Commentary
The Women's Movement and the Politics of Ghettoization
Much has been said about the advances women have made during the 20th century, especially in western capitalist countries. Women hold positions of political and economic power, albeit still in small numbers. The mainstream media creates the impression that as individuals, women have achieved equality.
Yet any objective review of the conditions facing Canadian women would conclude that women constitute an oppressed section of society. The majority of people who live in poverty are women; they also represent the majority of the labour force in the service sector of the economy, which tends to be lower-waged, part-time, insecure and with few benefits. Women still do most of the domestic work, care for their children, and increasingly, for their elderly parents or relatives, while still working outside the home for wages. Violent crimes committed against women continue at high levels, with studies showing up to a quarter of women are at one time the victim of physical and/or sexual assault.
Given the oppression women still face, it would make sense for there to be a vigorous, vibrant women's movement at the forefront of solving these problems in the context of dealing with all social problems. Yet the women's movement in Canada is anything but, and is removed, for the most part, from the day-to-day lives of Canadian women. Why?
During the 1960s in Canada, as around the world, a massive upsurge of youth and students occurred. Thousands of young women emerged from this movement, convinced that their emancipation could only be achieved through the emancipation of the entire society from the backward relations engendered by the capitalist system.
However, almost immediately another trend also emerged in the women's movement, a trend claiming that men were the real enemy of women, not the backward capitalist relations. The leaders of this trend sought to convince women that governments at various levels were the natural ally of women in their struggle against men and advocated reliance on government funding and support. They also argued that women could achieve their emancipation within the capitalist system by lobbying governments for legislative reforms, such as pay equity, daycare and other so-called "women's issues", while struggling to overthrow the capitalist system was deemed unachievable, "counter-productive". Even putting the question on the agenda would isolate and alienate the majority of women, it was said.
Those who advocated such positions were quickly accommodated within the system, receiving appointments to Cabinet, the Senate and various governmental commissions. They were also promoted as the real leaders of women. On the other hand, those women who opposed splitting the movement on the basis of gender, who argued that women should organize on the basis of their own strength and that capitalism, not men, was the enemy, were completely marginalized.
The women's organizations built on a foundation of government handouts have all gone into crisis with the arrival of neo-liberalism. Faced with an end to government grants, their institutions have been closed down. Others have been torn apart by the ideology that the movement should be split not only on the basis of gender, but on every other conceivable difference, as well.
Identity politics has resulted in the further fragmentation of the women's movement, to the point that today, the vast majority of young women see no place for themselves in the movement and indeed, see no movement at all. Yet, despite this virtual extinction of the women's movement, women still remain active in the movements for change in society. However, what is missing are the defence organizations of women that can address their particular oppression.
Women must question seriously what politics created the current crisis in the women's movement, with the aim of overcoming that crisis and advancing the cause of women everywhere for emancipation and social justice.