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Women’s Liberation & Socialism
Women’s liberation is the belief
that women should have complete social, political and economic equality
with men. The women’s liberation
movement has revolutionary potential in the form of its challenge to the
patriarchal structures that capitalism is partly based on. We support the
building of an autonomous feminist movement where women can come together
to make their own demands, and develop their own leadership and power. We
are unconditional defenders of a woman’s right to choose, and are partisans
in fight to keep abortion clinics open.
We’ve set up this page to post articles on the feminist movement, lessons
from past struggles, and theoretical essays outlining the Marxist view on
special oppression. We welcome your feedback on what we’ve posted!
Women’s
Liberation News & Views:
Why
Socialist Feminism? Feminists believe in women being treated as
equals to men and socialists believe that the wealth and resources of the
world should be equally distributed among all people. Clearly these two ideologies have a similar
thread in the fight for equality.
However, with all the feminisms in the world why should anyone be a
socialist feminist? Is capitalism
really all that bad? continued
A Visit With Lori Berenson
in Peru: I first saw Lori
standing at the gate inside Huacariz prison of Cajamarca, Peru, a
slender figure in a white bib apron over jeans and a black turtleneck
sweater. She greeted her father and me with a warm hug. continued
Interview
With a Chicana Rights Activist: We
recently caught up with one of the immigrant rights movement’s Chicana youth leaders, Tanya Vogel. Tanya is a student at Tennyson High
School in South
Hayward, Calif. She talked to us about her experience as
an integral component in the organizing of 5000 demonstrators there—mostly
working-class Latinos—and young peoples’ perspective of this new
immigrant-rights movement. continued
The Struggle
for Same Sex Marriage Continues: During the last two years, the
struggle for gay rights, especially the initiatives for civil unions and
same-sex marriages, has seen more setbacks than gains throughout the U.S. In 2003, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial
Court ruled that gays had a right to marry, and the
first ceremonies were held in 2004. Since then, 17 states have
adopted constitutional amendments to ban gay marriage—most often by popular
vote—and 10 of these states also ban civil unions and domestic
partnerships. In addition, California Gov. Schwarzenegger in September
vetoed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. continued
How to be Effective
in Abortion Clinic Defense: Clinic defense is as simple as
it sounds: it is the physical defense of the doors of a clinic so that
clients can enter and leave. It is irresponsible, and at times dangerous, for
pro-choice activists to turn their backs to the doors in order to dance and
chant. If a pro-choice activist is not concerned with protecting the doors of a
clinic, she or he is not providing clinic defense. continued
Should Women
Be Assigned to Combat Duty: In May, The House Armed Services
Committee, in a 61-1 vote, approved a bill that would set Defense
Department policy and spending plans for the upcoming budget year. The bill
envisions creating a $50 billion fund for conflicts in the upcoming year;
however, it provides no money for it. The measure also calls for increasing
the military by 10,000 Army soldiers and 1000 Marines. continued
Women and the Media: When discussing the role of media in
the average woman’s life, I decided the best place to see what the media
wanted woman to want was in a very popular magazine called Cosmo. When I
looked at the table of context, it all looked pretty interesting. I discovered
that from one copy of this magazine I would be able to learn such important
life lessons as: how to do my hair and apply my make-up like the
celebrities do, what to do if I earned more money than my boyfriend, and,
most importantly, Five things a guy never wants me to say, some of my
favorites being I’m not allowed to talk about any female bodily function, I
shouldn’t tell him if I feel bad about my body image, and under no
circumstances should I ever mention that he might need some work in what
this magazine calls his “in-the-sack skills” . continued
Democrats & Republicans Attack Women’s Rights: A common goal of the feminist movement has always been
for the end of sex discrimination and abolishment of the second-class
status of women. One of the most vital issues pertaining to this goal is
the right to reproductive freedom and accessible health care, without
which, women are constrained to the shackles of unwanted pregnancies,
sickness, and an inability to function in society with the same facility as
men. continued
Women on Death Row:
Today
in America there are 47 women throughout
23 different states who have been condemned to death, segregated from
society, and forced to endure daily humiliation, intimidation, and abuse at
the hands of prison guards who are often men. Two other women have had
their death sentences reversed and are now awaiting final disposition. continued
Sexism in Advertising:
As
we all know, capitalism operates in a cycle: the production of commodities,
the distribution of those commodities, and the consumption of them which produces
more capital so that the wealthy can then in turn take it and produce even
more commodities. Each of these elements is equally important, and if any
of them are taken away, the cycle is halted and the rich will cease to get
wealthy. continued
One Million Rally for Women’s Rights: On April 25, the National Mall
in Washington, D.C., once again became the scene
for a mass demonstration against attacks on human rights. According to the organizers,
this march and rally, the March for Women’s Lives, drew an estimated 1.15
million pro-choice demonstrators from all over the world, making it the
largest rally for women’s rights in the nation’s history. continued
Archived
Articles:
Abortion
Rights:
- How to be Effective in Abortion
Clinic Defense
- Right Wing
Assaults Women's Rights
- Democrats
& Republicans attack women's rights
- Reproductive
rights facing worst attacks since Roe v. Wade
- One million
rally for women’s lives
- March for
Abortion Rights on April 25
- South Dakota
Passes Abortion Ban
- Congress
Attacks Abortion Rights
- Protest Walmart's Anti-Choice Policies
Fighting
Sexism & Abuse:
- Should Women Be Assigned to Combat Duty?
- Women and the
Media
- Rape in the
U.S. Military
- What is
Behind the Martha Stewart Scandal
- The Struggle for the Equal Rights
Amendment
- Why Are Women 'Dying' To Be Thin?
- Sexism in
Advertising
- Women on
Death Row
- Women Workers
in Chinese Sweatshops
- Two women
speak for many (Sonia Sanchez & Sarah Jones)
- The Radical
Teen Cheerleaders
What Marxists
Say About Oppression:
- The Nature
& Origin of Women's Oppression
- Why Socialist Feminism?
- The Challenge
of Matriarchy
- History of
the Family
- Why We're
Feminists . . .
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