A resolution from the women's officers to the Socialist Alliance conference makes a case for equal representation for women as officers of the Alliance and as its public representatives. Under-representation of women at all levels in political organisations and public life is an expression of discrimination against women. PAULINE ROLAND looks at how it should be tackled. • Don't get sore
Going nothing hasn't worked. In D the 1970s and |980s there were
large struggles of working class women and more women joined trade unions, became shop stewards and were politically active.
It seemed women would make their way on the strength of their abilities, experience of struggle and commitment to socialism. But apart from a few hand picked women, who were prepared to go along with the right wing agenda, progress has been slight.
A longer view of history shows this has repeatedly happened since the beginning of the labour and socialist movement. It seems that each generation of women dies before it has accumulated the confidence, experience and skills to represent the movement!
Neither has exhorting women to develop their self-confidence and skills had much impact. Opportunities should be available for women, and men as well, to do so. But fundamentally this approach implies that the problem can be resolved by the people discriminated against making an effort. It glosses over the source of discrimination.
Gender discrimination is deeply rooted. It stems from a bias in structures, culture, and political priorities, even in political organisations of the left, which like most institutions and organisations have traditionally been dominated by men. The discrimination is institutional like institutional racism.
So time for a new approach. Let's look at some of the arguments against taking special measures. A long-running fight for equal pay that has been waged by UNISON on behalf of low-paid women hospital staff in Carlisle is on course to deliver mega Argument 1: *It's tokenism; candidates and officers should be selected on merit. that they can represent the movement. .... to keep quiet about should want to keep the Carlisle case a secret: if other health workers followed the same path, the bill would be billions, dwarfing the £3.3 billion on offer Resistance to tokenism is quite natural. One or two women leaders, divorced from a complete overhaul of an organisation, can be ineffective and be seen either as tokens or just unusual, not to be imitated by other women, whereas the whole point is to convince women that politics is for them and
... ... especially when most of those selecting Argument 2: awful?'
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Any self-respecting woman would want to stand on her own merit. But it's not lack of merit that holds women back. Ostensibly "free and fair' election processes constantly come up with a majority of men. The argument about the best candidate for the job is always used to defend the status quo.
Men's activities, issues and type of political contribution are traditionally valued ism. more than women's in society at large. Unless something decisive is done, they will carry more weight in political organisations, candidates and officers are men. Gender discrimination is deeply rooted. It stems from a bias in structures, culture, and political priorities, even in political organisations of the left ••.. Argument 3: 'Advancing women in this way is anti-man and a threat to working class unity.' Working-class men and women have a great deal in common, and the highest level of unity of men and women in the working class is central to the achieving of socialism and even to achieving reform under capital.
This objection is a prime example of how traditional assumptions shape debates
Why does challenging discrimination against women (half the working class and more than half the workforce) raise the spectre of a threat to class unity, whereas discrimination itself doesn't? Real unity cannot be built on the basis of discrimination such as that experienced by women.
Positive discrimination does not place gender above class, it recognises that the working class is made up of both men and women and their experience of class exploitation will sometimes be the same, sometimes different.
It is important that women are visible as public representatives and playing a full range of roles in the socialist movement Equal representation means redefining democracy in socialist terms to include gender and taking special measures to overcome discrimination now in every aspect of our organisations.
Equal representation is symbolic of socialist commitment - that men and women will be equal partners in changing