Looking out: Women must 'be prepared'

“If the women's liberation movement is to succeed, it needs to be organised
and led by women. There are a lot of ways that men can support and participate
in women's liberation movement, but running for women's officer is not
one of them.” — Kamala Emanuel, Green Left Weekly, November 8, 2000.

Last year Tasmania University's Launceston campus elected a man as the
Launceston Student Association's women's officer. Nick Corney's election
to that position is a lot like electing a fox as security officer of a
hen house. He may want to, but he can never know what it is like to lay
an egg; therefore, he will never be able to speak with the authority of
experience for hens. It should also be noted that when he gets hungry —
well, you get my point.

Corney's talk of turning the position into one of “gender equity” stinks
of a less than subtle attempt to concretise his position. Having said that,
I feel the need to add that the women of Tasmania University were asleep
at the wheel for not having had a proper female candidate ready when the
first round of nominations was opened. That Corney's second round nomination
resulted in his election — unopposed — is absurd.

Moreover, logic questions the efficacy of a feminist organisation that
agrees to gag its individual members by voting to only allow its president
to speak to media. Every woman is supposed to have a voice! That the current
women's officer cannot make any public comment tells me that (a) Tasmania
University's female students are poorly organised, and (b) they have little
trust in one another.

I hope that Corney will muster sufficient courage to resign his new
position immediately. If he wants to do something for those young women
he can start by helping them understand that “being prepared” must be their
organisational creed and that they have to stand up and run for that and
any other position — otherwise, men will always be on top.

BY BRANDON ASTOR JONES

[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes
letters commenting on his columns (include your name and full return address
on the envelope, or prison authorities may refuse to deliver it). He can
be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G3-77, Georgia Diagnostic
& Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA, or email
brandonastorjones@hotmail.com. Jones is seeking a publisher for his autobiography,
growing down. Please notify him of any possible leads. Visit Jones'
web page at http://www.brandonastorjones.com.] 

From GLW issue 439