Danielle Ni Dhighe
8th March 2012, 05:33
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
8 March 2012
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
International Women's Day Statement
On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America issues the following
statement on International Women's Day.
International Women's Day is observed on 8 March every year to
celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women
and to call for full gender equality worldwide. We believe that the
day's history with explicitly socialist and working class dimensions
is especially worthy of celebrating, along with continuing the
fight for women's liberation in the context of the broader class
struggle.
As Alexandra Kollontai recognized in 1920, International Women's Day
must be "a day of international solidarity, and a day for reviewing
the strength and organization" of working class women.
In May 1908, the Socialist Party of America designated the last
Sunday in February for the observance of National Woman's Day, which
was celebrated for the first time on 28 February 1909.
In 1910, at the initiative of Clara Zetkin and other socialist women,
the Second International established the first International Woman's
Day under the slogan, "The vote for women will unite our strength in
the struggle for socialism." The first was held on 19 March 1911 in
several European nations. In Austria, celebrations began a day
earlier, with women carrying red flags in honor of the 40th
anniversary of the establishment of the Paris Commune.
In 1917, with two million Russian soldiers dead in World War I and a
badly deteriorating economy, workers in Petrograd began striking and
demonstrating. On 23 February (by the Julian calendar used in Russia,
or 8 March by the Gregorian calendar), women began demonstrating with
a demand for peace and bread. A march to factories by the women
brought out 50,000 striking workers in solidarity. The women's
uprising was part of the broader February Revolution. Four days
later, the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government
became the first government of a major power to grant women the right
to vote.
While the IRSCNA recognizes that women have made economic, political,
and social gains, we must point out that this is not the same thing
as liberation. Women, especially middle class women, in western
capitalist nations may have more life options now than at any time in
the past, but throughout the world women, especially workers and
peasants, continue to be victims of poverty, labor exploitation,
sexual exploitation, violence, rape, and oppression by religious
fundamentalists. The modern day slave trade profits from exploiting
women sexually, and the number of women who have been victimized by
this trade is staggering.
Wherever there are workers exploited by capitalism, there are workers
who are doubly oppressed as both workers and as women. Lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender women face further oppression and violence
based on their sexual and gender identities.
The bodies of women are still considered contested terrain by
reactionaries. In Ireland, the right for women to make decisions
about their bodies and the medical procedures performed upon them is
severely restricted. In the US, where that right is recognized, it is
presently under severe assault by a resurgent and misogynistic Right,
which wants nothing more than to roll back the clock on the rights
women won through decades of struggle, whether those be reproductive
rights or economic rights.
The Irish Republican Socialist Movement has always been at the
forefront of supporting women's liberation, and women have always
been an integral part of our movement. When the Irish Republican
Socialist Party was founded on 8 December 1974, four women were
elected to its first national executive. Its second chairperson,
Miriam Daly, was a woman, and at one point in the early 1980s, much
of the party's leadership was female. Women were also active as
volunteers in the Irish National Liberation Army during decades of
armed struggle against British occupation, just as Constance
Markievicz was a leader in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter
Rising of 1916.
At its first Ard Fheis (convention) in 1975, the IRSP became one of
the first parties in Ireland to support a woman's right to choose
abortion, and to call for full equality for gays and lesbians. At the
2000 Ard Fheis, bisexuals and transgender people were explicitly
recognized in a new equality statement passed by those assembled.
The war on workers is also a war on working women. Working women are
forced to sell their labor power to survive, while women in the home
perform unpaid labor that benefits the capitalist system.
Women make up a larger percentage of the paid labor force than ever
before, and in some nations, they outnumber men. Supporting women's
struggles is an essential part of socialism, and indeed the
liberation of women is in the interest of the working class as a
whole. There can be no working class liberation if female members of
that class remain oppressed.
The history of International Women's Day is also the history of
working class women engaged in class struggle, women who knew that
gender liberation is inextricably linked to class liberation.
In conclusion, the IRSCNA believes that women's liberation can only
be fully realized within the context of a global struggle to liberate
all oppressed classes and people. We salute all of the women and men
who have fought for, and continue to fight for, women's liberation
and working class liberation.
###
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
PO Box 5174
Champaign IL 61825
USA
[email protected]
http://www.irscna.org/
http://www.irsp.ie/irscna.html
8 March 2012
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
International Women's Day Statement
On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish
Republican Socialist Committees of North America issues the following
statement on International Women's Day.
International Women's Day is observed on 8 March every year to
celebrate the economic, political, and social achievements of women
and to call for full gender equality worldwide. We believe that the
day's history with explicitly socialist and working class dimensions
is especially worthy of celebrating, along with continuing the
fight for women's liberation in the context of the broader class
struggle.
As Alexandra Kollontai recognized in 1920, International Women's Day
must be "a day of international solidarity, and a day for reviewing
the strength and organization" of working class women.
In May 1908, the Socialist Party of America designated the last
Sunday in February for the observance of National Woman's Day, which
was celebrated for the first time on 28 February 1909.
In 1910, at the initiative of Clara Zetkin and other socialist women,
the Second International established the first International Woman's
Day under the slogan, "The vote for women will unite our strength in
the struggle for socialism." The first was held on 19 March 1911 in
several European nations. In Austria, celebrations began a day
earlier, with women carrying red flags in honor of the 40th
anniversary of the establishment of the Paris Commune.
In 1917, with two million Russian soldiers dead in World War I and a
badly deteriorating economy, workers in Petrograd began striking and
demonstrating. On 23 February (by the Julian calendar used in Russia,
or 8 March by the Gregorian calendar), women began demonstrating with
a demand for peace and bread. A march to factories by the women
brought out 50,000 striking workers in solidarity. The women's
uprising was part of the broader February Revolution. Four days
later, the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional government
became the first government of a major power to grant women the right
to vote.
While the IRSCNA recognizes that women have made economic, political,
and social gains, we must point out that this is not the same thing
as liberation. Women, especially middle class women, in western
capitalist nations may have more life options now than at any time in
the past, but throughout the world women, especially workers and
peasants, continue to be victims of poverty, labor exploitation,
sexual exploitation, violence, rape, and oppression by religious
fundamentalists. The modern day slave trade profits from exploiting
women sexually, and the number of women who have been victimized by
this trade is staggering.
Wherever there are workers exploited by capitalism, there are workers
who are doubly oppressed as both workers and as women. Lesbian,
bisexual, and transgender women face further oppression and violence
based on their sexual and gender identities.
The bodies of women are still considered contested terrain by
reactionaries. In Ireland, the right for women to make decisions
about their bodies and the medical procedures performed upon them is
severely restricted. In the US, where that right is recognized, it is
presently under severe assault by a resurgent and misogynistic Right,
which wants nothing more than to roll back the clock on the rights
women won through decades of struggle, whether those be reproductive
rights or economic rights.
The Irish Republican Socialist Movement has always been at the
forefront of supporting women's liberation, and women have always
been an integral part of our movement. When the Irish Republican
Socialist Party was founded on 8 December 1974, four women were
elected to its first national executive. Its second chairperson,
Miriam Daly, was a woman, and at one point in the early 1980s, much
of the party's leadership was female. Women were also active as
volunteers in the Irish National Liberation Army during decades of
armed struggle against British occupation, just as Constance
Markievicz was a leader in the Irish Citizen Army during the Easter
Rising of 1916.
At its first Ard Fheis (convention) in 1975, the IRSP became one of
the first parties in Ireland to support a woman's right to choose
abortion, and to call for full equality for gays and lesbians. At the
2000 Ard Fheis, bisexuals and transgender people were explicitly
recognized in a new equality statement passed by those assembled.
The war on workers is also a war on working women. Working women are
forced to sell their labor power to survive, while women in the home
perform unpaid labor that benefits the capitalist system.
Women make up a larger percentage of the paid labor force than ever
before, and in some nations, they outnumber men. Supporting women's
struggles is an essential part of socialism, and indeed the
liberation of women is in the interest of the working class as a
whole. There can be no working class liberation if female members of
that class remain oppressed.
The history of International Women's Day is also the history of
working class women engaged in class struggle, women who knew that
gender liberation is inextricably linked to class liberation.
In conclusion, the IRSCNA believes that women's liberation can only
be fully realized within the context of a global struggle to liberate
all oppressed classes and people. We salute all of the women and men
who have fought for, and continue to fight for, women's liberation
and working class liberation.
###
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
PO Box 5174
Champaign IL 61825
USA
[email protected]
http://www.irscna.org/
http://www.irsp.ie/irscna.html