The reality of capitalism and a right-wing government hellbent on destroying welfare, a deadly mix.
And the Conservatives are trying to call themselves the ‘compassionate’ party and the party of hard working people. This is no way for anybody to have to live and it is directly their fault.
Teachers have reported a trend of kids turning up at school not wearing any shoes because their parents can’t afford em
Ah, but don’t worry, because we’re going to spend £100bn on renewing Trident. We’ll still have a seat at the big nuclear weapons table, making the country feel relevant. I mean, we’re not going to use them, they’re just going to be there as a deterrent. Because having nuclear weapons prevents countries from being attacked from terrorism, both foreign and domestic, right?
Children going hungry and not clothed. In 2015. In Britain.
Women’s Liberationist Linda Bellos speaks at Oxford Union.
Video published on May 27, 2015
“[Quoting:] ‘Women who want to be equal to men lack ambition’ (audience laughs and applauds).
Lots of men have been, are, deeply critical of many men’s behavior [and] the culture of men. I’d like to see those men stop demanding that we [women] sit and hold their hands in the Women’s Liberation Movement but get on with the task of persuading their brothers, their fathers, their grandfathers, their sons, that they need to be whole human beings and not be led, not be driven, by their dicks (some laughter and chuckles from the audience).
I am partly disappointed in those women who think that calling yourself a feminist is sufficient. I really do think that they are many kinds of feminisms, and I’ve been a feminist for, getting on for, forty years but I called myself when I was proud to be a part of the Women’s Liberation Movement not simply a feminist.
I do think that in many ways feminism has been hijacked by white, middle-class, women but I have to say this in mitigation to those women, and some of them in this room, or have been in this room. It’s the brothers, the fathers, the uncles, who give the jobs to their rellies* [relatives*] on television, in the media.
Class does still play a part even in Oxford.
It is, it’s about twenty-or-so years since I last spoke here and I would say that the intake is probably more diverse today than it was then. Nonetheless, society, this society in Britain, is dominated by class, not simply gender.
But, if you look at who holds the power there’s not many white, working-class, men who hold the power in this society. It is generally, and this is not an indictment of being middle-class, it is merely a description that power resides not just in the monarchy. They have nominal power and a lot of bloody money. But, the power of the structures of this society and that of most of Europe, and when we look to Africa, and Asia, I don’t see many women leading the, kind of, political discourse. I do see them being activists though and struggling for freedom-liberation.
Feminism is a funny, old, word ‘cause it can be, and it has been, a portmanteau for almost anything but I must disagree with the sister here who made reference to abortion being a-, you made -, I’m not-, I can’t remember the exact words you used, but I want to tell you a story.
When I was in [the] hospital having an abortion which I did not want but I had to do, what I discovered was how easy it was for the black women to get abortions, I was twenty-eight years old. I had a friend of mine: a white, middle-class woman, who was forty, who wanted to have an abortion, she also wanted to be sterilized. And, you know what? She couldn’t be sterilized. The doctor wouldn’t sterilize her.
But, I then started asking my friends, who were black, about whether they have been sterilized. It was offered to us. Not only offered, it was the price you paid for having a [pregnancy] termination.
Now, that was in Britain in the 1970s.
It’s still happening.
I have spoken to white, working-class, women, who had the same thing. Young women: if you wanted to have a termination you had to be sterilized. In Britain. We’re not talking about the 19th century. We’re talking about in the 21st century.
Class plays a part.
We’re not all equal.
And we need to create a movement, a movement of the world, which is about freedom and equality for all of us. But the feminism we have today is awfully neat and tidy about becoming-, how many-, what percentage of barristers, and whether we have more women-judges, and it does matter-ish. But I’m not convinced that if we simply get another few percentages more of women in the professions that somehow women [as a group] have achieved. Those particular groups of women will have achieved, just as their brothers have and will.
But if we want freedom and justice for all then I think they’re fundamental things that have to change and feminism will be part of that. As long as it’s not this namby-pamby, …, personal, self-aggrandizement.
I want to see not simply more black women in power. In fact, some of the black women I know I wouldn’t want to vote for them. And why? I mean, being black and being female is not a qualification in its own right. You have to have some bloody politics! (audience laughs). Politics about the world! About liberating the world! About freedom and justice for everybody!
And that includes, because you know, about 10 percent of us will or during our lives acquire a disability. Everywhere in the world. And disabled people are part of our society and we have to fight to include, all of us, not just members of our family that happen to be disabled; we might become disabled. Any one of us. I’m passionate about that because 52 percent of this population is female and a percentage of them are going to become disabled. They’re part of the story of life that we’re talking about. The freedom and justice we want, surely, for everybody.
Now, if you only want freedom and justice for your group then I’m going to carry-on being a bit of a pain in the ass to you. I don’t think I want to say anymore. Thank you.
“But what about the next generation who won’t have the same luxuries as you?” asked a concerned politician. “Or even this generation of first home buyers who struggle as it is?”
“Well they can try and combine their wealth and bodies together into one giant creature. This way there will be less of a housing demand if the population combines 3 people into one. Problem solved! The poor can do that, right?”
He walked off chuckling to himself as he thought about how expensive his house was.
“Gosh it’s worth a lot… my word. Mmm-mmm, high housing prices.”
So many women think their Feminism is better on here like to tote out their gender studies degree to shut other women up. Honestly most college-goers tend to be academic snobs when it comes to social justice issues. They can barely type in “regular person” mode without crapping over themselves with academic word salad. Honestly if you’re just going to study these things so you can lord them above impoverished people ,you’re trashy.
I’m not familiar with the person who made the OP so they may have been thinking of something else, but the way I took it was basically this:
“passing privilege” is, in many contexts, a flawed concept. It works for some things and not for others. But tumblr has such a fucked up misunderstanding of what privilege and oppression are that they try to shoehorn everything into nice neat little boxes and apply concepts to one axis of oppression that really only apply to others.
In terms of class, “passing” really means NOTHING. What changes about the material reality of living poor just because some people who walked by you on the street yesterday saw your thrift-store bought designer jeans and thought you had more money than you actually do? You may get a small benefit here and there for these misunderstandings, but it doesn’t change the factors that actually oppress you as a poor person. You will still lack access to healthcare, have a lower standard of living, eat shittier food, and be denied fair treatment by legal and governmental institutions.
And this is all because class-based oppression doesn’t come down to looks. It comes down to our relationship to capital. As essentially all things do under capitalism.
Celtyradfem 