Feminism in Poland
Encyclopedia
The history of feminism
in Poland
has traditionally been divided into seven "waves," beginning in the 19th century.
an countries – only in the 19th century. In that period, Poland experienced three successive waves of feminism (during that time the first feminist texts were produced); the first and weakest wave came before the November uprising
of 1830. It was then that Klementyna z Tańskich Hoffmanowa wrote the first Polish text with ‘feminist’ features, Pamiątka po dobrej matce (Remembrance of a Good Mother) (1819). Although the author asserted the traditional social roles of wife and mother for Polish women, she nevertheless advocated the necessity of education for women as well.
s. This wave was influenced by French
‘proto-feminist’ ideas: the literary works of George Sand
and the newspaper La Gazette des Femmes (Women’s Daily). The leading advocate of feminism was the newspaper Przegląd Naukowy (Scientific Review). It published (among many others) articles by Narcyza Żmichowska
(the Warsaw
leader of the feminine group called "entuzjastki"), who advocated 'emancipation' and education for women. Żmichowska was also an active speaker, acting on behalf of women’s causes. The first Polish female philosopher, Eleonora Zimięcka, wrote Myśli o wychowaniu kobiet (Suggestions for Women's Education) (1843), which postulated that the most important aim in women’s education was forming their human nature and only afterwards – feminity.
in education and the professions. In the same newspaper, Aleksander Świętochowski
criticized Hoffmanowa’s books, which he said "transform women into slaves." Another newspaper, Niwa, pushed for women’s equality in education and work. The most radical feminist demands were included in Edward Prądzyński’s book O prawach kobiety (On Women’s Rights, 1873), which advocated full equality of the sexes in every domain.
The question of women’s emancipation was especially important at the University of Lwów
(Lemberg). In 1874 a University lecturer, Leon Biliński
, gave a series of lectures "O pracy kobiet ze stanowiska ekonomicznego" ("On Women’s Work from the Economic Standpoint"). He strongly supported women's intellectual and economic emancipation and their free access to higher education
. His efforts later bore fruit — in 1897, the first female students graduated from Lwów University.
In Eliza Orzeszkowa
’s literary output, the motif of feminine emancipation is particularly important. In her book Kilka słów o kobietach (A Few Words about Women, 1871) she stressed the fundamental human nature of every woman, perverted by society.
A major figure in Polish feminism
in this period and later was Gabriela Zapolska
, whose writings included classics such as the novel, Kaśka Kariatyda (Cathy the Caryatid
, 1885–86).
In 1889 the newspaper Prawda (Truth) published an article by Ludwik Krzywicki
, "Sprawa kobieca" (The Women’s Cause), which postulated that women’s liberation was inherent to the capitalist economy.
– wave of feminism reached Poland around 1900. While male writer
s focused on the ‘mysterious and mystic’ nature of women, female authors (e.g. Maria Konopnicka
, Eliza Orzeszkowa
) were occupied with more rational aspects of feminity. Zofia Nałkowska was especially active in the Polish women’s movement. Her speech Uwagi o etycznych zadaniach ruchu kobiecego (Remarks about Ethical Objectives of the Women’s Movement) during the Women’s Congress in Warsaw
in 1907 condemned female prostitution
as a form of polygamy
. Nałkowska’s first novel, Kobiety (Women) (1906), and another novel, Narcyza (1910), denounced female passivity confronted with what she perceived as masculine domination.
). Almost every feminist (even radicals) believed that women had achieved their liberation. Róża Melcerowa expressed those feelings: Feminism (...) in fact ended among those nations where de iure had secured its object: social and political equality.
In Poland, however, feminists were remarkably active. Nałkowska continued to analyse women’s questions: in the novels Romans Teresy Hennert (Teresa Hennert’s Liaison) (1923) and Renata Słuczańska (1935) she dealt with the limits of women’s liberty in traditional society.
The 1920s saw the emergence of radical feminism
in Poland. Its representatives, Irena Krzywicka and Maria Morozowicz-Szczepkowska, shared an aggressive rhetoric and advocated women’s deliverance from the emotional relationship with men ("fight against love") as the sole medium towards individual independence. Krzywicka and Tadeusz Żeleński (‘Boy’) both promoted planned parenthood
, sexual education, rights to divorce
and abortion
, and strict equality of sexes. Krzywicka published a series of articles in Wiadomości Literackie (Literary News) (from 1926), Żeleński wrote numerous articles (Brewerie (Brawls) 1926, Dziewice konsystorskie (Consistory Virgins) 1929, Piekło kobiet (Hell for Women) 1930, Zmysły, zmysły (Libido, Libido) 1932, Nasi okupanci (Our Invaders) 1932), among others, in which he protested against interference by the Roman Catholic Church
into the intimate lives of Poles. Both Krzywicka and Żeleński were exceptionally active speakers, promoting the ideas of feminism in the whole country. A different aspect of Polish feminism figures in the poetry
and drama
(Szofer Archibald (Chauffeur Archibald) 1924 and Egipska pszenica (Egyptian Wheat) 1932) of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
. That author advocated a female erotic self-emancipation from social conventions.
The Second World War
virtually silenced Polish feminists.
and work. That period is known as the sixth wave of Polish feminism. It was characterized by the considerable production of simple propagandist
texts, advocating equality of sexes and a massive participation of women in the industrial production
and farming (as exemplified by the popular slogan: Kobiety na traktory! (Women onto the tractor!)).
The sixth wave reached its peak with the legalization of abortion in 1956, which generated the production of polemic
al pro-choice
texts. Afterwards, feminist voices were almost silenced (until 1989); the state considered feminist demands fulfilled, any open discussion about women’s problems was forbidden, only official (‘materialist
’ and ‘Marxist
’) feminist texts, mainly focused on taking off women the burden of ‘traditional’ female domestic work
, were allowed. ‘Western’ feminism was officially prohibited and was practically absent in the Polish social life until 1989.
In Poland during the years 1940–1989, feminism in general, and second-wave feminism in particular, were practically absent. Although feminist texts were produced in the 1950s and afterwards, they were usually controlled and generated by the Communist state. In fact, any true and open feminist debate was virtually suppressed. Officially, any ‘feminism of Western type’ did not have the right to exist in the Communist state, which had supposedly granted to women every one of the main feminist demands.
Formally abortion was legalized in Poland almost 20 years earlier than in the USA
and France
(but later than in Scandinavian countries), equality of sexes was granted, sexual education was gradually introduced into schools, and contraceptives were legal and subsidised by the state. In reality, however, equality of sexes was never realized and contraceptives were of such a bad quality that abortion became an important method of planned parenthood
. Those real problems were never officially recognized and any discussion of them was forbidden.
In the beginning of the 1990s, Polish feminist texts often used the aggressive rhetoric related to feminist publications of the interwar period. That kind of ‘striking’ argumentation was more adequate in that epoch of violent polemics about prohibition of abortion. After the Polish government introduced the de facto legal ban on abortions (on January 7 , 1993), feminists have changed their strategies. Many Polish feminists since that event have adopted argumentative strategies borrowed from the American ‘Pro-Choice
’ movement of the 1980s. In Polish feminist texts, the mixed argumentation of ‘lesser evil’ and ‘planned parenthood’ has prevailed. In fact this argument is contrary to the feminist ideology and has proved ineffective. The ban on abortions has appeared immovable. Both sexual education in schools and state funding of contraceptives have been strongly suppressed since 1998. But Polish feminism is seemingly undergoing change; new feminist books include Agnieszka Graff
’s Świat bez kobiet (World without Women) (2001), which directly points out the contemporary phenomenon of women’s discrimination
in Poland; and Kazimiera Szczuka
’s Milczenie owieczek (Silence of the Flock) (2004), which passionately defends abortion and often takes positions directly related to the interwar period and radical French feminism, thus renouncing the hitherto dominant ‘moderate’ American argumentative strategies. Ewa Dąbrowska-Szulc expressed the necessity of changing the Polish feminist stance as well: "We [feminists] have lost a lot by these lessons of an appeased language we are still giving each other".
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
has traditionally been divided into seven "waves," beginning in the 19th century.
First wave (1800–30)
Feminist ideas reached Poland considerably later than other Western EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries – only in the 19th century. In that period, Poland experienced three successive waves of feminism (during that time the first feminist texts were produced); the first and weakest wave came before the November uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
of 1830. It was then that Klementyna z Tańskich Hoffmanowa wrote the first Polish text with ‘feminist’ features, Pamiątka po dobrej matce (Remembrance of a Good Mother) (1819). Although the author asserted the traditional social roles of wife and mother for Polish women, she nevertheless advocated the necessity of education for women as well.
Second wave (1830–63)
The second (and stronger) wave took place between the November and January uprisingJanuary Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
s. This wave was influenced by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
‘proto-feminist’ ideas: the literary works of George Sand
George Sand
Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin, later Baroness Dudevant , best known by her pseudonym George Sand , was a French novelist and memoirist.-Life:...
and the newspaper La Gazette des Femmes (Women’s Daily). The leading advocate of feminism was the newspaper Przegląd Naukowy (Scientific Review). It published (among many others) articles by Narcyza Żmichowska
Narcyza Zmichowska
Narcyza Żmichowska , also known under the pseudonym Gabryella, was a Polish novelist and poet...
(the Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
leader of the feminine group called "entuzjastki"), who advocated 'emancipation' and education for women. Żmichowska was also an active speaker, acting on behalf of women’s causes. The first Polish female philosopher, Eleonora Zimięcka, wrote Myśli o wychowaniu kobiet (Suggestions for Women's Education) (1843), which postulated that the most important aim in women’s education was forming their human nature and only afterwards – feminity.
Third wave (1870–1900)
Poland experienced the third (and strongest) wave after 1870, under preponderant Western influence. In this "wave," it is worth noting, men were principal advocates of the feminist cause: Adam Wiślicki published the article "Niezależność kobiety" ("Woman’s Independence") in Przegląd Naukowy (1870). This piece contained radical demands for equality of the sexesGender equality
Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality.- Concept :...
in education and the professions. In the same newspaper, Aleksander Świętochowski
Aleksander Swietochowski
Aleksander Świętochowski was a Polish writer, educator, and philosopher of the Positivist period that followed the January 1863 Uprising.He was widely regarded as the prophet of Polish Positivism, spreading in the Warsaw...
criticized Hoffmanowa’s books, which he said "transform women into slaves." Another newspaper, Niwa, pushed for women’s equality in education and work. The most radical feminist demands were included in Edward Prądzyński’s book O prawach kobiety (On Women’s Rights, 1873), which advocated full equality of the sexes in every domain.
The question of women’s emancipation was especially important at the University of Lwów
Lviv University
The Lviv University or officially the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv is the oldest continuously operating university in Ukraine...
(Lemberg). In 1874 a University lecturer, Leon Biliński
Leon Biliński
Leon Biliński was a Polish-Austrian statesman. He had several important political functions in the Habsburg Monarchy and independent Poland: He was President of Austrian State Railways , Minister of Finance of Austria and...
, gave a series of lectures "O pracy kobiet ze stanowiska ekonomicznego" ("On Women’s Work from the Economic Standpoint"). He strongly supported women's intellectual and economic emancipation and their free access to higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
. His efforts later bore fruit — in 1897, the first female students graduated from Lwów University.
In Eliza Orzeszkowa
Eliza Orzeszkowa
-External links:...
’s literary output, the motif of feminine emancipation is particularly important. In her book Kilka słów o kobietach (A Few Words about Women, 1871) she stressed the fundamental human nature of every woman, perverted by society.
A major figure in Polish feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
in this period and later was Gabriela Zapolska
Gabriela Zapolska
Maria Gabriela Stefania Korwin-Piotrowska , known as Gabriela Zapolska, was a Polish novelist, playwright, naturalist writer, feuilletonist, theatre critic and stage actress. Zapolska wrote 41 plays, 23 novels, 177 short stories, 252 works of journalism, one film script, and over 1,500...
, whose writings included classics such as the novel, Kaśka Kariatyda (Cathy the Caryatid
Caryatid
A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...
, 1885–86).
In 1889 the newspaper Prawda (Truth) published an article by Ludwik Krzywicki
Ludwik Krzywicki
Ludwik Krzywicki was a Polish anthropologist, economist and sociologist. One of the early champions of sociology in Poland, he approached historical materialism from a sociological viewpoint...
, "Sprawa kobieca" (The Women’s Cause), which postulated that women’s liberation was inherent to the capitalist economy.
Fourth wave (1900–18)
The fourth – modernisticModernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
– wave of feminism reached Poland around 1900. While male writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
s focused on the ‘mysterious and mystic’ nature of women, female authors (e.g. Maria Konopnicka
Maria Konopnicka
Maria Konopnicka nee Wasiłowska , was a Polish poet, novelist, writer for children and youth, a translator, journalist and critic, as well as an activist for women's rights and Polish independence.Maria Konopnicka also composed a poem about the execution of the Irish patriot, Robert...
, Eliza Orzeszkowa
Eliza Orzeszkowa
-External links:...
) were occupied with more rational aspects of feminity. Zofia Nałkowska was especially active in the Polish women’s movement. Her speech Uwagi o etycznych zadaniach ruchu kobiecego (Remarks about Ethical Objectives of the Women’s Movement) during the Women’s Congress in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
in 1907 condemned female prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
as a form of polygamy
Polygamy
Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
. Nałkowska’s first novel, Kobiety (Women) (1906), and another novel, Narcyza (1910), denounced female passivity confronted with what she perceived as masculine domination.
Fifth wave (1920–40)
The fifth wave of Polish feminism took place in the interwar period (1920s and 1930s). Feminist discourses of that epoch (in Poland as well as in other countries) searched for new definitions of feminism and tried to identify new goals (there were doubts about whether to fight for full equality or rather for protective legislationLegislation
Legislation is law which has been promulgated by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making it...
). Almost every feminist (even radicals) believed that women had achieved their liberation. Róża Melcerowa expressed those feelings: Feminism (...) in fact ended among those nations where de iure had secured its object: social and political equality.
In Poland, however, feminists were remarkably active. Nałkowska continued to analyse women’s questions: in the novels Romans Teresy Hennert (Teresa Hennert’s Liaison) (1923) and Renata Słuczańska (1935) she dealt with the limits of women’s liberty in traditional society.
The 1920s saw the emergence of radical feminism
Radical feminism
Radical feminism is a current theoretical perspective within feminism that focuses on the theory of patriarchy as a system of power that organizes society into a complex of relationships based on an assumption that "male supremacy" oppresses women...
in Poland. Its representatives, Irena Krzywicka and Maria Morozowicz-Szczepkowska, shared an aggressive rhetoric and advocated women’s deliverance from the emotional relationship with men ("fight against love") as the sole medium towards individual independence. Krzywicka and Tadeusz Żeleński (‘Boy’) both promoted planned parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
, sexual education, rights to divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
, and strict equality of sexes. Krzywicka published a series of articles in Wiadomości Literackie (Literary News) (from 1926), Żeleński wrote numerous articles (Brewerie (Brawls) 1926, Dziewice konsystorskie (Consistory Virgins) 1929, Piekło kobiet (Hell for Women) 1930, Zmysły, zmysły (Libido, Libido) 1932, Nasi okupanci (Our Invaders) 1932), among others, in which he protested against interference by the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
into the intimate lives of Poles. Both Krzywicka and Żeleński were exceptionally active speakers, promoting the ideas of feminism in the whole country. A different aspect of Polish feminism figures in the poetry
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
(Szofer Archibald (Chauffeur Archibald) 1924 and Egipska pszenica (Egyptian Wheat) 1932) of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska
Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska, née Kossak , was a Polish poet known as the Polish Sappho and "queen of lyrical poetry" of Poland's interwar period...
. That author advocated a female erotic self-emancipation from social conventions.
The Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
virtually silenced Polish feminists.
Sixth wave (1948–89)
After the Second World War, the situation of Polish women was very different from that of their Western European and American counterparts. The new Polish Communist state (established in 1948) forcefully promoted women’s emancipation in both familyFamily
In human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
and work. That period is known as the sixth wave of Polish feminism. It was characterized by the considerable production of simple propagandist
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
texts, advocating equality of sexes and a massive participation of women in the industrial production
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the use of machines, tools and labor to produce goods for use or sale. The term may refer to a range of human activity, from handicraft to high tech, but is most commonly applied to industrial production, in which raw materials are transformed into finished goods on a large scale...
and farming (as exemplified by the popular slogan: Kobiety na traktory! (Women onto the tractor!)).
The sixth wave reached its peak with the legalization of abortion in 1956, which generated the production of polemic
Polemic
A polemic is a variety of arguments or controversies made against one opinion, doctrine, or person. Other variations of argument are debate and discussion...
al pro-choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
texts. Afterwards, feminist voices were almost silenced (until 1989); the state considered feminist demands fulfilled, any open discussion about women’s problems was forbidden, only official (‘materialist
Dialectical materialism
Dialectical materialism is a strand of Marxism synthesizing Hegel's dialectics. The idea was originally invented by Moses Hess and it was later developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
’ and ‘Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
’) feminist texts, mainly focused on taking off women the burden of ‘traditional’ female domestic work
Family and consumer science
Family and consumer sciences is an academic discipline that combines aspects of social and natural science. Family and consumer sciences deals with the relationship between individuals, families, and communities, and the environment in which they live...
, were allowed. ‘Western’ feminism was officially prohibited and was practically absent in the Polish social life until 1989.
In Poland during the years 1940–1989, feminism in general, and second-wave feminism in particular, were practically absent. Although feminist texts were produced in the 1950s and afterwards, they were usually controlled and generated by the Communist state. In fact, any true and open feminist debate was virtually suppressed. Officially, any ‘feminism of Western type’ did not have the right to exist in the Communist state, which had supposedly granted to women every one of the main feminist demands.
Formally abortion was legalized in Poland almost 20 years earlier than in the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(but later than in Scandinavian countries), equality of sexes was granted, sexual education was gradually introduced into schools, and contraceptives were legal and subsidised by the state. In reality, however, equality of sexes was never realized and contraceptives were of such a bad quality that abortion became an important method of planned parenthood
Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Federation of America , commonly shortened to Planned Parenthood, is the U.S. affiliate of the International Planned Parenthood Federation and one of its larger members. PPFA is a non-profit organization providing reproductive health and maternal and child health services. The...
. Those real problems were never officially recognized and any discussion of them was forbidden.
Seventh wave (1989–now)
That situation changed only with the fall of the Communist state in 1989. New democratic Poland experienced the seventh wave of feminism and was suddenly confronted with concepts of Western second-wave feminism that at once met with fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church. Western feminism has often been erroneously identified with the prior Communist reproductive policy, similar in some aspects, and feminism for that reason has often been regarded as ’suspect’.In the beginning of the 1990s, Polish feminist texts often used the aggressive rhetoric related to feminist publications of the interwar period. That kind of ‘striking’ argumentation was more adequate in that epoch of violent polemics about prohibition of abortion. After the Polish government introduced the de facto legal ban on abortions (on January 7 , 1993), feminists have changed their strategies. Many Polish feminists since that event have adopted argumentative strategies borrowed from the American ‘Pro-Choice
Pro-choice
Support for the legalization of abortion is centered around the pro-choice movement, a sociopolitical movement supporting the ethical view that a woman should have the legal right to elective abortion, meaning the right to terminate her pregnancy....
’ movement of the 1980s. In Polish feminist texts, the mixed argumentation of ‘lesser evil’ and ‘planned parenthood’ has prevailed. In fact this argument is contrary to the feminist ideology and has proved ineffective. The ban on abortions has appeared immovable. Both sexual education in schools and state funding of contraceptives have been strongly suppressed since 1998. But Polish feminism is seemingly undergoing change; new feminist books include Agnieszka Graff
Agnieszka Graff
Agnieszka Graff , is a Polish writer, translator, commentator, feminist and women's and human rights activist. She graduated from Oxford University, Amherst College , and School of Social Sciences at Polish Academy of Sciences. She completed her PhD in English literature in 1999...
’s Świat bez kobiet (World without Women) (2001), which directly points out the contemporary phenomenon of women’s discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
in Poland; and Kazimiera Szczuka
Kazimiera Szczuka
Kazimiera Szczuka is a Polish literary historian, literary critic and television personality, known from the Polish edition of The Weakest Link....
’s Milczenie owieczek (Silence of the Flock) (2004), which passionately defends abortion and often takes positions directly related to the interwar period and radical French feminism, thus renouncing the hitherto dominant ‘moderate’ American argumentative strategies. Ewa Dąbrowska-Szulc expressed the necessity of changing the Polish feminist stance as well: "We [feminists] have lost a lot by these lessons of an appeased language we are still giving each other".
See also
- Female educationFemale educationFemale education is a catch-all term for a complex of issues and debates surrounding education for females. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education, and its connection to the alleviation of poverty...
- Feminism in 1950s BritainFeminism in 1950s Britain1950s Britain has traditionally been regarded as a bleak period for feminism. In the aftermath of World War II, a new emphasis was placed on the nuclear family as a foundation of the new British welfare state...
- History of feminismHistory of feminismThe history of feminism involves the story of feminist movements and of feminist thinkers. Depending on time, culture and country, feminists around the world have sometimes had different causes and goals...
- Legal rights of women in historyLegal rights of women in historyThe Legal rights of women refers to the social and human rights of women. One of the first women's rights declarations was the Declaration of Sentiments. The dependent position of women in early law is proved by the evidence of most ancient systems....
- List of suffragists and suffragettes
- List of women's rights activists
- Pregnant patients' rightsPregnant patients' rightsPregnant patients' rights refers to pregnant women's rights regarding medical care during the pregnancy and childbirth. It refers specifically to a patient's rights within a medical setting and should not be confused with pregnancy discrimination....
- Sex workers' rights
- Timeline of women's rights (other than voting)
- Women's Social and Political UnionWomen's Social and Political UnionThe Women's Social and Political Union was the leading militant organisation campaigning for Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom...