Feminism in Poland
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In one scholarly conception, the history of feminism in Poland[1] can be divided into seven periods, beginning with 19th-century first-wave feminism.[2] The first four early periods coincided with the foreign partitions of Poland, which resulted in an eclipse of a sovereign Poland for 123 years.[3]
However, if "first-wave feminism" is defined as Betty Friedan and others have done,[4] as a global movement in the 19th and 20th centuries, mainly concerned with women's right to vote (i.e., women's suffrage), then Poland experienced it at the same time as other Western countries, toward the end of the 19th, and especially at the beginning of the 20th, century.
The period prior to this had been dominated by the "woman question", when elite women and a few men challenged the subordination of women to men but did not necessarily advocate or collectively organize for equal political rights, nor for great societal changes.
In the Polish lands, the woman question developed alongside continental European debate from the 16th century onward.[5]
The Nineteenth Century
According to Eugenia Łoch, Poland experienced three successive waves of feminism in the 19th century; the first and weakest wave came before the
Uprisings period
A second and stronger wave occurred between the November 1830 and January 1863 Uprisings. This Polish period was influenced by French "proto-feminist" ideas: by George Sand's writings, and by La Gazette des femmes (The Women’s Gazette).
The leading Polish journal advocating feminism was Przegląd Naukowy (The Learned Review), which published articles by, among others, Narcyza Żmichowska (the Warsaw leader of the "entuzjastki"), who advocated the "emancipation" and education of women. Żmichowska was also an active speaker on behalf of women's causes.
The first Polish woman
Positivism period
Poland experienced its third and strongest feminist wave after 1870, under major Western influence. In this wave, the principal advocates of the feminist cause were men. in 1870 Adam Wiślicki published an article, "Niezależność kobiety" ("Woman’s Independence"), in Przegląd Naukowy, containing radical demands for equality of the sexes 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 appeared 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
In Eliza Orzeszkowa’s literary output, the motif of women's 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 Russian newspaper Pravda (Truth) published an article by
Twentieth century
The fourth –
Interwar period
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 legislation). Almost every feminist (even radicals) believed that women had achieved their liberation.[9] Róża Melcerowa expressed those feelings: Feminism (...) in fact ended among those nations where de jure had secured its object: social and political equality.[10]
Article 96 of the
In 1932 Poland made marital rape illegal. 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
The Second World War virtually silenced Polish feminists.
Under communist rule
After
Communist poet Adam Ważyk realistically described situation of workers (Including the female ones) in his Poem for adults.[13]
This period, known as the "sixth wave" of Polish feminism, was characterized by considerable
Julia Minc (wife of Hilary Minc) was president of the Polish Press Agency, 1944–54. Zofia Grzyb (a worker with elementary-school education) was the first and only woman member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party, from 1981.
Second-wave feminism
The
In Poland during the years 1940–1989, feminism in general, and second-wave feminism in particular, were practically absent[need quotation to verify]. Although feminist texts were produced in the 1950s and afterwards, they were usually controlled and generated by the Communist state[contradictory]. 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[need quotation to verify].
Formally abortion was legalized in Poland almost 20 years earlier than in the United States and France (but later than in
After the fall of communism
During communist rule, Polish women enjoyed liberties (abortion, labour market, childcare) that were different from the West.[dubious ] However, following the transition to democracy in 1989 the government took "re-familisation" measures. Feminism in post-communist Poland is contested by the Polish public due to the influence of the Catholic Church in an ongoing "war on gender".[16] Post-communist 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’[citation needed].
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 ‘
Currently, Poland still has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe.
Zuzanna Radzik claims to be a Catholic feminist.[21]
International Women's Day
In Poland, International Women's Day comes with some practices that Polish feminists find problematic. Traditionally, women are given a red rose and some perfume. There is a movement by Polish feminists to change the focus of International Women's Day in order to mobilize women toward activism. In Poland, stereotypes view women as either man hating feminists (much like the stereotype seen in America) or traditional mother figures. The movement to reclaim International Women's Day is focused on viewing women as complex individuals, not just through these popular stereotypes.[22]
Since 2000, Women's Day in Poland is celebrated with feminist demonstration actions called Manifa.[23] Demonstrations and happenings take place nationwide, providing a platform to fight for women's rights.
Important Women of Polish Feminism
Maria Janion (1926–2020) was a renowned feminist and scholar, she gave many lectures on feminist ideals and inspired many new age Polish feminists. She received an honorary degree from the Institute of Literary Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences.[25]
Elżbieta Korolczuk (1975) is a Polish sociologist, researcher and leftist activist. She works at the Södertörn University in Stockholm.
See also
- Abortion in Poland
- History of feminism
- Legal rights of women in history
- List of feminist literature
- Timeline of women's rights (other than voting)
Notes
- ^ The term "Poland", in the 19th century and to the end of World War I, refers to the Polish territories within the boundaries of 1771. (From 1795 until 1918, the Polish state did not exist, having been partitioned by its neighbors Russia, Austria, and Prussia.)
- ^ Łoch, Eugenia (ed.) 2001. Modernizm i feminizm. Postacie kobiece w literaturze polskiej i obcej. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu M.Curie-Skłodowskiej, p.44
- ^ Davies, Norman. God's Playground: a history of Poland. Revised Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2005.
- ^ Drucker, Sally Ann. "Betty Friedan: The Three Waves of Feminism". Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-21.
- ^ Bogucka, Maria (2017). Women in Early Modern Polish Society, Against the European Background. Routledge.
- ^ in: Łoch, 2001:46
- ^ in: Łoch, 2001:47
- ^ in: Łoch, 2001:48
- ^ Poland granted to women the right to vote in 1918.
- ^ in Łoch 2001: 59
- ^ ISSN 0001-6829. Retrieved 11 May 2019.: 239–240
- ^ "100 years of women's right to vote in Poland". Poland.pl. Warsaw, Poland: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Poland. 27 November 2018. Archived from the original on 11 May 2019. Retrieved 11 May 2019.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-08. Retrieved 2019-08-08.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "99 lat temu Polki uzyskały..." www.wysokieobcasy.pl. Retrieved 2017-11-29.
Pierwszą polską Ministrą była Zofia Wasilkowska (również pierwsza kobieta na świecie na stanowisku ministerialnym), która w 1956 roku objęła urząd Ministra Sprawiedliwości, natomiast drugą była Maria Milczarek - Ministra Administracji, gospodarki terenowej i ochrony środowiska w 1976 r.
- ^ in: Śleczka, Kazimierz, 1997. "Feminizm czy feminizmy". In: Zofia Gorczyńska, Sabina Kruszyńska, Irena Zakidalska (eds.). Płeć, kobieta, feminizm. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego: p.17
- ^ Narkowicz, Kasia, and Konrad Pędziwiatr. "Saving and fearing Muslim women in ‘post-communist’Poland: troubling Catholic and secular Islamophobia." Gender, Place & Culture 24.2 (2017): 288-299.
- ^ in Szczuka 2004: 13
- ^ "Abortion Not Allowed in These European Countries".
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ Lipiec, Aleksandra (2019-03-15). "Kaja Godek". wiadomosci.wp.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ "Teolożka i feministka o roli kobiet w Kościele". PolskieRadio.pl. Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ Jucewicz, Agnieszka (March 2003 - April 2003). "Polish Feminists: Forging a Sisterhood". Off Our Backs. 33 (3/4): 26–28.
- ^ "Manifa Warszawa | Porozumienie Kobiet 8 Marca". Manifa Warszawa (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-12-15.
- ^ Feffer, John. "Poland Feminist Genealogy".
- ^ Gozlinski, Pawel (4 April 2011). "What they're reading in Poland". The Guardian.
- ^ Mishtal, Joanna (2015). The Politics of Morality:The Church, the State, and Reproductive Rights in Postsocialist Poland
References
- Eugenia Łoch (ed.) 2001. Modernizm i feminizm. Postacie kobiece w literaturze polskiej i obcej. Lublin: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu M.Curie-Skłodowskiej.
- Warszawa: Wydawnictwo W.A.B.
- Kazimierz Śleczka 1997. "Feminizm czy feminizmy". In Zofia Gorczyńska, Sabina Kruszyńska, Irena Zakidalska (eds.). Płeć, kobieta, feminizm. Gdańsk: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Gdańskiego: 15-34.