This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/12/women-direct-action-suffragette

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Ten direct actions by women that changed the world Ten direct actions by women that changed the world
(35 minutes later)
For as long as the world has been unequal and governments have allowed inequality to flourish, women have protested. We’ve marched, starved, petitioned, written letters, devised legislation and even gone entertainingly off-piste to raise awareness and register our rage. Just over a century ago, the campaign for women’s votes was reaching its radical peak, with women disrupting public meetings, chaining themselves to railings and destroying artwork and public property. Last week, at the premiere of the film Suffragette, feminist campaigners demonstrated on the red carpet for women’s right to refuge provision. Women’s direct action and protest has changed the world – like the strikes by machinists at Ford’s plant in Dagenham in 1968, which led to the landmark 1970 Equal Pay Act. Here are some of the best examples in a century of campaigning.For as long as the world has been unequal and governments have allowed inequality to flourish, women have protested. We’ve marched, starved, petitioned, written letters, devised legislation and even gone entertainingly off-piste to raise awareness and register our rage. Just over a century ago, the campaign for women’s votes was reaching its radical peak, with women disrupting public meetings, chaining themselves to railings and destroying artwork and public property. Last week, at the premiere of the film Suffragette, feminist campaigners demonstrated on the red carpet for women’s right to refuge provision. Women’s direct action and protest has changed the world – like the strikes by machinists at Ford’s plant in Dagenham in 1968, which led to the landmark 1970 Equal Pay Act. Here are some of the best examples in a century of campaigning.
1. Black Friday, 18 November 19101. Black Friday, 18 November 1910
Related: Groups such as Sisters Uncut are the modern suffragettes | Ellie Mae O’HaganRelated: Groups such as Sisters Uncut are the modern suffragettes | Ellie Mae O’Hagan
Activists for women’s suffrage marched on the House of Commons to protest against the hostility of Herbert Asquith, the prime minister, to women’s voting rights. In response, dozens of policemen beat, assaulted, sexually molested and humiliated them. The full extent of men’s state-sanctioned violence against women having been made explicit, the suffragettes retaliated with a campaign of window-smashing and attacks against property, for which they were arrested. Their tactics worked and, after a suspension of activism during the second world war, women were granted the voted on limited terms in 1918 and gained full voting rights a decade later. Activists for women’s suffrage marched on the House of Commons to protest against the hostility of Herbert Asquith, the prime minister, to women’s voting rights. In response, dozens of policemen beat, assaulted, sexually molested and humiliated them. The full extent of men’s state-sanctioned violence against women having been made explicit, the suffragettes retaliated with a campaign of window-smashing and attacks against property, for which they were arrested. Their tactics worked and, after a suspension of activism during the first world war, women were granted the voted on limited terms in 1918 and gained full voting rights a decade later.
2. Miss America, 7 September 19682. Miss America, 7 September 1968
In Atlantic City hundreds of US feminists gathered to protest against the meat market beauty pageant, leading to one of the funniest, but most inaccurate founding myths of second wave feminism, which is that women burned their bras to symbolise their emancipation from patriarchy. Anyone who’s tried to burn a bra – let alone one of those opaque flesh-coloured postwar girdle things – knows they don’t burn well. The under-trussings were in fact sloughed off and dumped into Freedom Trash Cans, along with high heels, fake eyelashes, copies of Cosmo and Playboy, mops, pots and pans – all items the protesters defined as “instruments of female torture”. The protest triggered a new and now mainstream critique of everything from performative femininity to the objectification of women, beauty ideals and domestic labour exploitation.In Atlantic City hundreds of US feminists gathered to protest against the meat market beauty pageant, leading to one of the funniest, but most inaccurate founding myths of second wave feminism, which is that women burned their bras to symbolise their emancipation from patriarchy. Anyone who’s tried to burn a bra – let alone one of those opaque flesh-coloured postwar girdle things – knows they don’t burn well. The under-trussings were in fact sloughed off and dumped into Freedom Trash Cans, along with high heels, fake eyelashes, copies of Cosmo and Playboy, mops, pots and pans – all items the protesters defined as “instruments of female torture”. The protest triggered a new and now mainstream critique of everything from performative femininity to the objectification of women, beauty ideals and domestic labour exploitation.
3. Iceland, 24 October 19753. Iceland, 24 October 1975
Sparked by the activism of the Red Stockings radical women’s group, 90% of Iceland’s women went on strike on this day to protest against men’s exploitation of women’s free labour within the home and women’s underpaid, underacknowledged and underpromoted labour beyond it. For one day, they didn’t go to work and refused to do the childcare, cooking, cleaning and family admin. Iceland ground to a halt, as it would if women in any country did the same. It demonstrated just how much of society ran on women’s uncredited free work. More than 30 years on Iceland is famed as one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. Perhaps we should all take a tip from the Red Stockings.Sparked by the activism of the Red Stockings radical women’s group, 90% of Iceland’s women went on strike on this day to protest against men’s exploitation of women’s free labour within the home and women’s underpaid, underacknowledged and underpromoted labour beyond it. For one day, they didn’t go to work and refused to do the childcare, cooking, cleaning and family admin. Iceland ground to a halt, as it would if women in any country did the same. It demonstrated just how much of society ran on women’s uncredited free work. More than 30 years on Iceland is famed as one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. Perhaps we should all take a tip from the Red Stockings.
4. Willesden, North London, 1976-784. Willesden, North London, 1976-78
In a protest that exposed racism, ageism and misogyny in the trade union movement as well as the industrial exploitation of immigrant workers, Jayaben Desai led mainly female, mature, Asian East African employees at the Grunwick Film Processing laboratories. The strikes led to violent attacks by the police, but in the long term the strength of the Asian women workers challenged the trade union movement towards greater diversity and demonstrated to governments and the media alike the power of united workers in standing up for their rights.In a protest that exposed racism, ageism and misogyny in the trade union movement as well as the industrial exploitation of immigrant workers, Jayaben Desai led mainly female, mature, Asian East African employees at the Grunwick Film Processing laboratories. The strikes led to violent attacks by the police, but in the long term the strength of the Asian women workers challenged the trade union movement towards greater diversity and demonstrated to governments and the media alike the power of united workers in standing up for their rights.
5. Afghanistan, May 20075. Afghanistan, May 2007
The politician Malalai Joya received the full weight of patriarchal condemnation for denouncing the warlords and war criminals she had to share political space with in the Afghan parliament, as well as speaking out against western allies’ support for Hamid Karzai’s leadership. For her bravery, she was stripped of her political role, despite the support of activists worldwide. Nonetheless, her speaking out questioned tacit western approval for Karzai and challenged the western image of Afghan women as being passively accepting of the regime. It has made her a role model for political dissent in her own country.The politician Malalai Joya received the full weight of patriarchal condemnation for denouncing the warlords and war criminals she had to share political space with in the Afghan parliament, as well as speaking out against western allies’ support for Hamid Karzai’s leadership. For her bravery, she was stripped of her political role, despite the support of activists worldwide. Nonetheless, her speaking out questioned tacit western approval for Karzai and challenged the western image of Afghan women as being passively accepting of the regime. It has made her a role model for political dissent in her own country.
6. Mangalore, India, February 20096. Mangalore, India, February 2009
After several women socialising in a bar on Valentine’s Day were chased, beaten and kicked by a gang of men, some of whom filmed the attack, a group called The Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Forward Women hit upon a novel means of showing their support for the women and ridiculing the attackers and their apologists. The “Pink Chaddi” campaign sent a Valentine’s gift of thousands of pairs of enormous pink knickers to the conservative group Sri Ram Sena, which some of the men claimed to belong to. The goal was to humorously turn all the sexual shame, belittlement and humiliation the attackers wanted to instil in their victims right back onto the perpetrators. When words of defiance fail, sometimes a jumbo pair of cerise bloomers says it all.After several women socialising in a bar on Valentine’s Day were chased, beaten and kicked by a gang of men, some of whom filmed the attack, a group called The Consortium of Pubgoing, Loose and Forward Women hit upon a novel means of showing their support for the women and ridiculing the attackers and their apologists. The “Pink Chaddi” campaign sent a Valentine’s gift of thousands of pairs of enormous pink knickers to the conservative group Sri Ram Sena, which some of the men claimed to belong to. The goal was to humorously turn all the sexual shame, belittlement and humiliation the attackers wanted to instil in their victims right back onto the perpetrators. When words of defiance fail, sometimes a jumbo pair of cerise bloomers says it all.
7. Kampala, Uganda, February 20147. Kampala, Uganda, February 2014
The Ugandan government’s victim-blaming legislation outlawing “indecent clothing”, known mockingly as “the miniskirt law”, has led to women being forcibly stripped by men in the street and then blamed for the men’s violence. Women’s protests against this have featured dancing, singing, miniskirts and placards proclaiming: “My body, my money, my closet, my rules.” Despite the repressive government, which has been responsible for homophobic as well as misogynistic new laws, grassroots resistance is growing.The Ugandan government’s victim-blaming legislation outlawing “indecent clothing”, known mockingly as “the miniskirt law”, has led to women being forcibly stripped by men in the street and then blamed for the men’s violence. Women’s protests against this have featured dancing, singing, miniskirts and placards proclaiming: “My body, my money, my closet, my rules.” Despite the repressive government, which has been responsible for homophobic as well as misogynistic new laws, grassroots resistance is growing.
8. Lima, Peru, 7 March 20148. Lima, Peru, 7 March 2014
Feminists in Peru dressed in red and lay on the pavement outside the Ministry of Women. The demonstration was a commemoration of the bodies of abused women in the country, who received no justice or recognition, and symbolised the trampling of women’s rights by the government. The line of women looked simultaneously like a symbolic line drawn in the sand – a refusal to take it any more – but also highlighted women’s vulnerability when the right to freedom from violence isn’t honoured by political leaders.Feminists in Peru dressed in red and lay on the pavement outside the Ministry of Women. The demonstration was a commemoration of the bodies of abused women in the country, who received no justice or recognition, and symbolised the trampling of women’s rights by the government. The line of women looked simultaneously like a symbolic line drawn in the sand – a refusal to take it any more – but also highlighted women’s vulnerability when the right to freedom from violence isn’t honoured by political leaders.
9. Beijing, China, March 20159. Beijing, China, March 2015
The feminist movement is currently pulling cunning stunts around the Chinese capital, despite police crackdowns and sabotage. This year a group of five “guerrilla terrorists” were detained in advance of planned protests around International Women’s Day. The protests focus on the country’s attitude to male violence against women, sexual harassment and sexual violence, with the most striking being a parade through the streets in bloodstained white wedding dresses. In addition to these fundamental human rights, there’s even a thriving Lean In movement, inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s book, led by ambitious young women encountering corporate, workplace sexism for the first time.The feminist movement is currently pulling cunning stunts around the Chinese capital, despite police crackdowns and sabotage. This year a group of five “guerrilla terrorists” were detained in advance of planned protests around International Women’s Day. The protests focus on the country’s attitude to male violence against women, sexual harassment and sexual violence, with the most striking being a parade through the streets in bloodstained white wedding dresses. In addition to these fundamental human rights, there’s even a thriving Lean In movement, inspired by Sheryl Sandberg’s book, led by ambitious young women encountering corporate, workplace sexism for the first time.
10. London, 7 October 201510. London, 7 October 2015
Last week, at the premiere for the film Suffragette, activists from Sisters Uncut broke through the security barriers and protested over the government’s cuts to services for survivors of domestic violence and male sexual violence. I hope they achieve their immediate goals of ring-fenced and adequate services and funding for victims and survivors. And I hope that in the long run, worldwide, we will all achieve our goal of a world free of inequality, exploitation and male violence.Last week, at the premiere for the film Suffragette, activists from Sisters Uncut broke through the security barriers and protested over the government’s cuts to services for survivors of domestic violence and male sexual violence. I hope they achieve their immediate goals of ring-fenced and adequate services and funding for victims and survivors. And I hope that in the long run, worldwide, we will all achieve our goal of a world free of inequality, exploitation and male violence.