The idea of male preference in the world is not a new one. In 1949, Simone de Beauvoir published The Second Sex, which points out that male is the default trait in society, while female is treated as “other,” which results in their relegated status [1].
In her March 2019 book Invisible Women, Caroline Criado-Perez advanced the argument even further by illuminating the male preference in the world’s data collection. She tied the idea to tangible detriments, like higher car crash fatalities for women or misdiagnosed heart attacks [2]. It’s clear that the effects of a world designed for men by men overlooks aspects of female experience every step of the way. A potential solution that I often find myself considering is feminist anarchy.
Now I love a bit of state organization. But anarcha-feminism addresses the scope of one of the biggest oversights in our society—pervasive, systematic patriarchal oppression.
The simple mention of either feminism or anarchy in casual conversation is often enough to frighten the casual observer. (In fact, most people probably skipped this article when they saw the headline or are reading it simply to criticize.) Though inherently radical, both ideologies are regularly misunderstood, misrepresented and villainized.
Feminism, for the purposes of this article and by its true definition, is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of equality (yes equality!) of the sexes. This viewpoint is generally accepted by those thinking individuals who recognize that the world is not fine and dandy and that women are, as they historically have been, treated as inferior because of their biological makeup. If you happen to disagree with this perspective, let me remind you that it was less than a century ago that women in these United States were granted the right to vote. To assume that the Nineteenth Amendment resolved the issue would be to ignore the continued cases—day after day, year after year—of women scorned, harassed, and beaten down for fighting to achieve the status granted at birth to people with penises. Such is the world we live in.
A simplified definition of anarchy is the rejection of hierarchy, usually understood in opposition to the established system of governance or social structure. Anarchy is a blanket term that covers a range of philosophies: some supporting communism or socialism as an end goal, others advocating the complete eradication of systems of governance. Green anarchists aim to bring about an environmentally sustainable anarchist society by moving beyond critiquing social power structures and calling for a reexamination of how humans interact with the world around them [3].
Emma Goldman, mother of anarcha-feminism, described a practical system as one that “has vitality enough to leave the stagnant waters of the old, and build, as well as sustain, new life” [4]. Anarchy is not violent, bloodthirsty, or impractical, but inquisitive and progressive. It challenges established systems and causes people to critically examine the world they inhabit. Initiating anarchy, living unrestricted from man-made laws, “leaves posterity free to develop its own particular systems, in harmony with its needs,” according to Goldman’s reasoning.
Taken separately, both feminism and anarchy hint at the notion that the systems of the world don’t work for everyone, and the convoluted structures that govern the world around us are actually misguided in their efforts to bring structure to the world around us. That is certainly the case for women, who, even in the U.S., are discriminated against for their sex. For example, as Jayne pointed out in her article, female workers make only 85 cents to the male worker’s dollar [5]. To those who say the wage gap is a myth and doesn’t factor in women’s job choices, I ask you: why do traditionally female-held jobs have a lower utility value than traditionally male jobs? Women do seventy percent of the world’s unpaid care work, working unseen and uncompensated to keep the rest of the world functioning [2]. These are the issues feminist anarchists hope to solve by reimagining the world with both sexes in mind. Anarchy rejects arbitrary hierarchies—like that of man over woman—making feminism and anarchy a perfect pair.
Many think of anarchists as bloodthirsty Jacobins and feminists as jilted hags, so it’s no wonder that the confluence of the two has failed to gain much momentum. And anarchy is hard to root for when our developed-world lifestyle is so stable. I’m sure that many of you reading this oppose feminism on the grounds that it is too radical or reject measures like the Equal Rights Amendment for fear of their disruptive potential. I think you’re wrong, but that’s a different conversation.
IF YOU SKIPPED THE ARTICLE BECAUSE OF THE TITLE—START READING HERE
I am not asking you to accept anarcha-feminism or its radical message. I merely ask you to look at structures of society and see their weaknesses. See the people that aren’t supported by those system and ask why that is and how you can change it. Look for barriers—socioeconomic, racial, sex-based—that exist and ask why they exist and what you can do to change them. Think critically. Be open to changes. As Emma Goldman pointed out, “It requires less mental effort to condemn than to think.”
Sources:
[1] Beauvoir, Simone De, Constance Borde, and Sheila Malovany-Chevallier. The Second Sex. London: Vintage Books, 2015.
[2] https://www.npr.org/2019/03/17/704209639/caroline-criado-perez-on-data-bias-and-invisible-women
[3] http://freedomnews.org.uk/green-anarchism-towards-the-abolition-of-hierarchy/
[4] https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-anarchism-and-other-essays#toc3
[5] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/
[1] http://freedomnews.org.uk/green-anarchism-towards-the-abolition-of-hierarchy/
[2] https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/emma-goldman-anarchism-and-other-essays#toc3
[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/03/22/gender-pay-gap-facts/