... and ain't i a woman?: Allies

February 25, 1998
Issue 

and ain't i a woman?

Allies

Should or shouldn't men be encouraged to actively participate in the feminist movement? What business is it of theirs anyway? How would it affect women's role in their own movement?

These questions have been hotly debated for decades, among First World feminists at least. They arise each time feminists take public action, such as on International Women's Day.

A key aspect of the oppression of women is their psychological enslavement — the lack of confidence, low expectations and even self-hatred of people who have been systematically exploited, demeaned and made dependent for centuries. Freedom from such oppression can only be won by the oppressed themselves.

The consciousness raising and heightened self-esteem and political experience that the process of organising and leading a movement for liberation involves is therefore an essential part of achieving the full liberation of women.

Women-only organisations are a form of affirmative action in this regard. They create a space within which women can learn and lead without fear of having to compete with, be put down by or dictated to by men who, consciously or unconsciously, reflect the sexist attitudes in society at large. They help women gain the pride, confidence and experience to act, and lead, as political beings, both within the feminist movement and in broader struggles for change.

Those organisations which determine the direction and content to the feminist movement — IWD organising collectives, for example — must be led by women. The decisions about which immediate demands are raised, who speaks publicly and on whose behalf, and how campaigns are conducted must be made by those in whose interests the movement is to act.

However, if the feminist movement is to win its demands once they are decided, it must convince the majority of people — women and men — to support them. This means encouraging and welcoming all expressions of political support.

Today, especially, as economic "rationalist" governments deepen their assault on the living conditions and democratic rights of all ordinary people, it is clear that the feminist movement must reject the sexist establishment's efforts to divide and conquer. It must build alliances with other oppressed groups — educating each other about our different experiences of oppression, but strengthening the links which unite us to fight for a society in which everyone has the same life choices and opportunities irrespective of sex, race and class.

The profound changes to the structure of society that women need in order to be free will not be made through separatism. Excluding allies, who also happen to be men, from acting in solidarity with the movement (by marching on IWD to show their support for the demands of the event, for example, or doing the cooking for feminist fundraising events) unnecessarily weakens the movement's resources, public profile and political impact.

Men are on the other side of the sexism divide. They do benefit from women's oppression. But individual men benefit from sexism independently of their will. To deny that many men can be convinced to genuinely support feminist demands and leadership is to deny that people's consciousness can be changed by experience. If that is true, the debate about men's participation is pointless because the whole feminist project of liberation is doomed.

Sexism affects different women in different ways depending on their race, class, age, ethnicity, sexual preference and many other factors. To limit the potential role of any group of women in the movement by telling them that the men in their political and personal lives cannot demonstrate support for their aims and activism narrows and distorts the movement which should reflect the variety of interests, needs and realities of women.

Women, who will make the fight for women's rights and needs their first priority, must decide each step the movement takes. But if we are serious about achieving liberation for all women, those decisions must include a preparedness to draw on every available source of people-power.

By Lisa Macdonald

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