OK, I'll get the ball rolling.
The first anarchist group I was involved in was Colchester Anarchist/Solidarity group. I can't remember how many members we had... 6 or 7? A very small group, with me and one other girl (I wonder who that could be). I feel that I can't make generalisations form this group as it was really just a small group of friends. We didn't have a problem with recruiting women as such, we just had a problem with recruitment because of where we were based.
I'm now starting to get involved with the anarchist group at my university, and we've just had a 3 hour meeting about sexism. Gender ratios vary from meeting to meeting (you know what anarchists are like at turning up to meetings), but I'd say about a third to a half of the group is female. There is a problem with men dominating conversation, which the group is trying to tackle. I'm also part of a woman-only anarcha group at my university, where we discuss this sort of thing quite alot, and has given me an idea about the anarchist group. Basically some of the women would go as far as to say that the anarchist group is "sexist and patriarchal". Don't know if i agree yet as I've only been to a few meetings.
As for other oppressed groups, CAG was all-white (but then so is North Essex, pretty much), not sure about the university group - its difficult to tell if someone counts as an "ethnic minority" or just looks a little bit foreign, and tbh I haven't thought about it. There aren't any people with disabilities in any of the groups I've been in, tho I don't actually know how common disability is in society. Homos and, especially bisexuals, are well-represented.
What can be done?
*We need to recognise the appeal that feminism has for women. ALOT of women get interested in politics through feminism because it seems most relevant to their everyday lives. Rejecting feminism and ridiculing any part of it is not really agood idea. Not saying we shouldn't argue against liberal and radical feminism, we should, but it needs to be done in a constructive way to not scare women off. There's a stigma attached to feminism, esp. for class stuggle anarchists. This isn't exactly a bad thing, but explaining your position if far more constructive than trying to ridicule someone out of having feminist beliefs. I had some embaressing-to-look-back-on gender politics for some time and other anarchists were always more ready to ridicule me for it rather than point out that the working class will bring out the revolution, and illustrate the point with historical materialism.
*The violent reputation of anarchism e.g. black blocks probably doesn't help in its appeal to women. We can combat this through building the libertarian communist tendency of workplace and community action. I think this would probably appeal to women more.
*There's probably an element of a self-fulfilling prophecy - not many women are involved, so it seems less attractive to other women.
*Women generally have more respnsibilities than men - i.e. housework and childcare on top of work outside the home. Perhaps alot of women just lack the time to indulge in reading theory and take part in pointless actions. Again the libertarian communist ideal of making changes to our real lives should ahve more appeal.
*Ooooh I guess I can say it on this thread. Certain male anarchists who make very hostile, counter-productive and agressive posts on anarchist internet forums, particularly in response to posts about feminism. (see my first point)
*Women are socialised to have less confidence in their opinions and beliefs, which can be a problem when discussing theory as it can be intimidating. This could be combatted simply by easing newcomers into discussions, offering to explain jargon etc. (not waiting to be asked to explain). You can end up accidently patronising someone, but if you've got any social skills you can tell when someone doesn't understand what you're talking about.
Most of these could apply to men as well, ijust to women more. It ties in with the whole issue of anarchism engaging with the working class.
I'm just a young'un, there are women who have been involved in anarchsim for much longer than me, and I'd be really interested to hear what they had to say.
) that it supposedly is in wider society), and I think if looked at statistically figures for non-whites are probably pretty good too - although this might be somewhat skewed by internationals who came to anarchism in their home countries, and then joined an organisation here, I'm not sure.
), which further increased female participation. its a case of finding the tipping point and turning negative feedback into positive feedback (and that applies more generally to connecting 'politics' to everyday life too). I also agree the black block image appeals to a certain demographic, as i'm sure our resident former black blockers will testify, and the lib com approach to organising should more easily avoid such pitfalls (specifically e.g. the recent red/black block on the anti-war march in manc as opposed to a masked-up black bloc).
)
) that the Irish SP is a bit better? If so, why do you think that is?
-Is it a problem?
-What can be done?
-What groups have it better and what do they do?
-How does it compare to other 'oppressed groups'?
Revol, since you've made your answers to this obvious, and seem to have no desire to advance beyond your repeatedly asserted point, I'm going to delete any post you make on this thread. Withour reading it. So don't bother, please.