘Left’ and ‘Right’ are Not Equal

Posted on August 8, 2019 by feministwriter

the ‘left’ and ‘right’ are not equal. if you think they are, that means racists are equivalent to anti-racists, working class is equivalent to exploiters. when the ‘left’ hates lesbians and all women it’s a flaw and an obstacle to unity/revolution, when the ‘right’ hates us it’s core to their program.

wish more women would read The Creation of Patriarchy by Gerda Lerner and anything else that helps to make sense of these connections. for some of us it’s not optional, and i’d even go so far as to say it’s white/christian privilege (or aspiration to it, i know there are exceptions) to think it’s unproblematic to make alliances with the right wing. and it’s a politics of seeking male protection that is anti-feminist, i can’t see it any other way.

we’re also in a period of time where this matters more. alliances that seemed pragmatic like the disability movement working ‘both sides of aisle’ have now become something different.

feminists have a tough road to walk when what’s called the ‘left’ (but really is mostly ‘centrist’ neoliberals, true ‘left’ space in the US is negligible) endorse the dismantling of our liberation movement and even meaningful reforms for the advancement of women and girls through gender-identity laws that prioritize male demands over our boundaries. and when they endorse the selling of women’s sexual power and reproductive power (prostitution, pornography and surrogacy). and when leftist men mansplain, rape, sexually harass, exploit/expect our unpaid menial and emotional labor, and more. but who are *we* ourselves and what do we stand for, as feminists? it’s more than a list of issues, it’s the overthrow of male domination of females and all the other forms of domination that this enables.

we can’t allow problems with male leftists and centrist neoliberals to drive us into the arms of those whose entire agenda is destruction of our liberation movement and sending lesbians back into the closet and all women subordinated to and controlled by men at every level.

for US feminists who want to join with like minded women please check out FIST- Feminists in Struggle.

and in the UK, https://womansplaceuk.org is doing amazing work.