Anarchist Conference in London, 2009
Anarchist Women Stand Up To Be Counted:
The so-called intervention at the Anarchist Conference of '09 was only five minutes long, but it's become one of the hottest topics. Which just goes to show that sometimes, the most important issues don't get discussed...
It was just after 3:30 in the afternoon and I was flagging, thanks to too much post-conference partying the night before. I was seated in the Plenary, a sort of "summing up" meeting which was being held in a huge room with around 80 other people.We were all listening to speakers from each of the conference's 15 discussion groups, describing how their discussions had gone.
One of the last groups was in the middle of its presentation when without warning, a handful of black-clad figures wearing black bandanas over their faces barged into the room. With military efficiency, they switched off the lights, pulled down a projection screen and ushered the stunned speakers offstage. Suddenly, I was awake again.
"Don't worry, this will only take five minutes," said one of the figures, as her comrades set up a projector on a table. Conference organizers quickly shut the curtains and someone helpfully offered the woman a microphone.
It was only then that I realized that the insurgents were all female. So did some loudmouth seated behind me, who rather chauvinistically quipped, "Are you going to dance for us?" Thanks to him, the anarcha-feminists had proven their point before they even played their film.
"This is how we see sexism in the movement," one of the women said into the mic as the video-collage began rolling to a pounding soundtrack.
'Spot the women' said the words on the screen. They were followed by clips of men speaking in government, men speaking at [anarchist] rallies, prominent male politicians and prominent male activists: men, men and more men. Then it showed clips of women in the movement, playing the same roles they play in mainstream society: sex objects, baby carriers, dish-washers. Supporters.
Admittedly, I haven't seen that many women doing the dishes in the movement (admittedly, I also haven't been in many activist scenarios which required dish-washing) but I did take their point. It is sadly true that men tend to snatch up all the frontline, high-profile roles wherever they are, and anarchism is no exception. Even the more active women activists tend to stay firmly behind-the-scenes, preserving the illusion that women do not exist or belong in the active 'male' spheres.
Having grown up female, I know all too well why this is. I have experienced first hand the way that women are actively prevented from speaking their minds, through mechanisms ranging from [passive, receptive] gender stereotypes to verbal intimidation and harassment and physical violence. All women submit to the relentless pressure to be seen and not heard to some extent... usually at the cost of their physical, psychological and spiritual health. Scars hold them back even where active prejudice does not.
After a lifetime of seeing women going out of their way to 'behave' and compromise themselves for others, I feel more disgusted every time another brash, thoughtless man ploughs his way through another human being with his words or actions. I resent it on an emotional level and I resent it on a political level too; such people have too much in common with dictators.
To be fair to the men in the movement, I think that they are not quite that bad, although some are. For instance, I've seen the term "vagina" bandied about as an insult on anarchist forums a couple of times, which is a couple of times more than it should have been. But men often behave aggressively for the same reason that women behave passively, i.e. because they've been conditioned into it. Like women, they are often unconscious of their own internalized sexism until someone points it out, and this is why the problem persists. When women are conditioned to avoid confrontation and men are conditioned to stomp it out, any attempt by women to criticize men is quashed too quickly for the message to sink in.
When I left the Plenary I overheard a couple of guys complaining about the fact that the anarcha-feminists wore black masks over their faces. Instead of pausing to think about the women's message, they immediately tried to pick it apart because it didn't conform to their [confrontational, macho] vision of what anarchism is. They claimed that they supported the women's message but I'm sure that if they'd really understood how difficult it is to go against years of conditioning and to find one's voice, they would have shown more support. Something worth keeping in mind for next time, guys.
Personally, I liked the masks. By hiding their identities, the women seemed to be saying, "We could be anyone in this room." And if the amount of clapping and cheering they got from the women in the audience was any indicator, they were right. By staging a takeover of an anarchist conference, the anarcha-feminists were sending another message, too: if men in the movement continue to sacrifice women's self-expression for their own, they risk a revolution within their revolution.
***As an endnote to this report, I'd like to add that the general reaction in the room was very positive and helpful toward the women. Quite a few of the speakers in the Plenary mentioned that they would like to even out the gender imbalance within the anarchist movement. As long as they paid attention to what these women were saying, that is almost guaranteed to happen.
The so-called intervention at the Anarchist Conference of '09 was only five minutes long, but it's become one of the hottest topics. Which just goes to show that sometimes, the most important issues don't get discussed...
It was just after 3:30 in the afternoon and I was flagging, thanks to too much post-conference partying the night before. I was seated in the Plenary, a sort of "summing up" meeting which was being held in a huge room with around 80 other people.We were all listening to speakers from each of the conference's 15 discussion groups, describing how their discussions had gone.
One of the last groups was in the middle of its presentation when without warning, a handful of black-clad figures wearing black bandanas over their faces barged into the room. With military efficiency, they switched off the lights, pulled down a projection screen and ushered the stunned speakers offstage. Suddenly, I was awake again.
"Don't worry, this will only take five minutes," said one of the figures, as her comrades set up a projector on a table. Conference organizers quickly shut the curtains and someone helpfully offered the woman a microphone.
It was only then that I realized that the insurgents were all female. So did some loudmouth seated behind me, who rather chauvinistically quipped, "Are you going to dance for us?" Thanks to him, the anarcha-feminists had proven their point before they even played their film.
"This is how we see sexism in the movement," one of the women said into the mic as the video-collage began rolling to a pounding soundtrack.
'Spot the women' said the words on the screen. They were followed by clips of men speaking in government, men speaking at [anarchist] rallies, prominent male politicians and prominent male activists: men, men and more men. Then it showed clips of women in the movement, playing the same roles they play in mainstream society: sex objects, baby carriers, dish-washers. Supporters.
Admittedly, I haven't seen that many women doing the dishes in the movement (admittedly, I also haven't been in many activist scenarios which required dish-washing) but I did take their point. It is sadly true that men tend to snatch up all the frontline, high-profile roles wherever they are, and anarchism is no exception. Even the more active women activists tend to stay firmly behind-the-scenes, preserving the illusion that women do not exist or belong in the active 'male' spheres.
Having grown up female, I know all too well why this is. I have experienced first hand the way that women are actively prevented from speaking their minds, through mechanisms ranging from [passive, receptive] gender stereotypes to verbal intimidation and harassment and physical violence. All women submit to the relentless pressure to be seen and not heard to some extent... usually at the cost of their physical, psychological and spiritual health. Scars hold them back even where active prejudice does not.
After a lifetime of seeing women going out of their way to 'behave' and compromise themselves for others, I feel more disgusted every time another brash, thoughtless man ploughs his way through another human being with his words or actions. I resent it on an emotional level and I resent it on a political level too; such people have too much in common with dictators.
To be fair to the men in the movement, I think that they are not quite that bad, although some are. For instance, I've seen the term "vagina" bandied about as an insult on anarchist forums a couple of times, which is a couple of times more than it should have been. But men often behave aggressively for the same reason that women behave passively, i.e. because they've been conditioned into it. Like women, they are often unconscious of their own internalized sexism until someone points it out, and this is why the problem persists. When women are conditioned to avoid confrontation and men are conditioned to stomp it out, any attempt by women to criticize men is quashed too quickly for the message to sink in.
When I left the Plenary I overheard a couple of guys complaining about the fact that the anarcha-feminists wore black masks over their faces. Instead of pausing to think about the women's message, they immediately tried to pick it apart because it didn't conform to their [confrontational, macho] vision of what anarchism is. They claimed that they supported the women's message but I'm sure that if they'd really understood how difficult it is to go against years of conditioning and to find one's voice, they would have shown more support. Something worth keeping in mind for next time, guys.
Personally, I liked the masks. By hiding their identities, the women seemed to be saying, "We could be anyone in this room." And if the amount of clapping and cheering they got from the women in the audience was any indicator, they were right. By staging a takeover of an anarchist conference, the anarcha-feminists were sending another message, too: if men in the movement continue to sacrifice women's self-expression for their own, they risk a revolution within their revolution.
***As an endnote to this report, I'd like to add that the general reaction in the room was very positive and helpful toward the women. Quite a few of the speakers in the Plenary mentioned that they would like to even out the gender imbalance within the anarchist movement. As long as they paid attention to what these women were saying, that is almost guaranteed to happen.
Comments
Post a Comment