The Woman’s Question: AN INTERNAL CLASS CRISIS!
THE WOMEN’S QUESTION:
AN INTERNAL CLASS CRISIS!
As the Covid-19 crisis held its tight grip on workers around the world, many issues were becoming apparent during the same period. One especially devastating trend was the rise in domestic violence that escalated in numbers that have been overwhelming nationwide. Stories have been told day after day about men who have attacked their wives or girlfriends that ended in lives lost. The facts are undeniable and hard to hear. Violence has an economic and an historical foundation but few men or women in particular know this history or the roots that lead to these dangerous outcomes. The Woman’s Question needs to be studied.
Anthropologists have long studied the origins of humanity to better understand how human beings functioned then and today. Millenniums ago, early tribes evolved into groups that focused on shelter and food as the basis for each member to survive. Wars between different tribes were fought on the basis of guaranteeing that shelter from the elements was preserved and that food and water were available. Any tribe that posed a threat to the ongoing shelter and food of a different clan had to be fought off. The more powerful the tribe, the easier it was to dismiss any threat so all the children born belonged to the more powerful clan. Women stayed near the compound and were the stable providers of the village because they could always provide nuts or berries or plants for all to eat while the men may not have been lucky on each hunting journey. Women were the backbone of the community because of that fact which was the traditional matriarchal make-up of tribes.
As hunters became more successful and learned ways to corral animals that were used to feed the tribe, ownership of these birds, or these pigs became more critical. When once all the game caught would be shared with the entire tribe when wild animals became domesticated, the period of ownership became an issue and selfishness started to dictate the way forward. Animals that could be caged, bred then kept meant meat could be available so sharing with the village was no longer a priority. These animals belonged to this hunter, so his children would be the beneficiaries of his efforts and skills. The concept of knowing WHO would be the beneficiaries rose so the role of women was altered to engage this new thought. The matriarchal system was overthrown by a patriarchal structure that forever changed relationships. Children became property and the women who birthed them had to be owned as well. Efforts to make certain that these women only had children that were the descendants of one man became the rule. This is the foundation of these ownership concepts that allow men to control, punish, and murder women because they see them only as property that they can control even into death. So many times we hear the relationship ultimatum…”you belong to me and if you leave, I will make certain that no other will have you!”…
Women became the first slaves at the dawn of history after these ownership issues surfaced based on economic realities. As societies developed, this slave tradition based on ownership and on the subjugation of women remains and has been the foundation of domestic violence episodes upheld by governments, religions, and by traditions. Just recently, wedding vows were changed in the passage where a woman promises to love, cherish and OBEY her significant other while no such phrase was ever part of the male vows.
So today, the role of revolutionaries is to maintain the battle to better understand these foundations of society, then change those institutions that create such platforms that lead to pain and violence as we work to lift all members of society as valuable and necessary. Women Matter, Men Matter, and Children Matter. Whoever you believe yourself to be, we are all special and we are all charged to help make society a better place. The system of capitalism stands in the way of this commitment as it creates divisions that impede our momentum forward. These words are dedicated to the millions of mostly women who suffer violence, to those who already fell victim to such violence, and to those yet to experience the fear and grief of what domestic violence offers. This is an internal crisis embedded within our class, but together, we can change society if we just act like we know what needs to be done.
Maureen Taylor, MSW
State Chairperson
MI/Welfare Rights Org
Listen to the League
