FEMINIST LETTER NO 11
To all feminists
IN PARLIAMENTThe Government has appointed a Minister for Gender Equality who has in the past criticised the former minister for Gender Equality Margareta Winberg for “sexist racism”. When she pointed out that men as a group have a responsibility for men’s violence against women, he wrote an article in Dagens Nyheter(DN Debatt 1999.08.01)saying amongst other things:
“Maybe I will disappoint her when I inform her that I do not feel guilty for other men’s crimes, just as I do not feel guilty as a white person for apartheid or as a person of German descent for the holocaust.” He has also accused “Operation end violence against women”, a campaign in which authorities in the Stockholm region cooperate, of “sexist racism”. When 15 or so researchers and experts in the field criticised his appointment (DN Debatt 2004.10.30)his answer was that he “was tired of the constant talk of collective guilt” and that their article was “surprisingly full of misinterpretations …coming from so many well-educated women”! He chooses not to understand, with an ignorant and dismissive attitude, a common enough technique of male domination.
In Aftonbladet today(AB Debatt 2004.11.04) there is a protest from 16 people representing the policy areas gender equality, integration, democracy and urban development(he is minister for them all!).They refer to a statement a few days previously by the newly appointed minister of integration in the context of a debate on the public sector: “We need a growing service sector. I am thinking of those who arrive in this country as refugees and who can bake bread, sew, look after children and clean. They should be able to use their skills and be paid for them.” The undersigned see the appointment of Jens Orback as a backlash as regards to all the areas for which he is responsible. They call him a family fundamentalist and a colonialist. “What we perceive is a set of neo-liberal policies with racist undertones, hand in hand with a strong new conservatism where the nuclear family and the role of the father are represented as underpinning society.”
Read the articles, react and act! The appointment of Jens Orback is a challenge we need to face! I have addressed a question to the minister, couched in the traditional moderate language of Parliament, wondering what the minister’s opinion is concerning men’s responsibility for the task of breaking down patriarchal power structures, what he means about men’s violence against women being “a cultural issue”(which is what he has said!) and how does he interpret the will to apply a more feminist approach to the work concerning gender equality. (You can read the question in the attached document).
At the EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM
recently held in London(15-17 Oct), a ”European Feminist Initiative” was launched, with regards to the referenda to be held on the proposed ”Constitution” for the EU. Work has been going on since last year’s Forum in Paris, and those of us who have prepared the text are from France, Spain, and Greece, beside me from Sweden. A feminist analysis of the proposed constitution shows that EU policies, both in content and form, strengthen the patriarchal power structures. We draw the conclusion that feminists should vote against! The initiative is now spreading in the countries that have decided to hold a referendum. In Sweden it can be used to influence public opinion towards demanding a referendum. Those wishing to support the initiative can send a message to the mail address attached to the initiative, which will provide you with further information and invitation to future activities. The “Initiative” is attached in Swedish and English.
Gudrun
P.S Piteå is the beacon shining ahead! Here several hundred men demonstrated against men’s violence against women and collected money for the women’s emergency centre!
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