Socialist Womens Network
Catriona Grant writes about the Socialist Women's Network
Although the Socialist Women’s Network was set up
when the Scottish Socialist Party was set up, technically it isn’t
the women’s section of the SSP it is a network of socialist women,
and therefore women who are not in the party can get involved.
The network
has played a decisive role in the SSP particularly in arguing successfully
for 50:50 or guaranteed women’s representation.
The SSP founding statement said we supported women’s equal representation
in politics – the Socialist Women’s Network wanted to see that
in action for the 2003 elections. We met to discuss how could we guarantee
that women would be represented in a fashion that represented women in society
i.e. how could we have 50% of elected SSP seats in 2003 ?
We came up with a
formula – and presented it as the
Socialist Women’s Network motion to SSP Conference 2002 in Dundee.
It caused a furore – somehow in our meagre attempt to ensure equality
we were being accused as discriminatory – discriminating against both
men and women, now that’s devotion to sexist discrimination for you!
The
debate in the party raged on for about five months – every
region and branch debated it. It was patronising to women, the merits of
a meritocracy – the best person for the job, cream rising to the top
(and the antithesis of that - shite floats), women in the party weren’t
shrinking violets, it was a hammer to crack a peanut and finally it did not
address women’s oppression.
The Executive Committee was split and the
conference became quite exciting – the debate was a long one, probably the most amounts
of women spoke on both sides, men spoke too – the passion was real.
The SWP supported 50:50 and the CWI were against it, whole branches were
for it and branches against.
Rosie Kane was the last speaker in the debate
and she stated on the issue of “merit”, that she was “merit for 11 years
in a horrible marriage and it did her no good, and aye the cream does rise
to the top but sometimes someone’s got the door on the fridge so the
bottle cannae even get oot”.
It went to a vote after lots of amendments
including one from Tay Coast that only women should be allowed to stand at
the top of the
lists (that one was defeated!). The Socialist Women’s Network motion
won by about 10 votes.
The Socialist Women’s Network have campaigned on International
Women’s Day against sweatshop conditions workers work in, in Indonesia
to provide fashionable clothes on the high street from women, men and kids
and against the jailing of poor women outside HMP Cortonvale – we want
to see alternatives to custody. We have joined campaigns against the stoning
of two Nigerian women.
We have taken direct action against the anti-abortionists.
Anti-abortionists in 1999 started to target the Brook (now Caledonian Youth)
and stepped up their campaigns against hospitals and doctors. Some women
in the SSP were targeted on the Life League website, after going to the police
and calling press conferences their names were taken off.
In September 2001
Life League targeted the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, at first it was people
praying – the Socialist Women’s
Network are fundamentally not against people praying no matter the cause – but
then the Life League got involved and began to protest outside the hospital
with leaflets and pictures of macerated foetuses.
At first the SSP counter-protested
alongside of them but this just looked like a big mess of leaflets, placards
and newspapers. The
Socialist Women’s Network then came up with the idea to hang up our
bedclothes on movable poles. We decided not to engage with the Life League
but hang up our bed linen in front of their placards. A much production protest
took place and the police decided enough was enough and told Life League
no to come back.
We’ve organised about five forums over the years – we
would like to do it twice a year. We have argued whether we are feminist
or not, whether the patriarchy exists or not and whether even women should
organise themselves autonomously. We have debated and discussed at length
what to do about prostitution and now have a policy to campaign for the “eradication
of prostitution” and to “decriminalise the selling of sex but
to criminalise the buying of sex”.
The Socialist Women’s Network didn’t really play that decisive a role in the Sheridan affair however sexism, feminism, patriarchy, misogyny and women all did.
Tommy Sheridan decided to pretend that a political plot based on feminism was out to get him, centered on the women of the Socialist Women’s Network mainly Catriona Grant – Women & Equality Spokesperson, Carolyn Leckie MSP for Central Scotland, Rosie Kane MSP for Glasgow and Frances Curran MSP for West of Scotland.
Seemingly the women of the EC wanted to get rid of him by means of a matriarchal coup and we managed to put either a spell on the men or tempt them with our womanly ways or something as daft. Sheridan found himself talking publicly about witches and dark arts in the manner of the witch finder days and of the town of Salem in Miller’s “The Crucible”.
Sheridan stated that the SSP had turned itself into a “gender obsessed discussion group”; he was playing to members who were still reeling from being defeated in 50:50 back in 2002, despite Sheridan publicly supporting the demand and motion.
There had been a split in the Socialist Women’s Network over the term “feminist” – not a bad split more like a huff, but the members of SWP were determined that we were not “socialist feminists” and wanted to deny the role of the patriarchy. As I say only a huff had broken out but if we had pushed it, it would have been a split. The SWP deny that “working class men benefit from women’s oppression” – so how did my granddad manage to get his tea made for him every single night for 50 years and never put on or hung up a washing? – He did, may the goddess bless him, make the breakfast every day, and so he didn’t abuse his patriarchal privilege to the hilt- good on granddad!
These politics were exploited by Sheridan who decided to use “feminism” in the plot against him. It was actually his own sexism and others misogyny, sycophantism or opportunism (maybe all three) that was at play – feminism never came into it. Catriona Grant was vilified within the party and Carolyn Leckie, Rosie Kane and Frances Curran were vilified publicly in the press. At our horrible National Council in May 2006 Carolyn Leckie was shouted at and called a “fucking cunt” and Frances Curran was heckled when speaking as a “Lying bitch”. Catriona Grant was accused by Sheridan that by wanting to “expose him” in November 2004 that affectively tried to “kill his unborn child and pregnant wife” – to much applauding and jeering.
The trial was another story and we saw a monstrous sight of ex-lovers of Sheridan’s being castigated as liars, gold diggers, fantasists and whores. Sheridan sacked his lawyer and cross examined a woman who stated she had seen him with a prostitute with his brother in law – he asked her lured questions about his brother in laws anatomy and then went onto cross examine his former lover, a SSP activist asking her questions of her sexual history and branding her a liar and being paid by the News of the World to give evidence!!
Thankfully
they have gone and perhaps with the sorry debacle behind us we can get on
with socialist politics but reflect
on how such sexism
and even patriarchy can come about in a socialist party. President Hugo Chavez
in 12th September 2006 stated to a rally of 6,000 women in Caracas, Venezuela “Capitalism
is sexism….socialism cannot be sexist” perhaps someone should
have told Sheridan and his supporters that.
At SSP Conference 2006 there was
a re-run of the 50:50 debate some said it didn’t work as it hadn’t addressed women’s
oppression however the SSP hasn’t managed to address capitalism and
we don’t ask to do away with that (well some people do but in general
within the SSP we don’t) – anyway the motion was defeated overwhelmingly.
The Socialist Women’s Network motion this year was about Women and
the Law. Edinburgh Central had a motion regarding the abolition of prostitution
and decriminalising men which was overwhelmingly supported. More women particularly
young women spoke at this conference than any other and for the first time
since our conception women are in a majority on the EC – well by one,
and there are a lot more young people on the EC.
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