yaşasin 8 mart?!
I tried to find what kind of actıon could took place at march 8th ın istanbul. it turns out a little bit more complex.
what am i expecting, what am i looking for. march 8th ıs the traditional day for the fight … for womans rights or freedom, against patriarchy, sexism, freedom of working women, the day for bringing your wife flowers, as i found at my google research?
what i learned was a demontration in calayan on sunday march 4th. I dıdn`t find much information about so far, but I was told it would be women only. (No idea whether the organizer themselves explicitly announced like this or it was just meta-communicated and those telling me about the event told me.)
However, it seems to be a quite traditional, women-identity based rally. So in this style there is plenty of events, organized by communist partıes and labor unions. But as far as I can see, its all the fight of women.
İts not like I don`t see the need of that, but what about those, who don`t define themselves as female. or aren`t by others.
(and by the way, is it neccessary to use this style of 19th century for political propaganda).
I`m really unsure how to deal wıth ıt. I want to express my opposition to patriarchy, I see its structures quite unquestioned and unquestionable here, but I really wonder if I will be accepted there both with my body and my gender ıdentıty. I don`t think, that patrirachy can be overcome without deconstructing the gender identities and those events aren`t.
But on the other hand İ see, that deconstruction without a basic of equality can not do either. it could result in the impossibility to name sexism. but if so, if this women identity politic is necessary, whats my role to play? Just to stand beside and say: good look in YOUR fight, you are right?
These are just some thoughts and concerns before really seeing the events. I think I will observe them. If I wıll take part, I don`t know yet.
All this is not just a problem in turkey. If I look at the call for the rally in goettingen, they emphasize a deconstructıon of gender, but in the same time the rally is supporting women only rooms - which necessarily constructs gender. Not really consistent, but a contradiction, which seems to be needed in the world we are living in.
to be continued …
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but pay attention then, for the female feminists and these who don´t like this demonstration at all. is it also expected that there is a lot of machinegun-police? i want to go to göttingen, but i still don´t know.
and your last sentence is maybe the most important in this case, well…
Comment by elenore — Mon Mar 05 07 @ 12:38 pm
I dıdn` manage to get up early enough …. but I got a report of another meeting in kadıköy yesterday - rallies took time on weekend, but there ıs also a small one on thursday. - anyway, there were about half of them male … and those who saw ıt took this at a sign, that the organizing parties were just using the event for their marketing.
and by the way, is socialism, i mean this classical state socialism - an option for more equality of genders? some aspects of the role patterns is “real existing socialist” countries could be seen as this …
Comment by vera — Mon Mar 05 07 @ 12:49 pm
i would maybe also say that even neoliberalism is creating more equality of the sexes…could that be true?
Comment by elenore — Mon Mar 05 07 @ 3:51 pm
i`m so so sure about this. neoliberalism im pushing child care into the private sector - which means in reality a backlash to the role of being mother for those women who 1. want to have children and 2. can`t afford private child care stuff/facilities.
this is of course neither the only imaginable nor the only practiced solution, but in reality very little men give priority to child care instead of career. socialism was seeing child care more as a public issue.
Comment by vera — Mon Mar 05 07 @ 5:54 pm