Sisters In Struggle

My previous experience of feminism was back in the 80s, when feminist meetings of any sort were segregated, strictly women-only. There was a sometimes unpleasant anti-male undercurrent. And feminist groups often weren't so much political as lifestylist, and feminists as a whole were deeply divided on race and class lines.So it was refreshing to find a conference where men were admitted to most of the workshops, and which addressed the particular experience of working class feminists.

I was only able to go to the second day of the conference, but the women I spoke to who went to the Saturday workshops seemed inspired by them. Most empowering was the women-only self defence and assertiveness sessions. I have been to other such self defence sessions so I have experience of just how empowering they can be. Women can often be afraid of their more aggressive feelings (whatever their cause). Aggression, and using physical force, just aren't 'feminine' and society still tends to view fighting women with something close to horror. Learning how to release aggression, and hit and kick effectively in a safe, controlled environment can feel amazingly good.

Apart from that, the range of workshops left me feeling a bit spoilt for choice. The only complaint I have is that quite a few of the ones I was interested in clashed: the disability workshop with the one on writing and gender, stop the traffik (about people trafficking and forced labour) with the one on care work and women.

I only went to three workshops so I don't know whether the presence of men in groups that aimed to address women's issues was generally problematic. I found that the disability workshop, though interesting and useful, talked about attitudes to disability in general and not about women's particular experience. I have read articles in magazines such as Spare Rib once upon a time, which talked about how women with disabilities such as impaired vision, deafness, or a learning disability were propositioned or sexually harrassed frequently because they were seen as vulnerable and so easy to prey on. Or how one disabled (wheelchair bound) women was told she needed a psychiatrist because she had her pubic hair dyed and wanted to have a sex life. Such strictly feminist issues as these were not addressed.

I also heard from other people that two of the men at the workshop on prostitution got hung up on the 'correct definition' of prostitution and wouldn't move the discussion on when the women in the group wanted to. Hardly a difficult thing to define, surely?

About fifty people from around the country attended the final session, and only one said she would like to have more women-only space at next year's conference. She was one of the older women and I expect, like me, remembers how refreshing it was to have women only space to organise, or just to talk, away from the demands of the men you lived with (partners, sons, parents) to cater to their wants.That said, all of the men and women at the conference seemed to already have a raised consciousness about feminism and anarchism, and perhaps had enough shared experience as working class people that segregated meetings would not have been useful. The shared discussions promoted solidarity among people who were already of like mind.