Is sexism inevitable? Can we change things? What role can men play? Is parliament the solution? These questions were debated at a lively Resistance public meeting in Sydney on March 13. More than 60 people gathered to hear Catriona Elek, a feminist activist and member of the International Women's Day Collective, Zoe Taylor, NUS women's officer and member of National Organisation of Labor Students, and Marina Carman, an activist from Resistance and a member of the International Women's Day Collective. Following is an abridged version of Elek and Carman's talks.
Elek: Sexism is not "natural" or innate but socialised. In our society women are socialised to feel inferior, and men to be dominant. But that explains only a fraction of the nature of sexism.
Sexism is perpetuated by individuals because it is useful for the maintenance of the economic and social system. Capitalism depends on the exploitation of labour and (largely women's) unpaid labour for its efficiency.
But it is not just the capitalist system which benefits from sexism. Men benefit from sexism in the short term. Men obviously benefit to varying degrees, but most men do benefit, whether through their own will or not.
For example, men are less likely to be raped, more likely to be employed and in better paying positions; when men get married their load of housework tends to decrease dramatically; men are less likely to be interrupted, less likely to be sexually objectified and less likely to experience domestic violence.
But in the long term, just as the vast majority of us do not benefit from capitalism, neither do men or women benefit from sexism and the divisions within a patriarchal society. So once the fallacy of sexist socialisation and the illogical, exploitative nature of women's oppression is exposed, we can overcome sexism. Unfortunately, this cannot occur until the capitalist system, with which sexism is intertwined, is overthrown.
Men can and do have a role in the fight for women's liberation. However, women must be the ones who lead the struggle. The oppressed must always be given autonomy in the fight against their oppression, not only so that they may have the freedom to identify the extent of their oppression, but also because they must be the ones to set the terms of their liberation. Men are sometimes supportive, but those very same men may unwittingly benefit from patriarchy — in the short term — and may also display sexist behaviour.
The struggle to overcome sexism is linked to the struggle to overcome other forms of oppression. There is no point having a society free of sexism, but which is still racist or exploitative. The women's movement should always be working with other movements, many of which will include men.
Men should take their own initiative and fight sexism, but always work in conjunction with the feminist movement — or else there is a danger that they will actually work against it. An example of this is the "men's movement", which focuses on masculinity and male bonding. What these men don't realise is that they are undermining some aims of the feminist movement. For example, they undermine feminists' efforts to eradicate — not just make over — gender roles. They undermine feminists by blaming women for diminishing their masculinity.
Carman: We are constantly told that we are in a "post-feminist" era. Why be a feminist at all? Because women still suffer discrimination, violence and poverty. Because women's rights are under attack. Because we're sick of being told that International Women's Day is about celebrating the way things are now. Because we're sick of being told that if some women can "succeed", then so can you. Because this is not a post-feminist era.
While there is an increased participation of women in the parliamentary and business worlds, this has been won through collective action. The vote, access to education and work, and women in parliament are the result of decades of work by the women's liberation movement.
Getting a few women into the institutions of power doesn't change a lot if parliament is still run by the dictatorship of cash. If women's rights are still being attacked (albeit with a few more women at the helm), then what have we gained?
Many of the women who did "make it" on the back of the 1970s women's movement prioritised doing deals with the system rather than representing the women who got them there. The Labor Party in the 1980s pursued a conscious process of buying some women off. The ALP never delivered on child-care or abortion rights and drastically cut wages, working conditions, union rights and access to education — all of which disproportionately affect women.
So how do we change things? First, women have to take the lead; we should decide the demands and sorts of action taken. Women-only groups play an important role in this process.
However, this is not enough. To force the sort of changes we are talking about, we'll need the majority on our side. We should look for allies among those fighting for equality: migrants, indigenous rights groups, union members, gay and lesbian organisations and so on. These groups will include men. We need to challenge men to take action alongside us.
Some feminists argue against this, saying that men should not march on International Women's Day. This argument rests on a biological-determinist understanding of the causes of sexism. Autonomous organising means that the women's liberation movement must be organised and led by women. But it does not mean that feminists should not seek to mobilise men in the fight against sexism, nor that the women's liberation movement should not debate which way forward with other oppressed groups.
So be a feminist because we need to mobilise the majority of humanity against the system, not just scramble for the crumbs or join the structures that oppress women.