Date: Mon, 22 Apr 96 11:04:10 GMT
From: Adam Rose <adam-AT-pmel.com>
Subject: Re: Women's oppression



Justin writes:
> 
> Adam has said to me that feminism is anti-Marxist

I said this.

> and should be roundly denounced.

I did not say this.

> I would like him to exaplain this to all of us. For me,
> feminism is the ideology of women's liberation. 

It may be that to you. 

But for most feminists, it is the idea that the main division
in society is between men and women.

For socialist feminists, it is something like "workers can
unite to fight class issues, women should fight together 
to fight sexism".

This becomes modified by other divisions in eg Lisa's post - but
I think if you don't start from the centrality of class, you end
up not with unity, but fragmentation.

( When I was a student, there were vicious arguments
between supporters of a Black Lesbian vs a White working class
Lesbian mother about who was more oppressed, and therefore should
be the student unions womens officer. Politics didn't come
into it ! ).

ie feminism is a particular strategy for fighting against women's
oppression, one that I disagree with. Historically, there have
always been two traditions.

So far as feminist ideas encourage women and men to fight sexism,
feminism is progressive. So far as it hampers women and men to
fight sexism, it isn't.

The reason I disagree with it is that it isn't the best way to win
reforms that benefit women within capitalism, nor is the way to
liberate women.

Besides, why do you argue "feminism is the ideology of women's liberation"
but not that "reformism is the ideology of trade union struggle" ? Revolutionary
socialist politics is a minority on both questions.

Adam.

Adam Rose
SWP
Manchester
UK


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