From ‘Tok Blong Pasifik‘, June 1995, Victoria, BC
Susanna Ounei-Small is from Kanaky (New Caledonia). In this article, adapted from a presentation to a 1994 Conference on Women & Law in Fiji, she draws important distinctions between the feminism of women struggling against colonisation and that of Western liberal feminists.
For centuries, Third World women, other black women and working class women have struggled against double or triple exploitation. As a Kanak, I disagree strongly with the liberal feminist view that “we are all women facing the same problem against male supremacy.”
It is true that problems such as rape and domestic violence are similar for women whatever their class or colour. But this assumption of “sisterhood” is unacceptable to women who must struggle side by side with men to get back land stolen by colonialism, while at the same time we fight within our society against a patriarchal system which orders obedience towards men.
Liberal feminist ideas emanated from the 18th century through the liberal ideology of liberty, equality and freedom of choice. The idea that “women’s capacity to reason was equal with that of men” first appeared through Mary Wollstonecraft’s writing in 1792. She argued that “the apparent inferiority of women’s intellects was due to inferior education” and that this was “the result of women’s unequal opportunities rather than a justification for them.”
Liberal feminists argued that women should be free to sell their labour outside their houses and therefore argued for state support for mothers. They also demanded the right to vote and participate in parliament.
Angela Davis, a black socialist feminist, emphasises the historical differences between black and white women. She argues that at the time liberal women were claiming individual freedoms and equal rights, black slave women with no rights at all had to endure being flogged, mutilated and raped by their white owners. Black women did not have the freedom to sell their labour or even to care for their children when they gave birth. In the eyes of the slave holders, slave women were not mothers at all; they were simply breeders guaranteeing the growth of the slave labour force.
In slavery, black women and men were equal. They were forced to work together and were mistreated together. In the slave environment, there was no “family head” as all blacks belonged to masters. When men were humiliated by the slave owners, black women felt humiliated too.
American liberal feminists have focused more on individualistic equal rights, which they consider to be the essence of feminism. Their aim has been to stop the marginalisation of women from areas such as industry, commerce, education and political office. Equal opportunities represent to them the annulment of sexism. The rights to free contraception, abortion and childcare, and for refuges for battered women, are part of liberal feminist demands. They even apply this to military service. Thus if women from Indonesia, France and PNG [Papua New Guinea] are compelled to do military service, they might have to go to West Papua, Kanaky and Bougainville to kill people who are struggling for independence.
Liberal feminists have taken their commitment to individual freedoms as far as arguing that women should have the freedom to engage in prostitution. They don’t question the effect of capitalism, colonialism, exploitation and poverty and why women are compelled to use their bodies as a means to survive.
I do not deny the importance of issues such as rape and violence against women raised by liberal feminists. However, I cannot accept that all women share a common oppression. Last century when liberal women and their white sisters in parts of Europe and the US were behind their banner of “liberty and equality”, Kanak women had to hide their children in the bush while their men were fighting against the French military takeover of our country.
Since 1853, when France annexed New Caledonia, the life of Kanak women has totally changed. They lost their land and their dignity. French middle class liberal feminists love to talk about peace and equal rights. They love to highlight the exploitation of women in Kanak society. They still sing: “We are all women. All women unite.” How utopian! How can we be united with French women when they participate in the colonisation of our country? Their slogans are simply designed to blind Kanak women from our real struggle. The priority for Kanak women must be to struggle together with Kanak men, while trying to change their violent and sexist behaviour, against the imperialist interest represented by these French liberal feminists.
Most liberal feminists are ‘petite bourgeoise’ or middle-class women who know little about oppression. They have achieved changes in laws, employment policies and many other areas which enable them to compete with middle class men for the privilege of being part of the elite in a racist, capitalist society. Poor women from the colonies, Third World countries and the working class are more oppressed than middle class women, whatever their colour.
Also
You can’t rate a leader by the followers, by Teresia Teaiwa (2016)
The Struggle for Kanaky, by Susanna Ounei-Small (1995)
For a nuclear-free and independent Pacific, by Susanna Ounei-Small and Norm Dixon (1995)
The long struggle of the Kanak people, by Susanna Ounei (1985)
Kanak Society, by Jimmy Ounei (1982)
New Caledonia police kill Kanak protester (2024)
‘Not our president’: after Macron’s visit, New Caledonia’s Kanak demand their own future (2024)
New Caledonia unrest: Kanak people want end to oppression – protest organiser (2024)
French betrayal triggers Kanak youth rebellion (2024)
Kanaky in flames: Five takeaways from the New Caledonia independence riots, by David Robie (2024)
Why are protests against France raging in New Caledonia?, from Al Jazeera (2024)
Sexual sovereignty, by Adrienne Huard and Jacqueline Pelland (2020)
Vancouver Sex Workers Rights Collective written submission to the MMIWG National Inquiry (2018)
Civilization vs Solidarity: Louise Michel and the Kanaks, by Carolyn J. Eichner (2017)
Abolition of sex work won’t end violence against native women, by Naomi Sayers and Sarah Hunt (2015)
Settler colonialism and the elimination of the native, by Patrick Wolfe (2006)
Palm Island Insurrection (2005)
Solidarité avec la lutte du peuple Kanak, par Lutter! (1985)
At home in the house of the Lord, from Open Road (1984)
The Approaching Obsolescence of Housework: A Working-Class Perspective, by Angela Davis (1981)
Mémoires, par Louise Michel (1886)
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
Anarchists on National Liberation
Anarchism & Indigenous Peoples
Anarchists & fellow travellers on Palestine
Against the Destruction of Gaza, For the Liberation of Palestine