Re: Cuban Women: Randall's Reassessment

[Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx <xxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

>  >In other words, it is _not_ for _you_ to decide, harsh as
> >this may sound.  Women under socialism may decide to abolish
> >prostitution, and I'd salute them;

Actually, I have no problems with Marxist-feminist revolutionary strategy to
_teach_ women what is good for them, given that this consciousness should
target the abolishment of capitalism (+sexism) as one of its main principles.
"Let women decide" is a sort of populistic mentality, in my view, especially
under the realities of capitalism where people are not always in a position to
decide what is best for them.  For instance, recall Lenin who emphasized the
need for a vanguard party prepared for the task of "educating" popular forces
(not only the working class _but also_ the intellectuals)  and providing them
with "revolutionary consciousness" necessary to overcome capitalism. Was he
elitist or bourgeois feminist,  then?  I don't think so. Women "organizing for
their own emancipation" does not guarantee a free ticket to socialism, unless
otherwise articulated with other concerns such as class. It remains at most a
utopian radical feminist agenda, but no more than that.  Why not put Lenin in
context instead?  The more I read him the more I beleive he has the potential
to contribute to Marxist-feminist agenda.



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Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx
PhD Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222



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