The feminist movement in poland

Women’s Studies International Forum, Vol. 24, No. 5, pp. 501–511, 2001 Copyright © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in the USA. All rights reserved 0277-5395/01/$–see front matter Pergamon PII S0277-5395(01)00197-2 THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT IN POLAND: WHY SO SLOW? Jill M. Bystydzienski Women’s Studies Program, Iowa State University, 349 Catt Hall, Ames, IA 50011, USA Synopsis — Despite seemingly favorable conditions for the development of a feminist movement in Poland, such a movement has been slow to develop. This article illustrates the importance of examining the particular, local contexts within which women’s movements emerge and unfold. Specifically, I focus on historical, political, economic and social conditions that pose obstacles to the formation of a strong feminist movement in Poland. These include long periods of foreign domination which resulted in forced unity and reinforced traditional roles for women, the significant role of the Catholic church; a communist legacy of distrust of feminism and centralized forms of organization; suppression of women’s interests in the Solidarity movement; and the limited opportunities for women created by political and economic policies during the current transition. The fledgling movement does show some signs of growth and strengthening: the number of feminist organizations is increasing, and feminists are beginning to articulate a distinctly Polish feminism. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION Women’s movements often emerge and prosper in times of major societal upheavals (Chafetz & Dworkin, 1989; Jayawardena, 1986). It would seem, therefore, that the current conditions in Poland are favorable for the development of a significant feminist movement. Ten years into the transition, the country has been undergoing major political and economic changes: the new rights to freedom of association and free expression have resulted in a large number of political parties, interest groups and organizations, and there is a great deal of debate and discussion within the government and in society in general. Under such conditions of change, questioning and ferment, women have the possibility to organize and to insert their views and group interests into the public arena. Moreover, with the opening up of the country’s borders, increased contacts with individuals and organizations abroad have made information about feminist movements elsewhere as well as funding sources for women’s organizing more readily available. The feminist movement in Poland, however, is still fledgling and fragmented. The Polish case illustrates the importance and necessity of examining specific, local contexts within which women’s movements emerge and develop (Basu, 1995). While generaliza- tions about conditions under which such movements arise and become established most certainly can be made, not situating the analysis within specific historical, political, economic and social contexts and experiences runs the risk of inappropriate universalizing, and suggests that there is one way of conceptualizing the development of women’s movements (Tripp, 2000). Since the majority of such analyses have focused on the West and North and have been made by western feminist scholars, an examination of nonwestern contexts is crucial to a broader, more global understanding of feminism’s organized expressions. In this article I identify the historical, political, economic and social factors that can account for, or explain, a relatively weak feminist movement in Poland thus far—factors that stand between Polish women and their greater embrace of feminism.1 In my assessment and analysis of the movement I draw on many years of secondary research, observation, and formal interviews as well as informal discussions with Polish women. WOMEN IN POLISH HISTORY Several historical factors are salient to understanding why a feminist movement has been 501 502 Jill M. Bystydzienski slow to develop in Poland. Historically, the role of women in Poland, though very important, and even generally recognized for its significance, had not provided women with the leverage to work towards attaining more equal status with men. Poland has long been subjected to foreign invasions, occupations and alien rule. In the last two centuries, Poland was first partitioned (1830–1918), ceasing to exist as a country, and then was exposed to the devastating events of World Wars I and II. During the partition years and the two world wars, in addition to occasionally taking part in armed struggle with men, women served primarily as volunteer organizers and educators, preserving Polish cultural traditions, heritage and language. These activities, being largely an extension of women’s customary role, reinforced women’s traditional positions in the society. Hence, during more peaceful and stable times women’s issues and interests were typically put aside to make room for national and general economic concerns. For example, between the wars (1918–1939) while women obtained voting rights and unrestricted admission to schools, their demands to be admitted into the professions and political parties were completely ignored as men focused on rebuilding the nation (Sokolowska, 1977).2 A consequence of having an almost constant external oppressor for close to two centuries is that Polish people became effectively unified against “the enemy,” developing a strong “us against them” attitude. Under such circumstances, inequalities or differences among the people3 were played down, and a focus on gender inequality was viewed as divisive and unpatriotic. This socially constructed unity and a kind of organicist view of the nation was also reinforced by the Catholic church. In this view, if the nation is an organism, it is not a body that can breed divisions and conflicts since an organism cannot divide against itself (Titkow, 1994). The Catholic church, which for centuries had a significant place in Polish society, became especially important during the postWorld War II period. It was the only legally existing institution in opposition to the authorities and, as a national institution, helped to maintain national identity as more than 90% of the population in Poland is Catholic. However, the Catholic church has supported tradi- tional roles for women and has taught them to accept their fate and to be martyrs for their nation and the family. In addition, there are certain longstanding cultural traditions in Poland that have continued to reinforce women’s subordinate status. These include various forms of male chivalry (e.g., kissing of a woman’s hand in greeting) and the very strong ideals of feminine beauty, passivity and self-sacrifice. THE COMMUNIST LEGACY The more recent communist period has also left a legacy that has worked against the formation of an effective feminist movement. The threat from outside forces took on special significance in Poland under the post-World War II Soviet-imposed socialist system. Even though the official rhetoric espoused equality of the sexes, women’s primary role was still that of mothers and homemakers, while they also were expected to work full-time as wage earners. The imposition of socialism on the Polish people created a need to protect traditional ways of life, which included traditional gender roles (Robinson, 1988). Moreover, the nationalization of most economic enterprises meant that it was not Polish men who were perceived as women’s exploitative employers, but rather the state administration and a regime personified by the omnipotent communist party and a small “apparatchik” elite. While women obtained a number of progressive welfare provisions under socialism, including extensive maternity leaves, free day care and education, as well as the right to abortion, they were not allowed legally to establish autonomous women’s organizations. The League of Polish Women (Liga Kobiet Polskich), which was the primary women’s organization in Poland under communist rule,4 was established by the government, and the work it did was initiated “top down” (Aulette, 1999; Fuszara, 1993). It, and other women’s organizations, existed essentially to facilitate women’s adaptation to the expectations and demands outlined in the state plans of socioeconomic development which determined their activities. These organizations were not motivated by feminist ideals (Siemienska, 1991, p. 114), and while some of the League branches were more effective and legitimate than others, they mainly sought to alleviate the Feminism in Poland effects rather than address underlying structural sources of discrimination against and oppression of women (Aulette, 1999). The virtual absence of grassroots women’s groups meant that policymakers could put into place policies that appeared to benefit women but were actually designed for the benefit of the state’s economic goals (e.g., when they wanted more women in the workplace, they expanded childcare facilities, and when the need for a large workforce passed, they put in place maternity benefits as inducements for working mothers to leave their jobs for long periods of time). Women were thus at the mercy of political manipulation that left them with few mechanisms with which to promote policies, programs, or their own political candidates (Simpson, 1991, pp. 126–127). Moreover, the lack of independent women’s grassroots activity meant that women in political office (who became more numerous in the 1980s) could not be held accountable to represent women’s interests. According to Renata Siemienska, an observer of the early years of the economic and political transition in Poland, the lack of effective organizations, especially women’s lobby groups, is to a large extent the heritage of the entire postwar period, in which women were denied the possibility to create other organizations besides those fitting into the socialist ideological framework (Siemienska, 1991). The communist regime has left a legacy of deep distrust of efforts to achieve gender equality and of feminism. On the one hand, state propaganda successfully managed to belittle the feminist cause and to plant almost unanimous disdain for western feminism presenting it as a bourgeois preoccupation of wellto-do, disaffected, mainly American women. On the other hand, under socialism “gender equality” was taken for granted, despite all experiential claims to the contrary (Karpinski, 1995). Hence, women typically did not see a need for feminism, and many, as Barbara Einhorn (1993) pointed out, developed an “allergy to feminism.” When I gave a lecture in 1986 at the University of Warsaw on the women’s movement in the United States, I was assured by attentive women students that there was no need for a movement in Poland because women already had equality with men; in fact, too much equality as far as they were concerned! Moreover, they saw the feminist 503 movement in the West as irrelevant to their lives, dismissing it as lesbian-dominated and antimale. Currently, skepticism toward western feminism among women in Poland and other former Soviet-block countries is being justified on the grounds that western feminists have little to offer since they had no experience of communism (Karpinski, 1995). There is also frequent association of feminism with communism. Some feminist issues such as the right to employment and legal abortion are identified with communism and therefore to be swept away in the effort to build a new society (Funk & Mueller, 1993). With such negative sentiments toward feminism and the women’s movement spilling from the past into the present, any organizing in the name of feminism in Poland must necessarily lead to widespread resistance. Myra Marx Ferree (1997) points out that under communist rule state policy tended to diminish women’s dependence on individual husbands and fathers, but enhanced the dependence of women as mothers on the state. Policies such as up to 3 years of maternity leave with a guarantee of a job, low-cost child care, and easy access to abortion were designed to allow women to be both mothers and workers. However, the quality of social services left a lot to be desired and women continued to be primarily responsible for household and childcare while working full-time outside the home in a context of frequent shortages of basic goods. This public patriarchy came to be resented by many Polish women, and they increasingly turned to the family in resistance to state control. Thus, under present conditions where the state encourages private dependency of women as wives on their husbands and other men (through policies that restrict women’s economic and political participation) many women do not question this shift (Domanski, 1996; Kowalczewska, 1995). Consequently, feminists who are openly critical of private patriarchy (the oppression of women by men within the family) have a difficult time finding a following among Polish women (Walczewska, 1996). The communist past has also affected the actual organization of the current women’s movement. The monolithic character of the League of Women and politics in general is seen by many as a model to be avoided at all cost (Fuszara, 1993; Hauser, Heyns, & Mansbrie, 504 Jill M. Bystydzienski 1993). While many women activists perceive the need to build networks and coalitions, they resist creating centralized umbrella organizations (Aulette, 1999). This resistance stems not only from a negative reaction to the highly centralized, hierarchical communist organizations but also from the experience in Solidarity during the 1980s when the movement was underground. The less centralized the activities, the more successful they were, and the more difficult for the police to disrupt. As Slawomira Walczewska, an activist and cofounder of the Women’s Foundation “eFKa” in Krakow, explained, “Women are extremely hesitant to any idea of centralization or of formal structuring of their activities. The existing groups are not willing to join or submit themselves to a larger structure.”5 Women activists in Poland seem to prefer very loose networks and small, autonomous organizations (Aulette, 1999, p. 232). Moreover, having had organizations that were both controlled and funded by the government has precluded the development of fund raising skills necessary under the new “free market” economic system. The communist legacy poses obstacles to the creation of an effective feminist movement in still other ways. There is continuing suspicion of women who had anything to do with the communist regime (Funk, 1994). For instance, even though the League of Polish Women since 1989 has become more feminist and grassroots oriented, its former tie to the communist party makes it suspect and new women’s groups often refuse to join alliances in which the League is included.6 Moreover, the historically strained relationship between Poland and the Soviet Union makes it difficult to establish international coalitions that include Russian women’s organizations, even though an alliance between Polish and Russian women would be highly advantageous to both (Aulette, 1999). POLISH WOMEN AND SOLIDARITY The emergence of the Solidarity trade union movement in the early 1980s in Poland marked the beginning of an intense and widespread opposition to communist party rule. Women participated in the movement, constituting about 50% of the membership, although they tended to be in supportive positions to men and only seldom were found in leadership roles (Regulska, 1992, p. 185). Women’s involvement in the Solidarity movement eventually became an avenue for the development of independent women’s groups; however, these were unable to influence Solidarity’s conservative stand on gender issues. Initially, women who joined Solidarity saw their interests as the same as men’s in the struggle for economic democracy and national liberation (Bishop, 1990). As Solidarity broadened into a mass movement of opposition to the communist regime, its critique did not extend to the subordination of women. With the Catholic church as its strongest ally, the leadership maintained its social conservatism. As early as 1980, partly in response to Solidarity’s conservative stand on women’s issues, a feminist group emerged at the University of Warsaw. The group made an attempt to be included in Solidarity, but it quickly found itself isolated and unable to grow (Bishop, 1990, p. 18). Nevertheless, it remained as a small discussion and support group, while its members individually tried to work with women in the Solidarity underground and in other emerging movements.7 The few women who became Solidarity delegates during the 1980s came from the better paid occupations and positions, recognized no pay inequities, and saw no reason to get involved in the movement against gender discrimination. Thus, despite an atmosphere seemingly open to the development of special interest groups, no obvious need for a feminist organization was perceived by Solidarity women (Siemienska, 1991, p. 120). The imposition of martial law and the subsequent deterioration of the economic and political system during the 1980s were not conducive to the greater involvement in Solidarity of women as representatives of their gender. Indeed, the focus on social reform and national integration at a time of rapid deterioration in living conditions made issues like gender inequality appear trivial and divisive in a time of crisis (Siemienska, 1991). By the time Solidarity came to participate in the 1989 “round table” discussions with the government, none of the groups included had women representing their interests (Regulska, 1992). However, in 1989, the Brussels-based International Confederation of Trade Unions, which had been funding Solidarity for several years, expressed its concern over the union’s limited activities with regard to the situation of Feminism in Poland women. As a result, the deputy chair of Solidarity, Lech Kaczynski established a “women’s section” in September of that year, and hired an activist from Gdansk, Malgorzata Tarasiewicz, to staff it. A very accomplished activist, organizer, and a feminist, Tarasiewicz drew on her already extensive contacts with women in regional Solidarity offices and organized meetings that eventually resulted in the creation of a women’s network within the union (Helsinki Human Rights Watch, 1992). Initially, the women focused on such activities as media workshops where union activists were trained in how to talk with reporters and act in front of a camera. Gradually, however, the women’s network developed its own union agenda. Elzbieta Oledzka, an activist from that time indicated, “. . . it was interesting to see working class women change from meeting to meeting and begin to accept feminism because at first they saw it as crazy radicals. We also worked . . . on collecting data on health and work for women in factories . . . we started out asking questions but [the women] ended up educating themselves because they began to talk about those issues” (Aulette, 1999, p. 220). By 1990, the women’s section had 10,000 members with active groups in 17 of 38 regions in Poland (Einhorn, 1993, p. 196). In May 1990, a Solidarity National Congress (where 10% of the delegates were women) passed a resolution about the need for legal protection of the unborn. The women’s section protested on the grounds that delegates had no mandate to adopt such a resolution because women members had not been consulted. Subsequently, the women’s section members conducted referenda in factories in two regions of Poland, which demonstrated that women opposed the resolution and favored the right to abortion. The union leadership expressed its disapproval regarding these actions, both publicly and through conversations with Tarasiewicz. She was told that she should seek a job with a feminist organization. At the same time, members of the women’s section in regional offices were harassed (Helsinki Human Rights Watch, 1992, p. 6). The leadership eventually prevented the women’s section members from representing Solidarity in international union gatherings in Britain and Canada, claiming that they lacked “the proper moral spine” referring to the prochoice position of the members (Einhorn, 505 1993, p. 196). Tarasiewicz resigned in March 1991, and 2 weeks later her assistant was dismissed. After her resignation, Tarasiewicz received phone calls from Solidarity’s Gdansk office prohibiting her from maintaining contact with members of the women’s section. She was told that if she disobeyed the ban, she would be publicly disgraced (Helsinki Human Rights Watch, 1992, p. 6).8 Despite the blatant repression, the women’s section has survived and is still active. It had a membership of 22,000 in 1995. However, it has lost its feminist stance of the early period and in 1995 characterized itself as a “ mass [organization] aimed at satisfying the needs of working and unemployed women and their families” (Directory of women’s organizations and initiatives in Poland, 1995, p. 175). More recently, the organization has declared itself as active in “the protection of life, traditional values, and protection of the family” (Centrum Informacji Europejskiej, 1999, p. 37). THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT IN THE TRANSITION The sweeping reforms of 1989 in Poland, especially freedom to form associations, to demonstrate, and to publish and distribute information without fear of repression, gave impetus to feminist organizing. As soon as the law on organizations was liberalized, a core of feminist activists (the same group which first was created informally in 1980) moved to establish an official national organization by legally registering as the Polish Feminist Association (PFA). By the end of the year, the PFA brought together a number of other women’s groups and organizations, that became active in the abortion rights campaign, at a conference in Poznan to discuss views on how to continue the women’s struggle (Bishop, 1990, p. 20). The PFA began in Warsaw, but in the early 1990s it launched branches, which have since turned into autonomous groups, in several other large university cities (Wroclaw, Szczecin, Poznan, Gdansk and Krakow). Their one common feature is that their members all openly call themselves feminists. The PFA is typical of the way in which many new women’s groups in Poland are constituting themselves: they are grassroots, flexible, nonhierarchical, committed to preserving their own internally 506 Jill M. Bystydzienski democratic governance and to addressing the needs and interests of their members (Matynia, 1995, p. 398).9 By 1993, there were 59 officially registered women’s organizations in Poland, and the number rose to 70 by 1995 (Directory of women’s organizations and initiatives in Poland, 1995, pp. 4–10). In 2000, there were about 150 registered women’s organizations. They are quite varied and include single issue and multiissue organizations, lobby groups, women’s and gender studies programs, philanthropic organizations, self-help groups, NGOs, and federations that bring together several organizations. Not all are feminist; in fact, in recent years a substantial number of conservative women’s organizations has emerged, several of which are affiliated with the Catholic church. The issue that initially spurred many Polish women to action concerned the threat to legal abortion. As soon as the government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki10 came into power in September 1989, it drafted an act making abortion illegal and advocating prison sentences of up to 5 years for women undergoing abortions as well as for doctors who performed them. This caused a public uproar and led to demonstrations, petitions, and discussions in the mass media. Although men as well as women participated in the actions, several women’s groups, whose goal was to keep abortion legal, formed quickly. For example, an organization called Pro-Femina, registered in 1989, was the first of several groups devoted entirely to the abortion issue. Despite a more favorable climate for the development of feminist organizations, however, activists found many obstacles to effective action. For one thing, taking a position against the new proposed act was often interpreted as siding with the communists (who made abortion legal in Poland in 1956) while support for the act was perceived as opposition to the old, oppressive regime, particularly because the draft of the act came from Catholic church circles and traditionally in Poland the church represented a base for political opposition (Siemienska, 1991, p. 123). Thus, the new women’s groups, which opposed the proposed act, were often linked in the media with the left, and consequently, were unable to significantly increase their membership and exert much influence. Although they no doubt helped to postpone the passage of the antiabortion legislation and to make it less punitive, by 1993 the antiabortion interest groups, the strongest of which has been the Catholic church, being much better organized and more influential, were successful in the passage of the new law (Bystydzienski, 1999). The abortion law has been a political football since then. In 1995, it was revoked at the time that the Democratic Left Alliance (neo-communists) was in power and a neo-communist president, Aleksander Kwasniewski, was elected. However, in 1997, when a conservative coalition came to power once again, the antiabortion law was reinstated. The abortion issue aptly illustrates that issues which apply directly to women are resolved without their participation and that the feminist, pro-choice women’s groups have not been an effective source of influence in this matter. Women’s organizations that are openly prochoice also sometimes have found it difficult to acquire official recognition. A specific case cited by Helsinki Human Rights Watch (1992) involved a small women’s organization in a provincial capital which applied for registration as a legal entity in 1991. The organization’s petition was denied on the grounds that its by-laws seemingly contradicted the law on associations because “they demand[ed] unconditional obedience from members” (Helsinki Human Rights Watch, 1992, p. 4). A local government representative submitted a document to the judge stating this opinion and the judge concurred. The by-law in question states that one of the ways the association proposed to act was by “taking a stand against the limits on women’s rights to make decisions in the field of motherhood.” The presiding judge indicated that the by-law was invalid because “the law in Poland protects everybody, including the weakest, and that means the unborn; accordingly the passage about organizing and women’s self-determination was illegal” (Helsinki Human Rights Watch, 1992, p. 5). In fact, Polish law in 1991 allowed abortions and did not protect the unborn! Moreover, it is extremely rare for a government representative to be present at a registration hearing. This example illustrates that repression of women’s groups that oppose the views of those in power is considered acceptable in the new “democracy.” The single issue focus of the early independent feminist movement made it difficult to Feminism in Poland mobilize around other issues once the furor around abortion died down. Some of the early groups ceased to exist while new ones have been slow to form. Newly emerging feminist organizations have found it difficult to mobilize large numbers of women. In the transition to the new political and economic system, women’s lives, already highly burdened under socialism, have not improved, and have even worsened in some respects. The effects of privatization and related economic and social policies have hit women hard. Women are employed predominantly in light industries and lower priority sectors of the economy, and continue to occupy lower positions as well as earn significantly less money than men (Knothe & Lisowska, 1999). Women also make up the majority of the unemployed, and most of the jobs added to the economy have been for men (Lobodzinska, 2000). Women especially have been hurt by the elimination of state-supported childcare, curtailment of maternity leaves, the loss of the right to abortion, and the re-emergence of the ideology of domesticity. Battering, pornography, and traffic in women are increasing, while the numbers of women in political office have decreased (Bystydzienski, 1999). Under such conditions, many women who engage in a daily struggle to make ends meet lack the time and energy to focus on anything beyond the daily survival. On the other hand, the relatively few who have benefited materially from the transition, become attracted to consumerism and tend to avoid participation in any organizations that question the current system (Karpinski, 1995). The transition, however, has not only created obstacles to women’s organizing. Ironically, the problems caused by the transition have led women to begin to address these same problems, thus creating new opportunities for women’s groups and organizations (Aulette, 1999). Especially, there is evidence that small grassroots women’s organizations are on the increase, and that they are stepping in where the state has withdrawn and failed in providing information and services to women and families. The activities of these organizations range from conducting workshops on self-esteem and providing information on reproduction and contraception as well as counseling services for unemployed women and women living in difficult family conditions, to 507 doing charity work, fund raising, working to stop violence against women and sex trafficking in women, to organizing small economic enterprises and job training programs for women, to helping women become more politically active. Feminism most clearly has begun to flourish in academic settings with the establishment of several centers of Women’s and Gender Studies in major Polish universities. The Interdisciplinary Group for Research on Gender Issues in Society at Warsaw University, the Women’s Studies Interdisciplinary Research Group of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, and the Women’s Studies Center at the University of Lodz are only three of eight such centers (Directory of women’s organizations and initiatives in Poland, 2000) that through research, teaching and publications have contributed substantially to the feminist movement in Poland. The organizers of the programs have brought together large communities of scholars to address women’s and gender concerns in Poland and to introduce gender issues into the general curricula of their universities (Fuszara, 2000). Many of those involved in the development of the Women’s and Gender Studies centers are also active in feminist organizations outside the universities (Aulette, 1999, p. 223). Even though there has been resistance to the formation of national women’s organizations in Poland, women’s groups have occasionally created national umbrella organizations and issue-oriented coalitions. One such feminist organization, called the Federation for Women’s Rights and Family Planning, was formed in the spring of 1992 by pro-choice groups to promote and lobby for reproductive rights. It continues to be active, and its membership has grown over the years. Another coalition, still in existence, was formed in 1994 to work on prevention of domestic violence and trafficking in women. However, there are also antifeminist coalitions of conservative women’s groups that have formed recently, such as the Federation Forum of Polish Women that includes the Polish Union of Catholic Women, the Polish Federation of Movements to Protect Life, and women’s sections of Catholic organizations (Centrum Informacji Europejskiej, 1999, pp. 36–37). Recently, Polish feminist women’s organizations have been increasingly involved in joint projects with women from other East-Central 508 Jill M. Bystydzienski European countries. Such regional projects sometimes have been facilitated by western feminist organizations that seek genuine understanding of, and dialogue with, women from the postcommunist counties. Among these is the Network of East-West women, initiated by women from the United States but now with membership of all the countries in the region, including Russia. The organization is governed by an international steering committee and has held several conferences in the region, first of which in 1994 in Budapest focused on women and the law. Feminist organizations in Poland also have collaborated with women’s organizations from Germany and the Scandinavian countries. EMERGING POLISH FEMINISM Under the conditions described above, it is not surprising that Polish women who consider themselves feminists have a difficult time articulating what they mean by a distinctly “Polish feminism” as they struggle to develop a movement that is particularly their own and responsive to the current circumstances of women in Poland. As Elzbieta Kaczynska, a member of the Polish Feminist Association in Warsaw, stated in 1995:11 We tend to talk about our [Polish] feminism as what it’s not—it’s not like what the communists meant by gender equality or what it’s like in the West—but we seldom state positively what Polish feminism is, or could be about. It’s very hard to identify the specifically Polish aspects of feminism. After all, many of our ideas about the oppression of women come from the West and our experience under socialism also has influenced our thinking. We also have feminists of many types; some are associated with political parties, others tend to work with only women, and still others want to include men. So I don’t think there is only one Polish feminism. As this activist indicated, the problem of trying to define Polish feminism in opposition to western feminism and notions of feminism developed under communism is compounded by ideological and other differences among women who identify as feminists. The premise that Polish feminism is distinct from both western and East European Marx- ist/socialist feminism was expressed frequently by the women I interviewed, particularly in the earlier years of the transition. Western feminism was typically characterized as strident and too aggressive, while Marxist feminism, associated with the previous regime, was criticized for its assumption that women’s liberation could be achieved through economic means. Aniela Gora, a self-identified feminist active in a prochoice group,12 indicated in 1995 how the emerging Polish feminism was different from western feminism: Polish feminists are not as aggressive about their feminism as western, especially American women. We want to retain our femininity, our difference from men. We are also not as anti-men. Many of us realize that many men also are having a difficult time now and so we have to work together with men, to improve our circumstances, and to convince men to help us with our work to end sexism and discrimination. Several feminists I interviewed in 1995, talked about the problems of feminism being associated with communism in Poland because the rhetoric of gender equality was often used by the communists. Monika Platek, a professor at Warsaw University who was associated with a newly established Gender Studies center, stated:13 Before the changes, we were always told that we were equal to men in the sense that we could work with men in any occupation, get the same education, and so on. But in reality, women worked both outside the home and in the home and were responsible for doing the shopping, taking children to day care centers, doing the housework. For many of us this reality was and is still associated with gender equality. So now when we feminists bring up gender equality many women don’t want to hear about it. As I indicated in the section on the communist legacy, negative ideas about feminism have carried over from the past into the present, and have made it extremely difficult for feminists to establish credibility for the concept among Polish women and to draw more women into the movement. However, Polish feminists are beginning to articulate Feminism in Poland what feminism could mean in the Polish context as it is understood and firmly grounded in the experiences of Polish women. In the last few years in particular, as Polish feminists have begun to work more closely with other Central and East European feminists, and have begun to establish more meaningful contacts with western and nonwestern feminists; their awareness of the varieties of feminism around the world has increased, and has informed a more profound understanding of how Polish feminism differs from and is similar to other feminisms. Thus, in an informal discussion between a group of Polish feminists and several feminists from western countries in 1999,14 I was told that feminist groups in Poland were much less concerned now with trying to distinguish their brand of feminism from western and Marxist feminisms. As one of the Polish feminists indicated, We went through a stage where we worked on a critique of women’s situation under communist rule and of how women were discriminated [against] under our new political and economic system. We also focused a lot on how the feminism we were developing was not like American or western feminism or like the supposed equality women experienced under socialism. Now we are trying to define feminism in a more positive way, by identifying the issues that are important to Polish women and working on them. When asked about the issues that were currently seen as most important, the women mentioned reproductive rights, violence against women, and work issues such as economic discrimination and sexual harassment. The women explained that although these issues are important for women in other countries and regions of the world, what makes them specifically Polish feminist issues is that they need to be understood and addressed in the socio-political context of contemporary Poland. One of the women stated, In order for us to work effectively on reproductive rights we have to see this issue in terms of the influence of the Catholic church in Polish society, how it [abortion] has been used by the political parties, and how the ban on abortion and restrictions on sex education have taken their toll on women. We then 509 have to develop strategies that can work in this situation, to look for allies and find points of entry where we can make a change. And another added, “It’s not the issues as such that make Polish feminism unique or different, but rather how we, as Polish women, understand and approach these issues; what meaning they have for us and how we relate them to our past and our present” (emphasis mine). Hence, despite great difficulties, some Polish women are beginning to articulate a distinct Polish feminism. This development, although confined to a still relatively small number of feminist groups, is significant and illustrates a continuing attempt to build a firm foundation for the feminist movement. CONCLUSION The feminist movement in Poland has had a slow start since the 1980s despite seemingly favorable conditions for its development. A combination of historical, cultural and recent economic and political factors have acted as obstacles to the development of a more effective feminist movement. For centuries, Poland had been a highly patriarchal society, with traditional roles for women constantly reinforced by the threat of external forces and periods of foreign domination, buttressed by a strong Catholic church and the persistence of cultural traditions and customs that emphasized women’s subordination to men. Under socialism, women could not establish independent organizations, and the regime has left a legacy of general distrust of feminism among women as well as centralized forms of organization. The Solidarity movement, dominated by the Catholic church, did not allow for independent women’s voices and suppressed attempts by women members to influence its course. And in the current transition to liberal democracy and capitalism, the political and economic policies instituted by successive governments have served to curtail women’s opportunities and pose obstacles to women’s organizing. Can the fledgling feminist movement in Poland gain ground and develop into a more influential force? The movement is very new, yet it has taken a big step forward, from a simply reactive aggregate during the antiabortion campaign to a force capable of initiating action and change. Polish feminists have also moved 510 Jill M. Bystydzienski from defining feminism as what it is not to focusing on issues of importance to Polish women and to grounding them firmly in the Polish context. The growing number of feminist groups and organizations are learning to challenge market-oriented and nationalist-nativist ideologies, and are slowly engaging more women in projects and activities that raise women’s awareness, increase their public participation, and counteract the negative effects of the transition. Although at this time such efforts are still largely fragmented, and there is a substantial conservative, antifeminist women’s movement as well, they could intensify in the future, and, with more effective coordination at the regional, national and even international level, could evolve into a well-organized and powerful feminist movement. ENDNOTES 1. I am using the term “feminism” in a broad sense as the recognition of gender inequality and attempts to redress it. 2. This is a pattern characteristic not just of Poland. In many cases, women’s participation in war efforts and nationalist struggle does not produce gains for women in more peaceful times (see, e.g., Cagan, 1999; Leisure, 1999). 3. Class, ethnic and religious differences have existed among the Polish people for centuries. The class structure was mainly composed of a landed aristocracy, a professional middle class, workers, and peasants. Regional cultural differences, including language dialects, provided another source of difference. And while most Poles have been Catholic for the last two centuries, Poland also has had a Protestant minority, and a substantial number of Jews lived in Poland until World War II. 4. While there were other women’s organizations as well, including Circles of Rural Women, that existed during the communist regime, they were all controlled by the ruling Polish United Workers Party. The League of Polish Women was the largest organization, claiming a membership of about 2 million during the 1960s (Siemienska, 1991. p. 114). For a detailed discussion of the League and its relationship to the Polish socialist state, see Robinson, 1995. 5. Interview with Slawomira Walczewska, Krakow, August 1995. 6. For example, in the summer of 1995, there were lively debates over whether the League should be among the organizations to represent Polish women at the UN Conference on Women in Beijing. 7. 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