FEMINIST LETTER NO 25
To all feminists
The governmenthas put forward a bill presenting new objectives for policies related to gender equality(2005/06:155). The objective to create a gender equal society, where women and men share equally the power to shape both society and individual lives, has not been achieved, said minister Jens Orback when the bill was first launched. In spite of new legislation and active efforts by authorities and organisations, men’s violence against women is still a major problem in society .In spite of the fact that women have overtaken men in the field of education, differences between the sexes where income levels are concerned still remain. More women than men have insecure forms of employment, are part-time out of work and on sick leave. There is every reason to devise more stringent objectives.
The new objectives proposed include the equal distribution of power and influence, economic equality, an the equal sharing of unpaid work in caring and the household, and that men’s violence against women must be brought to an end. “Policies shall be based on the feminist premise that there exists an order or social system in society that maintains unequal power relationships between the sexes, where women are subordinated and men dominate as groups within society and where men /the male principle is the norm”. The view of the government is that policies should be designed to break down existing power structures and transform them. “The concept of power is crucial to policies concerned with gender equality”.
There is every reason in the world both to formulate more stringent objectives, to intensify efforts to achieve them and to hone organisation and structures. A good deal of the government proposal is a step in the right direction. The problem is that the government does not stick to a feminist analysis when it comes to proposing concrete measures. In spite of the premise that the concept of power is fundamental, there is no attempt to tackle the problem that women can only acquire more power if power in the hands of men is reduced. The text argues that women and men should have access to “the same power”, but avoids indicating how this can be achieved. There is a reluctance to admit that there is a conflict. The mainstreaming of gender equality policies, previously criticised for being too vague and weak an instrument, is to remain the principle tool also for the future.
The government’s analysis of gender equality is narrow and restricted. There is a lack of understanding of the fact that feminist policies must be inclusive and anti-racist, requiring manifest efforts to oppose all generalised and restrictive conceptions of women and men. The government starts out from the assumption that Swedish women and men are white and heterosexual. The objective for feminist policies must, however, be that all women and men be able to develop their full potential in an equally balanced interaction with others, irrespective of sex, age, disabilities, sexual orientation or ethnic origin. The decisive issue is that power and privilege must be redistributed –from men as a group to women as a group. Hence feminist policies must challenge all discrimination, something which requires broad alliances and a good measure of pluralism, without loosing the power and conflict perspective. It is with this dimension that the Feminist Initiative intends to enhance the work of Parliament.(The full text of the bill can be found on the government website www.regeringen.se. For my own private member’s bill see www.schyman.se).
The Feminist Initiative
has held its election conference(1-2 April), deciding on the list of candidates for Parliament and the main issues for the election campaign. Five different topics, each interrelated with the others, are to be our focus in the campaign. As expected fair wages, men’s violence, and parental insurance based on the individual were front line issues, added to which were issues related to social development and antidiscrimination, concerns which touch on all areas of life.
1. Women’s inadequate wages form part of the pattern that also creates involuntary part time, unsatisfactory employment security and a poor working environment, in other words a view of women as being “provisional” labour in the labour market. This view is in turn related to the obsolete construction of
2. the parental insurance system, based on the view that parenthood is the responsibility of women and a spare time activity for men - poor value at work as at home. The conflicts arising from gender power structures are enacted in all arenas, the most brutal of them behind closed doors
3. in the violence of intimate relationships. Yet the same view of power and dominance is to be found far beyond on the international scene, at the negotiating table and on the battle fields. Women are absent from places where decisions are made, but their bodies are systematically violated in the course of every military conflict and /or social breakdown. And women’s bodies are used as arenas for men’s power outside the sports grounds. The World Championship in prostitution that will take place in Germany this summer is one of several explicit examples. Football hooliganism has at times been punished with having to play matches without spectators. The slave trade in women, however, appears to be a negligible issue for football enthusiasts – a record in cynicism, while commerce flourishes. Society constructs brothels while what we need is
4. cheap housing, a secure neighbourhood environment and social services within easy reach. Today’s social planning (housing, public spaces and places, traffic etc) is male dominated at every level – from the cutting of the first sod to the last long term plan. Men, men and again men. The male dominance over building and construction has dire consequences for women (and young people, and immigrants, and children, and pensioners, and etc). If you lack a secure job with a reasonable wage, you will not be eligible for a tenancy agreement, nor a bank loan even to buy books. If you do not own a car, changing transportation cross country, cross town to get times to fit is a challenging pass time. If pedestrian tunnels are many in number, are long, and badly lit as well, then taxi is the only alternative. When social services and infrastructure do not function adequately, then
5. many more women find themselves in the same inferior situation. Who are the people who today need a full wage, a permanent job and a home of their own? Not only women. Young people and immigrants share the same predicament. Who is today being suffocated by increasingly stereotyped gender roles with built-in patriarchal armour and push-ups? Not only women. The more limiting the confines are and the higher the walls, the larger number of people will find themselves on the outside. Young people are denied the right to explore their sexual identity, homo- bi- and transsexuals are discriminated against.
Giving priority to five issues does not mean that other issues are unimportant. These issues should rather be seen as five gates by which to enter. The labour market gate opens up the whole subject of the working environment and health issues. Stress-related illness leads on to the area of health care where women’s maladies are neglected. This in turn leads us onto the new stance taken buy the Social Security Office, chasing after people on sick leave, women not the least. This in turn highlights the need for a uniform system of social security etc. etc. There are many more political demands in the document called A Political Plan of Action soon to be found on the website www.feministisktinitiativ.se
Finally,
a reflection : I believe that the value of FI lies above all in our offering opportunities. Opportunities to be politically active over issues that are dear to our hearts without having to struggle first for the right to put the issues on the agenda. Opportunities to recognise our every day life in a political context. Opportunities to use our own experience and knowledge in shaping our policies. Opportunities to put into words what so many of us feel. Opportunities to fully understand that things can be different from what they are today. Simply, and –marvellously- the opportunity to be a human being!
HAPPY EASTER!
Tillbaka till Tidigare Feministbrev
