Collect materials to explain the reasons for women's low status; Who made efforts for women's liberation struggle? Collecting stories of outstanding women?

In the face of capitalism and the general economic crisis in the third world, governments all over the world have stepped up their efforts to pass the crisis on to the working class and women. Women in all countries are at the forefront of opposing these oppression in a more determined and extensive form of struggle and organization.

The model struggle of British miners' women

In Britain, miners' women played an active role in the miners' strike in 1 and became an example for women and labor movements in various countries. The efforts of female miners are an important factor in supporting and uniting the whole strike. The conservative government expected women to escort their husbands across the picket line and disrupt the strike, which not only failed, but also fundamentally challenged other traditional female images in the process of struggle.

Even in previous miners' strikes, such as the general strike in 1926 and the miners' strikes in 1972 and 1974, women organized themselves and played an active supporting role, but most of them were confined to prestige work or raising food. In this strike, in addition to the above work, women also independently organized themselves throughout the strike struggle, holding demonstrations, marching around and giving speeches, contacting other women's movements and organizing women's pickets, which played a very important role.

Many women said they were influenced by feminism, and they were encouraged by Graham's example of anti-nuclear women's struggle in the commons. The main reason is the influence of the changes in women's lives in recent ten years: more women in mining areas go out to work, even if they are only part-time or junior jobs. In addition to becoming more independent, their thoughts have also undergone major changes, realizing that women can do what men can do, and in some cases, they are more diligent than men. The experience of this strike struggle is a good proof and an encouraging factor for women miners to continue to organize.

Another important experience that women gained from the strike struggle is that they were treated rudely by the police from the beginning. Many mining areas are actually occupied by the police, similar to cities in Northern Ireland. Women personally experienced police violence on the picket line and learned about their political role and that of the whole country in suppressing the machine. Their attitude towards the police has changed a lot, at least they will not educate their children to trust the police.

The struggle of female miners inspired other women. This encouragement is even more important when women's rights are attacked by the Thatcher government. Miners' women promoted women's organizations such as Labour Party women and anti-nuclear women to join the procession, and organized women's groups to oppose the mine closure, covering a wide range of women's liberation movements. Miners' women have played a leading role in the reorganization of women's movement, and this influence will show its importance in the next few years. Miners' women are also going to organize a national women's liaison committee to seek to organize women from other industries, such as dockers, railway workers and truck drivers.

The active mobilization and struggle of female miners strongly prove that labor and trade union movements cannot stand against the bourgeoisie alone, and a strong and independent women's movement is an important force.

Bolivian women support general strike

Like British women miners, Bolivian women miners played an important role in the two-week general strike in March this year. They provided much-needed food and other assistance to 1000 miners, who walked from the mining area to the capital to sleep in protest. This is not an easy task when Bolivia's economy collapses and commodities are extremely scarce.

Miners' women's organizations began to appear in 1946, and now they have become permanent organizations with a national leadership structure, which are engaged in organizing women to fight against food and price issues. In the past few years, this national organization of women miners has often held meetings and has links with trade unions all over the country. They are represented at the Congress of the Bolivian Federation of Trade Unions.

With the economic crisis in Bolivia becoming more and more serious, the inflation rate has reached an unprecedented 65,438+00,000%, and the role of women, especially miners' women's organizations, has become more and more important in this struggle. The All-China Federation of Trade Unions called on all women to take the example of female miners and organize themselves to undertake the task of organizing and distributing grain, and proposed that women's organizations take over private and state-owned grain warehouses and sell grain at legal prices.

The trade union movement has recognized the importance of organizing women. In the past, women also organized against the forced sterilization movement promoted by American aid programs. On the other hand, although Bolivian women rarely go out to work, they have also begun to organize among women workers. The country's laws prohibit government employees from forming trade unions, but mainly because women despise this ban, trade unions have been successfully organized. They even led the trade union and played a leading role in last year's struggle.

The heroic struggle of Bolivian women has pushed women to the front line of the workers' movement, which is conducive to their demands. Women's local and national self-organization is an important factor in this process.

The development of Mexican women's movement

At the grassroots level in Mexico, women are gradually organizing around the problems they see, which is quite different from the situation that they didn't get together to discuss problems a few years ago. The economic crisis in Mexico is the objective reason for this development. Many congresses of slums, farmers, left-wing political organizations and women defending political prisoners and the "missing persons" movement have been held at the national and regional levels, which is a prominent manifestation of this process.

The issues discussed at these meetings are mainly the daily problems faced by most Mexican women: how to face the bourgeois austerity policy, how to win public services, how to defend their jobs, how to defend the land and how to face the special oppression suffered by women. This is quite different from the situation that women's issues were only concerned by a few educated women and female students and were isolated from most women.

Women working on the border between Mexico and the United States discuss the working conditions they face and the right to form trade unions, and coordinate their struggles. Faced with the government's campaign to drive them home and the plan of mass layoffs in the commercial sector, women in the service industry began to organize and communicate with each other. One of the tasks is to publish a monthly magazine to discuss women's problems in various occupations and seek a broader national resistance movement.

Women in slums held a national conference to discuss their problems, especially the struggle for water and electricity supply, as well as the struggle against high prices and the establishment of people's shops in the country. The congress also discussed the necessity of strengthening women's participation and political education. Women in slums are the main force in demonstrations, and they demand that women's opinions be taken into account in the population control plan.

Peasant women also began to organize. In last June, 165438+ 10, the peasant women discussed the organization of their national meeting, which is planned to be held in the middle of this year.

In addition to the actions and congresses of all these organizations, trade union women belonging to these mass liaison organizations and political groups are discussing the establishment of a national women's organization so as to be able to respond to the bourgeois government's attacks on women and mobilize working women, slum women and rural women. The parliamentary election campaign in July this year became an opportunity to contact and launch the women's struggle.

The organization and mobilization of Mexican women face many obstacles. Women are pressured by their husbands to take part in political activities, and they can't get help from the traditional trade union leadership. Today, women's organizations have developed independently and have nothing to do with trade unions. At most, they only get the support of some trade unions. However, the movement of working women began to grow, as shown by women's organizations working in border areas and women's organizations in the service industry. The struggle against high prices and political oppression, as well as the struggle to defend reproductive rights and contraceptive rights, has become the focus of the women's United front.

Anti-imperialist Women's Movement in Northern Ireland

The focus of women's movement against British imperialist oppression in Northern Ireland is Yama prison in Northern Ireland. The female political prisoners held in this prison are the epitome of the whole history of Northern Ireland's resistance to British rule and the British emperor's intensified repression and persecution.

Before 1969, there were no female political prisoners in Northern Ireland. With the beginning of the civil rights movement's struggle against British rule in 1968, Maiaki McALISKEY became the first female political prisoner. Since then, more and more women have been detained in Ama prison. At first, they were treated as political prisoners, but after 1976, Britain increased the persecution of political prisoners, and their situation became very bad. 1980' s uncooperative hunger strike is to fight against this inhuman treatment. But Britain has not relaxed its persecution.

Now, Yama prison is full of young women who are accused of participating in military activities against Britain. This not only reflects the role of women in the armed struggle against British imperialism, but also reflects the anti-imperialist political activities in the past five years. Frequent repression and persecution since 15 have aroused great resistance among the nationalist groups in Northern Ireland, especially after the hunger strike. The Irish nationalist movement has given up the illusion of internal political improvement in Northern Ireland, and the resistance movement has appeared in various forms and levels.

Women are at the forefront of these struggles. Behind every female political prisoner, there are hundreds of political activists and thousands of supporters who provide assistance, participate in protests and demonstrations, provide shelter and take care of prisoners' families. Over the years, women have gained equal status with soldiers in armed resistance organizations. More importantly, women maintained and deepened the resistance movement in the community.

Ireland under British occupation is one of the poorest regions in Europe with the worst economic and social conditions. The male unemployment rate in Northern Ireland is 27%, reaching 60% in some areas, and 20% of the workers only have part-time jobs, of which 80% are women. The cost of living is much higher than that in Britain, but there are few social benefits. Abortion is forbidden, there are few nurseries, and it is occupied and humiliated by the British army and pro-British militia. Women in Northern Ireland are most directly affected by these situations, which is the basic reason for their mobilization.

The women's movement in Ireland, like the whole society, is polarized on the issue of Yama prison, especially the attitude of feminists towards the anti-imperialist movement: Do we only talk about women's issues and ignore racial issues? From practical actions, more women realize that their problems are inseparable from the oppression of the whole imperialist colonial rule.

At a women's conference in June last year, which included people from all over Ireland, anti-imperialist tendencies were in the majority for the first time. People realized that in order to fight for women's freedom, we must break the status quo of imperialist control over Ireland. On this basis, Irish women can continue to build strong anti-imperialist forces and organize independent women's movements.

Cuban Revolution and Women's Liberation

1959 the victory of the Cuban revolution opened a new stage of women's liberation struggle in Latin America. Since then, great changes have taken place in the position and role of Cuban women in society, which shows that great progress has been made in women's liberation after the abolition of capitalist private ownership. However, even in Cuba today, there are still many ideas and styles of male society, which shows that the socialist revolution only provided conditions for women's liberation. True liberation also needs the subjective struggle of women and the whole society, which has a great relationship with the process of socialist revolution.

In the early days of the revolution, women participated in militia and community work, defended the revolution and helped repel the American invasion. These activities help women get out of family and patriarchal social life. The literacy campaign in 6 1 year has enabled tens of thousands of young women to move from their families to the mountainous areas to serve as voluntary teachers, make independent decisions, get to know the outside world, gain experience and strengthen their confidence, thus laying the foundation for them to gradually enter new positions of paid labor.

Destroying the social system of private ownership of women's labor is the starting point and cornerstone for integrating women into production, scientific and technological activities and political activities. Women's labor force and dignity have been liberated from family slavery and private ownership. The social revolution has brought about structural changes needed for women's liberation.

The number of working women increased from 654.38 million+600,000 in195 to 654.38 million+400,000 in194. It accounts for 39% of the working population, reflecting that Cuban women, driven by the revolution, have achieved the results achieved by European and American women after a century of struggle in 20 years. Contrary to capitalist society, more Cuban women are engaged in high-skilled jobs, accounting for 53% of skilled workers. About 60% of new professionals are women, and in some professions, such as doctors, and in some departments of universities, women are in the majority. As the society provides more nurseries, schools, canteens and medical equipment, more women are allowed to continue working after marriage.

Women's participation in trade union activities is also increasing. 1980, 42% of trade union leaders and 33% of trade union workers are women. Women account for half of the grass-roots units of the Committee for the Defence of the Revolution, but the proportion of women in the leading bodies of the Committee is still very low, only 22%.

Similarly, the proportion of women in Cuba's * * * production party is very low, only 1.9% in 1980. Cuban leader Castro explained this situation, partly because the responsibility of housework and child care naturally fell on women.

In fact, in Cuban society, although the status of women has obviously improved after the revolution, male superiority and some traditional consciousness, customs and thoughts still exist, which helps to maintain the gender division of labor, especially in housework and unpaid work of raising children. For example, grandma helps to take care of children, which relieves men and society of their responsibilities in this regard. Men still resist these jobs, and dissatisfaction with women's active participation in political and social activities is the root of some family disputes.

However, the high collective and social consciousness of Cuban women, especially the younger generation, makes them more aware of the value of their labor to society and the dignity of women, and more actively strive for women's liberation and an equal society.

Cuban family law gives women complete equality. Divorce is permitted by law. Abortion is no longer an illegal act that takes the lives of many Latin American women, but it is free and conducted in well-equipped operating rooms, although abortion is discouraged. Health and sex education are emphasized in schools, which makes women more aware of their health and contraception.

Although these laws and measures cannot guarantee the liberation of women, the real liberation of women cannot be independent of the progress of the socialist revolution. But just like other social, economic and political changes brought about by the Cuban revolution, it can provide better objective conditions for awakened Cuban women to continue their struggle for women's liberation.

Women and families in the Soviet Union

In the modern Soviet metropolitan society, men and women play almost equal roles in work and society. More women go out to work and have independent economic ability and values. However, the traditional family relationship has not changed, and the responsibility of housework and raising children still falls entirely on women.

Women's income from work is often necessary to support their families. They are usually more educated than men. The husband was dissatisfied with his wife's busyness outside and even refused to share the housework. Coupled with the suffocating atmosphere caused by bureaucratic rule in society, many husbands are attached to alcoholism. In addition to becoming a serious social problem, alcoholism is often a factor of family breakdown. Usually, wives can't stand their husbands who drink too much and are male chauvinist and ask for a divorce, even though they have been trying to maintain family ties. After divorce, they usually get custody of their children.

Divorce has become a serious social problem. The divorce rate in Soviet cities is as high as 50%. 900,000 couples get divorced every year. Many women stop getting married after divorce. As a result, a new phenomenon appeared in Soviet society: there was only one mother. And children usually only contact female teachers in school, because female teachers account for the majority. Therefore, many children can't be influenced by both sexes in their growth stage. Some experts blame this factor on some adolescent problems, ignoring the main factors that all levels of society are distorted by bureaucratic rule and suffocated and feel desperate and hopeless.

Soviet bureaucrats have always ignored the quality and quantity of people's living consumption, which has caused many social problems, such as a serious shortage of houses, especially in cities. The lack and poor quality of daily necessities and other consumer goods is another factor that makes family relations tense. Under the influence of various factors, many women do not want to have children, which makes the population growth rate of the Soviet Union far lower than its labor demand.

Thirty years ago, two thirds of the population of the Soviet Union lived in rural areas. Now this proportion has just been reversed, and more than two-thirds of people live in cities. The traditional family tradition and ethical concept of preferring sons to daughters in traditional rural areas have gradually lost, but the new concept has not been formed and stabilized, so that both men and women can share the responsibility of housework and raising children. This is undoubtedly one of the contradictions between Soviet society and family. In this contradiction, Soviet women became the main victims, bearing most of the pressure before and after family breakdown.

Salvadoran women and the struggle for national liberation

Revolutionary women's organizations in El Salvador have implemented many plans and made efforts to organize women in areas controlled by the liberation movement, such as sewing workshops, nurseries, handicraft groups and people's shops. They are not only to meet the needs of the region, but part of the whole liberation struggle.

For small workshops, in addition to meeting the needs of the liberated areas, women have to take the risk of transporting them to government-controlled areas for sale and replacing them with other goods to return to the liberated areas. This is a dangerous job. The arrested women will be put into prison.

People's shops are managed by the women's movement, selling daily necessities at uniform prices, and forcing private shops in this area to keep up with people's shops. This is the way people control prices.

Day nurseries organized by the women's movement provide free, safe and reliable childcare services for women who participate in the revolutionary struggle and work.

The women's movement not only mobilized women to work together, but also held various courses and seminars for women, ranging from reproductive and contraceptive knowledge to cultural issues, economic, political and military situations. The main purpose is to educate women who have not yet awakened politically or participated in revolutionary activities, and point out the role of women in the existing society and the role of women in the new society won by the liberation struggle. By discussing the problems faced by women, many women realize that they are under double oppression, and the result of the discussion is that women unite to join the struggle.

After women participated in the women's movement and liberation struggle, they experienced great changes. In the future (it should be "before"), most of them are biased against women's own tasks in society and life, and unconsciously accept the situation that women are oppressed by both family and society. After joining the liberation struggle, women's attitudes have changed greatly. They have realized new values and social concepts, and they are fighting to change their ideology and social roles. Even the men who participated in the revolutionary work in the liberated areas, although their attitudes towards women have changed greatly, still have a male-centered reaction. Therefore, awakened women still have to fight independently and resolutely.

In the past, most women only paid attention to food and daily life, but awakened women have discussed and participated in the national liberation struggle, and viewed the prospects of the new society from a longer-term perspective. This is the most important change for Salvadoran women who participated in the liberation struggle.