Socialism and Women's Liberation

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