The first socialist conference ever to be held was in Copenhagen in 1910, followed by an “international working women's day” in 1911, involving demos of millions across Europe. The celebration of this day was always about the struggles of working-class women and how they took it on themselves to demand a better way of life. “In 1908 women workers in the needle sweatshops in New York wanted to vote and have better pay, this month is to celebrate that women workers wanted this. It’s not about unity with the bosses at the top of society” says Amy leather, leader of Finsbury Park sexism meeting.
There have been so many changes since they founded it, from over 100 years ago, yet we are still yet to have won equality. “Women expect to be able to vote, to have access to free education and to get a safe abortion, so it’s contradictory isn’t it?” says Leather.
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Sexism and the System Meeting 5th March 2015
So why is women’s oppression still alive and kicking? To
understand, we must look at the role of the family. In the 50s when women were
fighting sexism as a “housewife” on its own, they wanted to be able to have a
career. Now this has been achieved, women are expected to be able to juggle
between work and being a mother, and if they don’t they are seen as failures. There
is more pressure as a woman now, as we are expected to multitask and conform to
these ideals. Most women do work in Britain, but that’s because it’s expected
of us. Capitalism needs workers and the drive for profit is at the heart of
this.
The government and the media portray the “ideal” family.
Capitalism pushes for each family to be their own separate unit and suggests
that families should deal with “their own issues” privately, inside their
family life. “How do we as a society bring up the next
generation? If you look at many societies, childcare hasn't always been the responsibility of the individual. Particularly in the 19th century in North
America and the native Indians, childcare was a social thing.” In the family, we learn
gender roles which are crucial to capitalism. “Babies aren't naturally born to
love glitter, they have no conception of the world” explains Leather. Women’s
oppression is routed in society and reflects the material world we live in. This isn't necessarily to say a woman who owns a big company won't attack maternity pay if she can get away with
it, because that’s what profit demands – that’s how the system works.
Sexism and the system meeting, Thursday 5th March 2015
If you want to attend the next meeting, it's on every Thursday at 7pm at The Old Fire Station
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