Patriarchy, women’s autonomy, capitalism, and all that jazz…….

Secondary title: Wait for the revolution, babe!

This to be honest feels like déjà vu. I have had this argument regarding patriarchy and women’s autonomy more times than I can remember. Frankly, it is getting so tedious. Why does the Left find it so difficult to accept it?

I had this debate with Mark Fischer from Weekly Worker sometime in 2004(read the archive to get a taster) and now it is happening again. Groundhog Day all over again…..this time it is a Labour Leftie writing to Briefing taking exception at my piece I wrote for the International Women’s Day edition. Unfortunately, I can’t link to it (sub only) but I can give you a flavour of the arguments. I don’t want to give a disservice to the comrade nor distort his words.

Different Leftie men…same arguments though. Fortunately, I have had this debate, like I said, many times that I can dust off my old documents written on the subject because nothing different is being put forward. Certainly, no real thought provoking analysis is being put forward.

So pardon me for being a tad tetchy about this but as a Socialist feminist these constant debates fill me with utter despair, the Left should and bloody does know better but I believe this exposes the underlining resistance and defensiveness in examining own individual behaviour. The Left is not hermetically sealed from the sexism that is reflected in patriarchal capitalism. Do men benefit from women’s oppression? Yes, indeed they do.

Comrades, lets be serious, Socialism is compatible with feminism, patriarchy exists and the Left should support women’s autonomy as this furthers the class struggle….

So after that preamble here is the letter I have written to Labour Briefing in response to the article from the comrade.

Dear Labour Briefing,

In reply to Adam Spencer’s article, Marx and women’s liberation, patriarchy is a term that covers a variety of observable social phenomena. Some of these things are difficult to slot into the categories used by Marx in Capital. An example would be sexist bosses harassing their female staff members. Furthermore violence against women and women being treated like sub-humans pre-date capitalism. By and large, women in pre-capitalist societies faced unbearable oppression. Women face sexist behaviour both on the Left and in the labour movement in general. Yet comrade Spencer says that we should ignore all this as it will be swept away come the revolution.

He argues that ‘Forms of oppression based upon gender or race are part of the superstructure of ideas that follow from the economic mode of production. Therefore women’s oppression is a consequence of class oppression and their liberation of the working class as a whole. It cannot be achieved separately’.

Firstly, I never argued in my original article that liberation can be achieved separately. I support women’s autonomy and not separatism. Unfortunately, the ideological differences between separatism and autonomy get confused, and believe me there are differences. An autonomous organisation is enabling a democratic way for women to speak for themselves about the oppression they face.

Secondly, comrade Spencer asserts that there is a hierarchy of oppression with class being at the apex while all forms of oppression are subordinate.  Furthermore comrade Spencer states, ‘However, the objective must not be women’s liberation separate from the liberation of the working class as a whole, since that is simply not possible within a Marxist framework’.

He gets things the wrong way round as to how the labour movement and the Left should relate to women’s liberation. Rather than grandly from on high decreeing that the struggle against capitalist exploitation takes precedence over even thinking about challenging other forms of oppression we should be making sure that the labour movement takes a stand against all forms of oppression.

For these reasons it is clear that Marxists should embrace the self organisation of women and other specifically oppressed groups in society.

Indeed I think Marxists should go further and have the self confidence to recognise the leadership of autonomously organised women in the struggle for women’s’ liberation.

This not to oppose the involvement of men in the struggle for women’s liberation. It should be natural for any revolutionary to wish to stand firm with any group of people fighting against the oppression they face. Indeed for the working class to ever learn how to free itself as a whole such a response must become the response of broad layers of the class.

Unfortunately, comrade Spencer does indeed come across as a ‘mechanical Marxist’ something which he didn’t wish to be characterised as.

Comradely,

Louise Whittle

G20 protests: if you believed the headlines the overthrow of capitalism will be happening next week……(If only, says this blogger)

The headlines have screamed something about the cops telling City workers to stay at home next week due to the G20 protests and now the banks will close for those days, apparently.

And this article in the Guardian made me think. It did occur to me reading the various sensationalist headlines about protesters (read, unruly mob) demonstrating next week that it smacked of demonisation and alarmism.

Is this an ongoing strategy by the establishment targeting anyone who disagrees with the government and who is willing to protest? I wouldn’t be surprised as it reflects the social authoritarianism of NL. More powers to the cops, increased legislation on counter-terrorism, widening definitions of ‘terrorism’ and extremists’ and the further erosion of civil liberties. And the clamping down of the right to protest.

What the establishment conveniently ‘forgets’ or would rather ignore is the fact that people are angry, bloody furious, by the banks being bailed out, Fred the Shred’s pension, recession, unemployment and redundancies…… so on and so on.  And who is gonna pay for their screw-ups? We are…..

 And one way of articulating this collective anger is demonstrating which is what the establishment is getting nervous about therefore the demonisation of protesters which create a kind of moral panic. The establishment is worried about a fightback.

It is the art of political distraction. Lets not look at the reasons why people are bloody angry lets demonise them with the media leading the pandering to this populism.

I will be there tomorrow and maybe next week on the 1st and 2nd April. Though I expect (like many of the demos I have been on in the past year) the cops to be indulging in strong arm tactics (read that as violent and brutal thuggery).

And I will definitely be there with my camera to document the events….

See you there comrades.

Save Hello Wave Goodbye

I adore this song. Soft Cell was one of my favourite groups as a teenager, they struck a cord with me. The lyrics always seem to reflect a sense of alienation and being on the edge of society which certainly I experienced at that time.

And Where The Heart Is (from the LP The Art of Falling Apart) still gets to me (‘They say the home is where the heart is but home is only where the hurt is…”)

Marc Almond singing Say Hello Wave Goodbye on Jool Holland (Xmas 2005…I remember watching it and singing along) is sublime. It has beautiful, soulful and heartbreaking lyrics.

Standing at the door of the Pink Flamingo crying in the rain.

It was a kind of so so love.

And I’m gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again..