Part 3

The Role of Revolutionary Women Today

Six Questions by an Afro-American Woman Worker

In conclusion to what's been said, what must be done?

1. Could all the women mentioned here in this struggle of the workers be stopped? Never. They are by no means alone in this struggle as long as the strength of the workers is behind them.

2. Why did I feel bad about my condition? Because I didn't know that I was among the most oppressed under the capitalist system.

3. What must be changed concerning those old laws that keep women in a position of inequality?

Class oppression; terrible working conditions; low wages; national oppression; racial barriers; inequality in employment; discrimination against pregnant working women; lack of child care facilities for working mothers; stereotypes of office personnel and drudgery in the household. All of this must be eliminated.

4. Who are the workers? We have found out that the workers are those who own only their ability to work, who slave for wages and, in the case of the women workers, also slave in the homes. We, all of us who are the workers, suffer because .of the present system and it must be changed.

5. What must be done? We must take a stand against the oppression and exploitation of working class women.

6. Is socialism possible? Yes, it's possible. If the masses of working people, men and women, are educated in the spirit of such a struggle, then socialism is possible.

The role of the revolutionary woman today is that we can and must make a change. Down with capitalism! For the socialist revolution!

The Road to the Complete Emancipation of Women

Who is the revolutionary woman today and what is her role? The revolutionary woman is the woman who rebels at injustice. Not only injustice against herself and her family but injustice against the entire working class and injustice against all nations. But she must direct that spirit of rebellion. She must consciously study the revolutionary science of Marxism-Leninism and learn from the international and historical experience that is now made available to us.

She must understand the need for organization and direct her efforts towards building revolutionary organizations. We look at the lessons learned from the past and we see that capitalism is the source of our oppression. Capitalism is the base of all the evils that we have been talking about here and capitalism can only be removed through a socialist revolution.

But revolution is a complex task and must be led by a powerful organization. The revolutionary woman in the U.S. today must bend all of her efforts towards building a revolutionary, communist, Marxist-Leninist party. Working men and women, of all nationalities, together can become a powerful and invincible force for change, if we are organized and if we build such a party that will lead us to victory.

The Draft Party Program of the Revolutionary Political Organization (Marxist-Leninist)

(Excerpts regarding women and the family)

IV. Socialism and Communism

The strategic goal of the U.S. proletariat is to overthrow the U.S. bourgeoisie and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, which is the dictatorship of the vast majority. All the material conditions exist for the overthrow of capitalism and the direct transition to socialism...

The socialist constitution will guarantee women complete legal equality. Women will be drawn into production and into political life on an equal basis with men. Childcare will be provided free of charge and housework will be socialized. At the same time, men will share the responsibility for the care of children and for housework. The ideology of male supremacy and unequal relations in family life will be combated and eventually destroyed. The proletariat will use its state power to combat the oppression of women and realize the complete social equality of women in all spheres of society.

VIII. Immediate Demands of the Proletariat

In order to protect the well-being of the proletariat and to promote the class consciousness, organization and fighting capacity of the proletariat to emancipate itself, the Party raises the following immediate demands:

A. The Party fights to protect the political rights and fighting capacity of the proletariat and its allies and to oppose all forms of bourgeois violence, intimidation, terror and brutalization of the people. We demand and fight for:

...The right to equality of women in work, pay, holidays, education and all social and political activity. The Party fights against male supremacy in all its forms, including prostitution, pornography, bondage and violence against women.

– The equality of children born out of wedlock...

B. The Party fights to improve the economic and social well-being of the working people, to oppose all attempts to worsen the living conditions of the proletariat and its allies. We demand and fight for:

...Full compensation for maternity leave three months before and after childbirth. Non-hazardous work for pregnant women. Free childcare on a 24-hour basis.

– Free and safe abortion on request. Free distribution of safe methods of birth control and an end to forced sterilizations.

– An end to child labor. Full wages for all those employed, regardless of age, with special reduction of the workday for youth.

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