The Myth of Gender Equality in America

While the last two years have seen a zealous growth in calls for the liberation of the oppressed masses, that growth has also come with a predictable reaction. Particularly, in the past year we've seen an increase in anti-LGBTQ sentiment and organizing, as well as the reversal of gains made by the women's liberation movements of the mid-twentieth century. This reaction has been fueled by far-right ideologues and aided by the inadequacies of mainstream liberal institutions. The substance of oppression for women and queer folks (gender oppressed) hasn't changed qualitatively—under the boot of capitalism there has always been this current—but there has been an increase in it's frequency and casual acceptance, especially with respect to queer and trans folks.

As many know on June 24th of this year, Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that affirmed abortion as a constitutional right, was overturned by the conservative majority that now occupies the highest court in what we call the United States of America. This comes in conjunction with the increase in anti-trans violence and campaigns by reactionaries to paint anyone refusing the gender binary as a sexual predator. These issues are both symptoms of the same problem.  

The problem is the complementary nature of capitalist and patriarchal oppression. Both systems seek to discipline people into pre-defined roles and to punish anyone stepping outside those boundaries. In the case of capitalism, its enforcers will oppose anyone seeking an end to dominance of finance capital and the suffocating nature of wage-labor. For patriarchy, this means shunning any formation of "the family" except the "nuclear family".

Opposing these complementary systems is the task of all progressive forces and should be re-affirmed in this time of increased hostility towards women and other gender-oppressed folks. This will require a diversity of tactics and strategies depending on the type of struggle we're facing. Whatever form these struggles take though, the words Thomas Sankara said about women's liberation in 1983 are incredibly prescient and can be equally applied to the struggles for queer and transgender folks, "Emancipation, like freedom, is not granted but conquered."