Aug-Sept 2014 K.indd

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Women’s Month

AUG/SEPT 2014 • www.cosatu.org.za As we celebrate the month of August which is known in South Africa as a women’s month, It has to be cleared on that, that discrimination based on gender remains a feature of all class societies. In order for the women to open the door for the progress of the society, women must fight because this discrimination is directed mainly at the people of the female gender. A woman faces discrimination, as a human being, as a woman and as a worker. This places women in the most humiliating position possible in the society; they are economically discriminated against and socially placed in the position of subservience as a result of prevailing notion “father right” or “husband right” or gender power relation, where men are powered and privileged by patriarchal society. Women all over the world are compelled by the conditions of capitalist exploitation and oppression to prostitute themselves in more ways than one. Sexism is a commonly practice in a capitalist society, in spite of all the noisy about gender equality and equity. Sexism will be taking its step towards disappearing only with ending of capitalist system because under capitalism, no matter how much it is opposed, it keeps resurfacing and that is why it is the part of the struggle. For women as for all workers, youth and students, the starting point is to open the door for progress of society to fight the anti – social offensive, by establishing the strong progressive women movement in order to uphold the common aim of creating a new society, women have to be in the forefront of this struggle, this is the only way they can affirm themselves. In other words, women, by affirming themselves are calling for deep – going revolutionary transformation of the society. Some men mostly and usually ignore women and belittle them in the meetings, sometimes ridicule women and engage in sexual harassment and intimidation to control women. Men have yet to learn how to overcome their own fears of change. Some of male comrades’ abuse their power by devaluating female comrades’ contribution or side-lining of women comrades and ignoring their concerns. Some women managers for example, would want to be like men and thus copy some men’s bad attitudes like arrogance, exploiting others, etc. There is this notion thinking that women’s liberation is about being the same as men; it is not, it is about the removal of all factors, laws, norms, attitudes and rules which prevent women from attaining the growth, development and liberation of the potential as human beings of equal dignity with others. Women who believe that they must behave in a fearful or vulnerable way are unable to stand up for themselves, being suffocated by the argument of using culture to get away from human rights, which everyone is entitled to, regardless of their culture. Subordinate position of women workers, sometimes is revealed by male workers fearing competition from women as workers and they fear losing power and control over their partners.