ANGRY WOMEN WIN – RESISTANCE bulletin issue #157 – Autumn 2014
In this issue we show struggles around the world against gender oppression and for freedom to be in control of who we are, what happens to our bodies and how we live. These struggles are not usually distinct gender issues, but are intertwined with resistance to capitalism and the State. They are part of the general movement to create a world without exploitation and oppression, a society in which the individual can be what they want to be in free association with others. We call this anarchist-communism.

The society we live in today is based on divisions between different groups of people. There is a group at the top who have the main benefits, power and freedom because of their ownership of most of the world’s resources. Other groups find their lives limited and controlled. Individuals are born into a particular social class, the working class, which affects how much money they have, the conditions they work and live in and even their health. The concept of ‘race’ is another way of dividing people and has been the source of some of the most barbarous acts committed by human beings, such as the slave trade and the holocaust.In this issue of Resistance, we focus on another way that society oppresses and divides us: gender- the division of humans into men and women. Similar to ‘race’, gender is considered to have a biological basis. Most people, apart from the most fanatic racists, now accept that ‘race’ as a biological category does not exist. There may be differences in some superficial features such as skin colour, but these are so trivial that there is no point in talking about distinct races. However, the biological differences between male and female are more obvious and seemingly more important: the two sexes have different physical roles in producing children. This biological difference has been the basis of thousands of years of oppression, discrimination, stereotypes and limited expectations. Females have been the main losers, but men are also restricted by their assigned roles.Therefore, if we are going to create a better society we need to free ourselves from the straightjacket of the categories we are placed in. This means abolishing class (through getting rid of capitalism) and fighting racism. However, what about gender? We certainly want to get rid of patriarchy- the domination of men over women, but what about the categories of ‘man’ and ‘woman’ themselves?