‘Fight for women’s equality is part of battle on world scale to settle which class will rule’ – The Militant

‘Fight for women’s equality is part of battle on world scale to settle which class will rule’ – The Militant

[….] the unimaginable is not yet the inevitable.

That depends on which class rules. The international working class is today far larger and potentially more powerful than in the years that preceded the two interimperialist slaughters of the 20th century. And the large increase in the percentage of women in the workforce worldwide is one of the reasons for this.

What’s missing is growing working-class consciousness, confidence and revolutionary leadership. Communist leadership that can — and will — develop only in the course of class battles.

The kind of leadership provided by V.I. Lenin and the Bolshevik Party he forged in the czarist empire. Leadership of the kind exemplified by Fidel Castro and the cadres of the July 26 Movement and Rebel Army in Cuba, who led the way to Cuba’s socialist revolution.

Leadership of the exploited producers of all skin colors and nationalities the world over, like that demonstrated by Malcolm X, a leadership with moral courage and integrity. And, I will add, of the Socialist Workers Party leadership who shared that course.

Those kinds of leadership, too, can only be forged — and will continue to be forged — in the heat of class battles.

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With this new edition, Cosmetics, Fashion, and the Exploitation of Women has begun a new stage of its life — and not a moment too soon.

This is a book to read and enjoy. Even more important, it is a book that helps to arm us for the only battle that can open the door to women’s equality — and a future for humanity — the battle to settle on a world scale which class will rule.