Global Communism
Global Feminism
Odds and Ends
Internationalism




Communism was a global phenomenon
They were antinationalist
Some western countries even had
communist parties that ran candidates for
election
Despite this, communist countries began to
act like typical states and conflicts broke out
between communist countries as well
Communist feminism


USSR: enacted reforms= full citizenship,
equal rights, better access to
divorce/abortion
Zhenotdel= Soviet Women’s Department
(1919-30)
 Organized and educated
 Encouraged public and professional roles
Male party members resented this and Stalin
closed the organization in ‘30
Communist feminism
CCP= “Women can do anything”
 Reforms: 1950 Marriage Law (direct attack on
Confucian patriarchy)
 Party got more women to play an active role
outside the home
 The slogan above--1960--urged women to pursue
all professions
****despite some major gains, the family structure
wasn’t reformed much and often both Soviet and
Chinese women had a double burden

Feminism and the West

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 1949
French philosopher-restarted movement which
had died down after the vote
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963
American author--called attention to middle-class
women who felt unfulfilled
Women’s Liberation, more radical movement
protested symbols, rituals and practices of
patriarchy (beauty pageants and products)
--women are not merely sex objects
Women of Color and feminism

For many women of color, especially those living
in poverty felt this mainstream debate was within a
white family and did not speak to their concerns of
race/class in addition to gender
 Feminists from Global South criticized Western
feminism as a product of its culture ==too focused
on individualism and sexuality not on cultural
identity, motherhood,and material issues of
poverty
---many of these Global South women were part of
groups with other issues such as against
repressive dictatorships
International feminism



“Women’s rights are human rights”
UN convention to eliminate discrimination
against women, 2006
There remain many divisions within the
movement
related to issues of religion and culture
also a reactionary backlash in certain areas
Malala