The Irish Womens Liberation Movement

The Women’s Lib Movement in Ireland emerge around the time the struggle in Northern Ireland came to the surface and was gaining impetus. No doubt it was influenced in part by similar movements in great Britain and in the U.S.A., which in turn (particularly the U.S. movement) grew out of the increasing radicalisation of youth around the issue of the war in Vietnam.

However, another reason may have been that with a “United Ireland” once more becoming the real issue rather than an empty campaign slogan, the position of the State and the Church regarding the question of contraception and divorce was brought to the fore. It was obvious that should Northern Ireland become part of the Republic, changes in the alw on these matters would have to be considered.

THE BEGINNINGS The movement in Ireland originated in what was called the “‘Founders Group”, a small group of radical feminists who campaigned on issues such as equal pay, legalised contraception, etc. Their first meeting which was held in the Mansion House attracted approximately 1,000 women, both middle and working-class and small cells were formed in housing estates in Ballymun, Ballyfermot and other areas. However, enthusiasm waned due to the lack of clear analysis of their position, the absence of which led to confusion regarding the strategy which should be adopted. The nature of the group had changed so radically that the original members broke away as did most workingclass women, but no other group was formed. Many women equate bureaucracy with male dominance and felt the leadership to be too dictatorial. They wanted to avoid the pitfalls of existing groups and subsequently tried to find other forms of organisation which would give _their sisters encouragement to develop self-‘confidence and self-determinaton. This feeling also prevails in the Women’s Li groups in other countries and as Sheila Rowbo: -1m pointed out in “Women’s Lib and the New t-elitics”, it is “the struggle against the assumption that men make and define the world, whether it be capitalist or socialist’. Consciousness-raising groups seemed to provide the answer not having leaders, executives, agendas etc, but consisting of a small group of women exchanging personal experiences and advices on how to handle their oppression. Unfortunately, this resulted in aimless discussions and the women became disillusioned very quickly» d which can be seen in the high turnover of the group. In fact, their position tended to be highly individualist, One example of the reformist trend, that is to say, attempting to find solutions within the framework of the capitalist society, can be seen in their issue Vol. 1 No. 5 of the magazine ‘“‘FOWNES STREET”, in an article on prostitution entitled “Our Sisters of the Streets”. Having discussed the background of prostitution in general historical terms, they came up with two solutions — “That they (prostitutes) should be cherished equally with the other children of the nation and not harrassed and ostracised from the community”. Or they recommend a retraining programme to rehabilitate them into society. Both these statements, however, avoid the realities that lie behind prostitution. For with the prospect sof having to earn a living in the most, menial and underpaid jobs, as an alternative, it is understandable that prostitutes would choose that which is relatively more remunerative. Just as a man must sell his labour-fource to the modern industrialist, and so becomes a commodity, so a prostitute sells her body, the end result being the “ultimate Sex Object”.

Another part of their programme is to campaign around specific demands relating to women. One of these campaigns concerning the demand for legal contraception for all, in which they marched to Belfast, had some success in drawing women to the movement, However, the march met with wide publicity, a lot of which was hostile and the group was fiercely attacked and ridiculed, which all but completely demoralised them. DELCINE IN ACTIVITY society. society.

THE CLASS STRUGGLE Recently there has been little activity in the group other than education workshops and publishing the “Fownes Street Journal” every one or two months, The stagnation of the movement, despite continuing radicalisation of women, is due to the fact that revolutionary feminists don’t provide a clear and correct method of struggle. However, that is only part of the reason, for it is also due to the refusal on the part of left-wing and Republican revolutionary groups to recognise the SEXUAL oppression of women, instead they continue to see the problem in purely economist terms. The oppression of the majority of women is a fusion of both class and sex oppression, but it is experienced by them directly through their sexually based role in the Family. Therefore, when we seek to understand the nature of women’s oppression, we must turn our attention to the role of the Family in our The family has a specific function in the capitalist society. It is the means of rearing children, who will become the future labour force or inheritors of the means of production, Women enable men to work for their employers by carrying out the domestic tasks in their lives, taking care of their homes, preparing their food and raising their children. In Ireland particularly, the inability of women to control their fertility is used by the state, aided by the Church, to keep women under its contgol. Women, therefore, play a crucial role in relation to production (ie. reproduction), but unless they are directly producing the goods, they get no financial reward. However, the structure of this type of Family has not always existed and in the earliest human history, people were simply born into society. The society took responsibility for rearing the young, ENGELS, (Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State) explained how with the development of surplus commodity production, a few men took control, which. led to» monogamous marriage (for women only) containing all the contradictions of capitalist The Womens’ Lib movement see correctly thé importance of their role in the family, but are unable to connect this with the class struggle. As I already pointed out, the effect of this can be seen in their approach, which is that all women should reject their role in the Family and society individually. Apart from the fact that most women are not fully conscious of their oppression, this presents the problem of an alternative way of life, which cannot be provided under the present system. However, we not be in class society, the fight to realise their demands of equality with men brings women into conflict with the government of the ruling class, who will be both unable and unwilling to -oncede to many of these demands, It is th: ough the struggle to win these demands that women will be politicised and brought into the revolutionary movement. Which is why Socialist women should understand the necessity to fight for the recommendations, which have been put forward in the “REPORT ON THE STATUS OF WOMEN”.

In the history of Ireland, much of our revolutionary energy has been directed towards freeing ourselves from the British imperialist ey in which struggles both men and women have been and are participating. It is the struggle of the Irish people for self-determination, It is not enough, however, to exchange one bourgeoisie for another, and revolutionary groups recognise this by propagandising for an alternative structure whereby control of the means of production is in the hands of the workers, guaranteeing religious and civil liberty, equal rights and equal opportunities for all its citizens, in the context of a socialist society. Similarly, if the position of women in socialist society is not changed qualitatively; if women are still confined to the role of child-bearing domestic slaves; if basic, democratic rights are denied to half the population, then a genuine socialist revolution cannot be fully realised, Due to the fact that the political consciousness of women, and men, on the question of women’s oppression cannot be changed overnight, it is netessary for revolutionary groups to integrate women’s demands in their programmes. “Working-class consciousness cannot be genuine Political consciousness unless workers are trained to respond to ALL cases, WITHOUT EXCEPTION of tyranny, oppression, violence and abuse, NO MATTER WHAT CLASS !S AFFECTED. (Lenin: What Is to Be Done?)