Feminism - Challenging our preconceptions!

national | rights, freedoms and repression | press release

Monday June 25, 2007 16:38

by Feminist - Ógra Shinn Féin

Ógra Shinn Féin will be taking to the streets and countryside this weekend, (29 June - 1 July) bringing A.R.I.S.E to an end as their National Campaign by holding a nation wide Weekend of Action on the issue of Feminism.

Here an article taken from the 'Ógra Shinn Féin Handbook' discusses the issue and importance of Feminism to Irish Republicans:

I’m not a feminist, but …”! This phrase is heard all too frequently from progressives and, sadly, republicans are no exception. Many young people have come to view feminism as at best outmoded and unnecessary, at worst “anti-male”. This is no accident – for as long as feminism has existed, its opponents have tried to portray it in these terms. It’s important to remember that those opponents are, by and large, the same people who oppose equality for ethnic minorities and the working class.

So let’s look at what feminism is. Its most basic definition, found in any dictionary, is the belief in equality of the sexes. What republican could disagree with that? It’s written into the 1916 Proclamation and the Democratic Programme of the First Dáil. Connolly, Pearse and MacDonagh all explicitly advocated equal rights for women. And, of course, republican women such as Constance Markievicz and Hannah Sheehy-Skeffington openly aligned themselves with the cause of gender equality. The men and women of 1916 recognised that the Republic’s guarantee of “equal rights and equal opportunities to all its citizens” meant little if it excluded 50% of the population. That’s as true today as it was then – and despite undeniable advances in recent years, this goal has yet to be achieved.

Just as important is the question of what feminism isn't. It isn't a set of rules governing how women should dress, the words we should use or our romantic and sexual relationships. Feminists can and do disagree on a variety of issues - including the origin of patriarchy, the use of quotas to combat discrimination, and pornography/sex work. The media tend to single out women with the most extreme positions on these issues and portray them as representative of all feminists. Ask yourself whose agenda this serves.

So if the goal is equality for everyone, why the need for the term “feminist”? Two reasons. First, because it’s important to keep the issue of gender equality to the forefront of the equality agenda. It’s the oldest form of discrimination after all - and often the most easily overlooked. And second, because downplaying the importance of feminism ultimately feeds into a reactionary agenda which actively opposes equality.

Republicanism is indivisible from feminism just as it is indivisible from socialism, anti-racism and anti-sectarianism. Republicans would not hesitate to describe ourselves in those terms - neither should we hesitate to call ourselves feminists.