Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:32:37 +1000 (EST)
From: billbartlett-AT-vision.net.au (Bill Bartlett)
Subject: Re: AUT: [Fwd: NACLA: Feminism's Long March]


Katha wrote:

>There's some interesting information and analysis in here,I thought.

[...]

>by Jean Franco

[...]

>There were admittedly external factors, such as the U.S. blockade and
>civil war, that hindered revolutionary change in Cuba, Chile and
>Nicaragua. But external factors cannot account for the surface response
>of revolutionary and socialist governments to "women's problems." In

Interesting, definitely, but I admit it left me cold. I also admit that
could be largely a result of a male perspective. But what struck me as
lacking was the almost total lack of any economic perspective to the
analysis, the text quoted above seems to come closest to providing an
economic context.

To my eyes this seems to be a serious flaw, the analysis is long on
political background, some if it quite enlightening. I particularly enjoyed
the speculation about the "undecided" vote prior to the Nicaraguan
election. But it is necessary to go past the political to the economic
basis of these societies. It is necessary to recognise that the politics
and philosophy will be dependant on economic reality, by what is
economically possible.

One of the things I wanted to know was why the Catholic Church and its
dogma is such an influence on politics? Not just because it suits men, as
the analysis seems to imply, men are only 50% of the population. Women are
also 50% of the population, if it doesn't suit them then politically the
men are stalemated.

But then, if we compare the situation to western culture, we can see that
the reproductive philosophy of the Catholic Church has little relevance to
politics, because it doesn't suit either men or women. Why is this the
situation in the west, but not in some of these other countries?

Other questions crowd my mind, but you get the picture.

Am I wrong? I don't pretend to be a feminist, but these questions seem
important to me and I suspect economics are behind it somehow.

Bill Bartlett
Bracknell Tas.





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