The Gender Struggle

I am writing in the hope of initiating a debate about the problem of
patriarchy as an obstacle to effective nonviolent struggle.  Some may
remember that the issue was placed on the agenda at the national Nv
gathering, and yet I have found a disturbing resistance to any such
discussions.  The issue is gaining media attention more and more, and I
personally feel unwilling to leave it to creeps such as Couchman to have the
last word.

At a time when some men (but only some) are beginning to take up the
challenge of exploring their own identities and roles in patriarchal society,
I now find that some women in the movement seem to feel a need to protect men
from exposure to this challenge.

To these women, and to the men who have difficulty finding the motivation or
understanding the relevance of the issue, I would like to ask several
questions.

1. Do you feel that communication between the sexes is satisfying? Is it open
and honest?

2. Are you personally satisfied that women in your groups are fully free to
express their feelings and their opinions?  When they do speak, are they
always taken seriously?  How often are women's comments curtailed at meetings
because men interrupt?

3. Are you personally satisfied that men in your groups are honest in
expressing their feelings and their views, do they share equal responsibility
for the more mundane chores, and do they share equally in the glory when
there has been a success?

4. Who are the spokespersons for your group?  Is there gender balance here?

5. Is the structure of your group overtly or covertly hierarchical?  Who are
the more powerful members?  What gives them this power?

6. Is the burden of unresolved past traumas affecting the harmonious
functioning of your group?  For example, it is said that about one in three
women, and one in ten men, have been sexually abused before the age of 18.
Are you satisfied that sufficient patience, tolerance, respect and support is
available to individuals who carry this, or other burdens from their past? 
Sexual harassment, and fear of rape, are everpresent in the lives of women
generally. Some have argued that all men benefit from this kind of
oppression, even when they themselves are not the perpetrators.  Are you
satisfied about the level of support the men in your group are prepared to
give to the women by joining them in the struggle against patriarchal
oppression and so facilitating their effectiveness at social change work?

7. How much silencing and denial do you think occurs about these and related
issues?

I look forward to some interesting responses to these points.  It is my
belief that the nonviolent movement will be greatly strengthened by
preventing, within its own culture, the reproduction of all forms of
oppression.  Similar debates are needed for eliminating race and class, as
well as gender oppression within our movement.
Miriam Solomon