DRIVE
OUT WICKED CAMPERS! DEMOLISH SEXISM! FOR WOMEN’S LIBERATION!
25-07-2015 – Many
workers and supporters of women’s rights have rightly been shocked and appalled
by the degenerate and grotesque sexism repeatedly displayed by Wicked Campers.
The obscenely offensive slogans scrawled across their campervans for rent,
scrape the bottom of a barrel that rarely surfaces. “Normal” sexism is
unfortunately a daily occurrence in a society which is based on the oppression
of women, as is reflected in the unrealistic fashion and body images constantly
displayed in the mass media. Malevolent sexism, on the other hand, does not
always surface. Wicked Campers have crossed this line, and then some.
Wicked Campers also
brandish some racist and homophobic slogans, but most is directed at women. Yet
Wicked Campers are not just a particularly poor example of the worst of
society’s sexism. It is also a reflection of bourgeois morality becoming more
and more decadent and self-indulgent as the capitalist system moves into an
advanced state of decay. However, it is also a part of the “normal” functioning
of the system of production (or in the case of Wicked Campers – renting) for
profit. Under this system of business which is supposedly “natural”, business
owners are “free” do whatever they wish to make a buck.
This can include exploiting the labour of others, trashing the environment, or
even a depraved public visual assault of women.
Above:
Wicked Campers utilise obscene levels of sexism to turn a profit. Capitalist
private property rights mean that business owners can virtually do whatever
they please if they are in the process of “business”.
Under capitalism, the
right to private property trumps all others. This is reflected in the fact that
despite numerous rulings upholding complaints to the Advertising Standards
Bureau[1],
this body has no power to direct Wicked Campers owner John Webb to remove the
sexist slogans. In some respects, the “authorities” aspire to an orderly and
“harmonious” society – but only in order to create the best conditions for the
turnover of private profit. Business owners, including medium sized capitalists
such as John Webb, must have free rein in the same way that Gina Rinehart and
Clive Palmer can ruthlessly exploit labour and even threaten the very existence
of civilisation with carbon emission pumping coal mining and the like.
If business owners
have unfettered rights under this system and therefore the “right” to display
vulgar sexism to promote their sordid business, a question is posed for workers
and supporters of women’s liberation. How exactly can the abomination of Wicked
Campers be fought and overcome? The organisers of today’s rally have responded
by placing a central demand forward – for the Queensland government to
legislate against the public vilification of women. We admit we are non-plussed
by this demand. Let us briefly examine just some of the moves of the current
Queensland Government, since the ALP (Australian Labor Party) limped over the
line to defeat the previous LNP (Liberal National Party) government. For a
start, the ALP restarted the privatisation of state assets, when it announced
weeks after being elected that sales of public housing would resume.[2] The
continued privatisation of public housing will disproportionately affect women,
especially single parents, for whom housing is often an almost unbearable cost.
Another almost unbearable cost for working class women is electricity bills –
but the latest ALP government budget includes measures which will inevitably
lead to the privatisation of the generation and distribution of electricity.
Plus, the ALP has reopened the Borallon Jail near Ipswich, at a cost of around
$150 million dollars of taxpayers money.[3] Needless to say, this is hardly a progressive
government…
It has also been put
forward that the Australian Greens Senator Larissa Waters moved a resolution in
the Senate condemning Wicked Campers. The motion, seconded by Labor’s Senator
Claire Moore, passed unanimously. All well and good? Not likely. The former federal
ALP/Greens government carried out perhaps the most severe attack on women in
100 years when it pushed single parents (the overwhelming majority of whom are
women) from the single parenting allowance to the miserably low Newstart
allowance.[4]
This unconscionable assault drove many women already struggling deeper into
poverty – courtesy of the ALP and the Greens. To imagine therefore, that the
QLD state ALP government can actually become a friend and protector of women,
is a dangerous illusion.
It is an illusion,
however, which the ALP state government, as well as the Federal Liberal
government, is happy to foster. The QLD ALP government recently announced that
it was spending $31 million to “tackle domestic violence”.[5] This
money, will be used to set up a new Domestic Violence court, establish women’s
refuges in Brisbane and Townsville, and set up a Domestic Violence Death Review
Unit. So the state will review your passing if you lose your life through
domestic violence – how does this help? In addition, the women’s refuges will
operate on a 72 hour basis. That is, women fleeing from a domestic violence
situation will have sanctuary for three days, after which they are on their
own. And setting up an entirely new court, with highly paid judges and overpaid
legal fraternity attending is hardly going to prevent new cases of domestic
violence from occurring. What we have is the ALP government (and the LNP
government before it) posing as defenders of women, and launching a campaign
which will increase their powers, especially police powers, while not even
beginning to address the reasons why the problem exists in the first
place.
This is why we
suggest the demand for the state government to pass laws against the
vilification of women is misplaced. If the government does pass such a law,
whom, pray tell, will enforce it? COPS! And who will try those accused of breaking
such a law? THE COURTS! And where will those who are convicted of breaking the
law be sent? TO PRISON! Ergo, the demand
for the government to pass such a law leads directly to calls for, or actual,
increased taxpayer funding for cops, courts and prisons. Firstly, this will not
make women safer, as it doesn’t address the reasons why violence against women occurs. Secondly, increasing the power
of the capitalist state apparatus inevitably means it will be used to even
further suppress the working class – when ultimately the capitalist state is
the source
of the violence – especially against women.
The cops, courts and
prisons are key elements of the armed fist of the capitalist state. A
state, as Lenin emphasised, is an organisation of violence for the suppression
of a particular class by another class. In capitalist society, based on
production for private profit, the capitalist state acts to protect the
interests of the capitalist class – the aforementioned Gina Rineharts and Clive
Palmers – by suppressing the working class. Yet the oppression of women is
built into the capitalist system through the constant fortification of the
three pillars of class society – the family, private property and the state. A
state which holds women in a permanent state of oppression cannot therefore be
used as one of its tools for liberation. Women can only be liberated from this
oppression through the uprooting of private property and the overturn of
capitalism on a worldwide basis. This will require the taking of state power by
the working class as a first step towards the implementation of a classless,
socialist society. Such momentous struggles - no less than workers’ revolution
- will inevitably entail a struggle against the cops, courts and prisons
of the capitalist state. Yet, the demand for legislation outlawing vilification
of women, despite its intentions, is in practice a demand for more
cops on the streets. Supporting a special domestic violence court is
also in practice a demand for more judges. Wittingly or unwittingly,
the demand for legislation outlawing the vilification of women in practice is a
demand to strengthen the armed and violent wing of the capitalist state. A
beefed up capitalist state will not only use this power against workers – it
will be used to deepen the oppression of women. Thus in our view, the demand
for legislation on this issue is counter-productive.
The vilification of
women (as in the example of Wicked Campers), like the problem of domestic
violence, are both examples of the abuse of women which is a related aspect of
the oppression of women in capitalist society. However, they are symptoms but
not causes. To address the problem of Wicked Campers and domestic violence
requires addressing the reasons which lead to the abuse of women by some
men, whether business owners, or husbands and partners. Ultimately, violence
against women is related to the increasing inequality generated by the
capitalist economic crisis, which has been in deep recession since 2008. Jobs
are being slashed in all industries, throwing thousands out of work, heaping
pressure on men and women to somehow put food on the table and maintain a roof
over their heads, and that of their children. When men and women actually have
jobs, due to the recession workplaces are often extremely stressful, with staff
overworked and subject to relentless bullying and harassment by management. The
pressure that workers endure, daily being threatened with either the sack or
being bullied if they do not work at breakneck speed, is too much to ask anyone
to handle. Treacherous Union misleaders, who do nothing to organise resistance
to often unbearable working conditions, only exacerbate the unhealthy mental
and physical state of workers. Most men are able to take out their rage at this
injustice in safe ways, such as playing sport, engaging in political activity
to address important issues, gaming online or in some other way. Unfortunately,
some men take out their rage on their female partners, terrorising them or
physically harming them. Of course some men need to be removed from their
families for the safety of the rest of the family and the community. However,
if no action is taken to address the underlying economic and political causes
of domestic violence, simply targeting men, or using cops to target men, will
only drive the problem underground. This could later emerge in false solutions
like “men’s rights” groups.
It is no coincidence
that violence against women increases in direct proportion to the increasing
inequality as a result of the economic crisis of the capitalist countries. Even
the example of Wicked Campers is a reflection of the crisis. Business owners,
due to the razor sharp competition to turn a profit, are prepared to take any
measure to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. Not all business owners
resort to John Webb style desecration of women, but many are prepared to do
similar things, like desecrate the wages of their workers, or the natural
environment, or turn to corrupt business practices, and so on. Turning around
this situation cannot be addressed by “working within the system”, by lobbying
parliament, and certainly not by allying with the cops – the sworn enemy of
working class women and men. What is required is nothing less than women’s
liberation through socialist revolution – the seizing of state power by
the armed workers, and the initiation of a planned, socialist economy based on
common ownership of the means of production. This in turn will require the
forging of a Marxist vanguard party, comprised of the most class conscious
women and men, to lead workers and all of the oppressed against their class
adversaries, nationally and internationally.
While we forge a path
towards liberation, the class adversaries of women’s liberation, who often pose
as allies, need to be clearly identified. The ALP, the Greens, the cops, courts
(even a special “domestic violence” court) prisons, local, state and federal
governments and parliaments are all essential components of the capitalist
state, and thus cannot be integrated, into the struggle for essential justice
for women. Rather, the women’s liberation movement and its supporters need to
fight for demands which will ease the economic burden on working class women
and men, and thus dramatically lessen the aggravation caused to personal and
social relationships. With regard to Wicked Campers, the movement could call on
Unions to instruct their members to refuse to serve Wicked Campers at Service
Stations, council parks, restaurants and so on. This could be backed up by
women’s liberation/Union mobilisations to march on and picket Wicked Campers
depots. This is an important issue. Down
with Wicked Campers! For women’s liberation!
MARXIST-LENINIST
GROUP
www.ML-Group@blogspot.com.au
[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-16/pringle-wicked-slogans-arent-just-harmless-fun/5598858
[2] http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-labor-government-to-sell-non-strategic-assets-20150305-13w9j7.html
[3] http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/borallon-prison-to-reopen-in-2016-20150708-gi7dcc?skin=dumb-phone
[4] http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/a-singleminded-struggle-to-get-by-20130822-2se9f.html
[5] http://www.warwickdailynews.com.au/news/special-domestic-violence-courts-will-be-trialled-/2698098/
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