Sisterhood Is Global: The International Women’s Movement Anthology

1017 Pages·2016·5.52 MB·English

by  Robin Morgan (ed.)

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Sisterhood Is Global
The International Women’s Movement Anthology
Robin Morgan
RESEARCH DIRECTOR
Jane Ordway
Research and Copy for Statistical Prefaces
Anne-Christine d’Adesky
Toni Fitzpatrick
Annette Fuentes
Peggy Orenstein
Erica Romaine
Research Assistance
Pamela Abrams
Suzanna Fogel
Kenneth Pitchford
Laura Silver
Nancy Zirinsky
PRODUCTION DIRECTOR
Karen Berry
Computer Coordinator
Fran Rosen
Production
Marcia Landsman
Production Assistance
Sedef Guman
Amy Pellman
Blake Morgan Pitchford
Viv Sutherland
Mary Washburn
Anna Zeni
Translators
Magda Bogin
Carol Carl-Sime
Anne-Christine d’Adesky
Cola Franzen

Annette Fuentes
Elisa Sierra Gutiérrez
Sherif Hetata
Lisa Kollisch
Edite Kroll
Agnes Liebhardt
Grace Lyu
Bobbye Ortiz
Rebecca Park
Akiko Tomii
Gloria Feiman Waldman
Interns: Joyce Chang, Nomi Itzhaik, Sandra Littell, Agnes Moses, Mercedes Suárez, Wendy
Wolff, Donna Santos Yamashiro.
Extended Family: Patricia Carbine, Christiane Deschamps, Michelle Djenderedjian, Joanne
Edgar, Dexter Guerrieri, Judith Helzner, Sylvia Kramer, Edite Kroll, Suzanne Braun Levine,
Susan McHenry, Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Isel Rivero, Gloria Steinem, Ms. Magazine, The
Women’s Action Alliance, and the International Women’s Tribune Center.*
Mascots: Ida, Grey Kitty IV, Loki.
* Also see Acknowledgments
CONTENTS
Preface to the Digital Edition
Preface to the 1996 Edition
Prefatory Note and Methodology
Introduction:
Planetary Feminism: The Politics of the 21st Century by Robin Morgan
Afghanistan: Preface
The Silent Victims by Sima Wall
Algeria: Preface
The Day-to-Day Struggle by Fatma Oussedik
Argentina: Preface
The Fire Cannot Be Extinguished by Leonor Calvera
Australia: Preface
Women in a Warrior Society by Sara Dowse and Patricia Giles
Austria: Preface
Benevolent Despotism Versus the Contemporary Feminist Movement by Cheryl Benard and
Edit Schlaffer
Brazil: Preface
A Fertile but Ambiguous Feminist Terrain by Danda Prado
Britain: Preface
The Politics of Survival by Amanda Sebestyen
Canada: Preface
The Empowerment of Women by Greta Hofmann Nemiroff
Caribbean: Preface
The Dutch-Speaking Caribbean Islands: Fighting Until the End by Sonia M. Cuales
The English-Speaking Caribbean: A Journey in the Making by Peggy Antrobus and Lorna
Gordon
The French-Speaking Caribbean: Haiti—A Vacation Paradise of Hell by Cacos La Gonaïve
The Spanish-Speaking Caribbean: We Women Aren’t Sheep by Magaly Pineda
Chile: Preface
Women of Smoke by Marjorie Agosin
China: Preface
Feudal Attitudes, Party Control, and Half the Sky by Xiao Lu
Colombia: Preface
Fighting for the Right to Fight by Luz Helena Sánchez
Cuba: Preface
Paradise Gained, Paradise Lost—The Price of “Integration” by La Silenciada
Denmark: Preface
Letter from a Troubled Copenhagen Redstocking by Tinne Vammen
Ecuador: Preface
Needed—A Revolution in Attitude by Carola Borja
Egypt: Preface
When a Woman Rebels … by Nawal El Saadawi
El Salvador: Preface
“We Cannot Wait …” a collective statement by the Association of Salvadoran Women
Finland: Preface
The Right to Be Oneself by Hilkka Pietilä
France: Preface
Feminism—Alive, Well, and in Constant Danger by Simone de Beauvoir
Germany (East): Preface
Witch Vilmma’s Invention of Speech-Swallowing (A Parable) by Irmtraud Morgner
Germany (West): Preface
Fragmented Selves (A Collage) by Renate Berger, Ingrid Kolb, and Marielouise Janssen-
Jurreit
Ghana: Preface
To Be a Woman by Ama Ata Aidoo
Greece: Preface
A Village Sisterhood by Margaret Papandreou
Guatemala: Preface
Our Daily Bread by Stella Quan
Hungary: Preface
The Nonexistence of “Women’s Emancipation” by Suzanne Körösi
India: Preface
A Condition Across Caste and Class by Devaki Jain
Indonesia: Preface
Multiple Roles and Double Burdens by Titi Sumbung
Iran: Preface
A Future in the Past—The “Prerevolutionary” Women’s Movement by Mahnaz Afkhami
Ireland(s): Preface
Coping with the Womb and the Border by Nell McCafferty
Israel: Preface
Up the Down Escalator by Shulamit Aloni
Italy: Preface
A Mortified Thirst for Living by Paola Zaccaria
Japan: Preface
The Sun and the Shadow by Keiko Higuchi
Kenya: Preface
Not Just Literacy, but Wisdom by Rose Adhiambo Arungu-Olende

Korea (South): Preface
A Grandmother’s Vision by Soon Chan Park
Kuwait:
Preface
God’s Will—and the Process of Socialization by Noura AlFalah
Lebanon: Preface
The Harem Window by Rose Ghurayyib
Libya: Preface
The Wave of Consciousness Cannot Be Reversed by Farida Allaghi
Mexico: Preface
Pioneers and Promoters of Women by Carmen Lugo
Morocco: Preface
The Merchant’s Daughter and the Son of the Sultan by Fatima Mernissi
Nepal: Preface
Women as a Caste by Manjula Giri
The Netherlands: Preface
In the Unions, the Parties, the Streets, and the Bedrooms by Corrine Oudijk
New Zealand: Preface
Foreigners in Our Own Land by Ngahuia Te Awekotuku and Marilyn J. Waring
Nicaragua: Preface
To My Compañeras on the Planet Earth by Maria Lourdes Centeño de Zelaya
Nigeria: Preface
Not Spinning on the Axis of Maleness by ’Molara Ogundipe-Leslie
Norway: Preface
More Power to Women! by Berit Ås
The Pacific Islands: Preface
All It Requires Is Ourselves by Vanessa Griffen
Pakistan: Preface
Women—A Fractured Profile by Miriam Habib
Palestine: Preface
Women and the Revolution by Fawzia Fawzia
Peru: Preface
“Not Even with a Rose Petal …” by Ana Maria Portugal
Poland: Preface
“Let’s Pull Down the Bastilles Before They Are Built” by Anna Titkow
Portugal: Preface
Daring to Be Different by Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
Rumania: Preface
The “Right” to Be Persecuted by Elena Chiriac
Saudi Arabia: Preface
An Emerging Social Force by Aisha Almana

Senegal: Preface
Elegance Amid the Phallocracy by Marie-Angélique Savané
South Africa: Preface
Going Up the Mountain by Motlalepula Chabaku;South Africa: A Bulletin from Within by
anonymous white South African feminists
Spain: Preface
Women Are the Conscience of Our Country by Lidia Falcón
Sri Lanka: Preface
The Voice of Women by Hema Goonatilake
Sudan: Preface
Women’s Studies—and a New Village Stove by Amna Elsadik Badri
Sweden: Preface
Similarity, Singularity, and Sisterhood by Rita Liljeström
Thailand: Preface
We Superwomen Must Allow the Men to Grow Up by Mallica Vajrathon
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics: Preface
It’s Time We Began with Ourselves by Tatyana Mamonova
The United Nations: Preface
“Good Grief, There Are Women Here!” by Claire de Hedervary
The United States: Preface
Honoring the Vision of “Changing Woman” by Rayna Green
Venezuela: Preface
For As Long As It Takes by Giovanna Merola R.
Vietnam: Preface
“The Braided Army” by Nguyen Thi Dinh
Yugoslavia: Preface
Neofeminism—and Its “Six Mortal Sins” by Rada Ivekovićand Slavenka Drakulić-Ilić
Zambia: Preface
Feminist Progress—More Difficult Than Decolonization by Gwendoline Konie
Zimbabwe: Preface
It Can Only Be Handled by Women by Olivia N. Muchena
Appendices:
Cross-Cultural Rebellion—A Sampling of Feminist Proverbs
“Sister”
Glossary
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
A Woman’s Creed
Index
About the Author
PREFACE TO THE DIGITAL EDITION
As Sisterhood Is Global transforms itself through various editions, translations, and formats, it
demands new prefaces. In writing this one, to the ebook edition, I am both proud and grateful
that this anthology not only continues to be pertinent, but also increases in relevance.
First published in 1984, updated and reissued in 1996, and now available digitally in 2016,
this “international feminist encyclopedia” persists in its timeliness. In the 1996 preface, I noted
that despite geopolitical changes—South Africa freed from apartheid, Yugoslavia dissolved as
a nation, the demise of the Soviet Union, etc.—the status of women in most places remained
largely and dismally the same. That’s less true today.
There’s still plenty of bad news, of course. We can count the proliferation of weapons and
wars, rising waves of religious fundamentalisms—Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, even
Buddhist—plus nonstate actors, ranging from ISIS to multinational megacorporations,
controlling vast areas of international relations but answerable to no governments,
organizations, treaties, codes of ethics, or citizenry. All of which impact most heavily on
women.
But there’s actually good news, too.
Rates of poverty, disease, and overall illiteracy have declined. According to World Bank
statistics, the proportion of the global population living in extreme poverty has fallen from 35
percent in 1993 to 14 percent in 2011, the latest year for which seasoned statistics are
available. This is particularly heartening news for women, since the majority of the extreme
poor (those surviving on less than $1.00 per day) is female.
Although approximately six million children, the majority girls, still die before age five,
that’s more than half the number who perished in 1990 (when over twelve million died).
Although “custom,” economic pressures, and certain religious and family traditions still
mitigate against girls getting an education—an opposition sometimes even taking the form of
acid attacks and assassinations—nonetheless, 80 percent of girls in developing countries now
complete elementary school (an increase from the 1980s when only half did so).
Then there’s the most encouraging news of all. Although evangelical Christians, Islamists,
the Vatican, and the ultra-Orthodox regularly unite in a misogynistic brotherhood to prevent
women from gaining and keeping the basic human right of reproductive freedom, they are
losing. The statistics show a crucial drop in birthrates. For instance, Indonesian women now
average 2.3 children; Bangladeshi women 2.2; women in Haiti now average 3.1 kids, down
from six in 1985.
This is directly traceable to the influence of the global women’s movement.
This one statistic, via its ripple effects, inspires realistic hope for educational opportunities,
improvements in sanitation and health, economic development, better prognoses for civil

society and peace, and, ultimately, a decline in environmental devastation and in stemming
climate change.