Everywhere you turn, women are disrespected, degraded, and anti-woman attitudes are the norm. Already this year, more than 330 restrictions on abortion have been introduced across the country; 50 have become law. Without the right to abortion, women cannot decide for themselves what their lives will be. Women's dreams and humanity are crushed through being forced into motherhood against their will. Meanwhile, pornography has become increasingly more mainstream, and the culture “pornified,” even as pornography has become more violent, degrading and hateful towards women. This is NOT society becoming more “comfortable with sex” it is society becoming saturated with the sexualized hatred of women. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people who do not conform to the patriarchal gender and sexual “norms” are discriminated against in law and bullied in the culture. This must STOP! Women are not bitches, hos, punching bags, sex objects, or breeders, women ARE FULL HUMAN BEINGS. STOP the Patriarchal Degradation, Dehumanization, and Subjugation of All Women Everywhere, and All Oppression Based on Gender or Sexual Orientation!
Join with Stop Patriarchy this summer to take this message everywhere – deep into the communities of the oppressed, out to concerts and festivals, and right up in the face of the biggest women-haters. Through everything, we will get out tens of thousands of copies of the Stop Patriarchy Call to Action. Through street theater, defiant “social interventions” (taking banners and stickers boldly out to crowds wherever they gather), and “pop-up protests” at porn stores, fascist churches, and such, join in making it known far and wide: The days are over when we are just going to sit back and take all this patriarchal shit! Roll with us this summer. Start a chapter where you are. There are a myriad of ways to fight, and you are NEEDED. Weekend of June 27-28: Go out to Pride activities all weekend long, including the Dyke Marches. Bring out the message of Stop Patriarchy, stickers and palm-cards to build for the July 1st protest against all Christian fascist, theocratic intrusions on women's right to abortion and LGBT rights.
JULY 1st, NATIONWIDE: PROTEST THE ASSAULT ON ABORTION RIGHTS!! On July 1st, a new anti-abortion law goes into effect in Kansas, which bans one of the safest and most common procedures for second trimester abortions. This is a very dangerous new line of attack which has already been picked up and copied in four other states; Oklahoma has also passed it into law. Also on July 1st, a new abortion restriction goes into effect in Tennessee that threatens to close half of the state's abortion clinics, leaving it with only four. Everyone across the country must stand up against the devastating impact these laws will have on women in Kansas and Tennessee. Even more fundamentally, we must recognize that these are part of a nation-wide war on abortion rights everywhere. These attacks must be denounced by people all across this country. At the same time, we will be poised to respond to an upcoming Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage (expected by June 26), should that ruling restrict this basic right. Wherever you are, hold a protest, speak-out and/or die-in to say: Abortion On Demand and Without Apology! Forced Motherhood is Female Enslavement! WE SAY NO MORE! End ALL Forms of Theocratic Bigotry! See photos, read reports, see the call to action for these protests here. Weekend of July 10 - July 12: For three days, join Stop Patriarchy in taking the movement for the full liberation of women into communities of the oppressed across the country.
For three concentrated days, take the stickers and signs that “Women are NOT bitches, hos, punching bags, sex objects, or breeders. Women are FULL HUMAN BEINGS!” into these communities, set up the War On Women Display, and conduct dramatic street theater about the importance of abortion rights which are now under unprecedented attack. Draw forward the suppressed anger – and mobilize the participation, both on the spot and in an ongoing way – of people who are all too often completely ignored and cast aside. Put the truth boldly to people everywhere: the full liberation of women is something that everyone who hates oppression of any kind needs to fight for. Take pictures and record video testimony of people who step forward. Write up and share what you learn, experiences to popularize, and challenges you might confront with us at: StopPatriarchy@gmail.com. July 31 – August 9th
Join Stop Patriarchy in Jackson, Mississippi The Deep South is where the battle around abortion rights is most acute, and where lack of access disproportionately affects Black and poverty-stricken women. In the entire state of Mississippi, there is only one abortion clinic left! This clinic is a last refuge for women for hundreds of miles throughout the state who find themselves pregnant but do not want to have a child. It is also the target of unrelenting Christian fascist harassment, legal attacks, and threats of closure. It is currently only able to stay open because of a temporary court order which is blocking a law that would close it down. Stop Patriarchy is calling on people from across the country and from various organizations to join them in a 10 day mobilization to Jackson, Mississippi. We will boldly take out the full mission of Stop Patriarchy throughout the city of Jackson, stirring and drawing new people into the fight against all forms of female enslavement. And we will join with organizers in the area to build support for the last clinic in the state, the Jackson Women's Health Organization, and to build support for Abortion On Demand and Without Apology! It is immoral to abandon the women of Mississippi as their last abortion clinic is under severe attack. And, it is delusional to think that the attacks going down in Mississippi are somehow “separate” from what will soon confront women everywhere if they are not stopped. Do not miss this opportunity to step to the front lines of the national fight to defeat the war on women. And, do not miss this opportunity to work together with others from across the country to stand up against all forms of women's oppression and gain valuable understanding and experience to take this fight forward when you return to different parts of the country. Looking toward the fall: A September Campus Day to Stop Patriarchy!
Students have always played a major role in every successful movement for radical social change and this is urgently needed now in the fight for the full liberation of women. However, these days the campuses are filled with a paralyzing relativism and unending rationalizations for why porn and the sex “industry” are “empowering” for women. At the same time, people are increasingly defensive and apologetic about abortion. It’s time to cut through the bullshit! The sex industry is about oppression, not about “empowerment.” And forcing women to have children against their will is a form of enslavement, straight up! It’s time to stand up and say NO MORE. Women are not bitches, hos, punching bags, sex objects, or breeders. Women are FULL HUMAN BEINGS! This September, on college campuses and high schools across the country, join in a National Student Day of Action to END THE ENSLAVEMENT AND DEGRADATION OF WOMEN IN EVERY FORM! |
DONATE!
And help raise money to build this movement, now. One of the most meaningful ways you can contribute to ending the enslavement and degradation of women is to donate today to fund this essential work. Tens of thousands of dollars are required to print thousands of stickers, t-shirts, palm-cards, banners, and other materials, to support activists from around the country converging in Jackson, Mississippi for over a week, to maintain the StopPatriarchy.org website and email lists, to rent meeting spaces and more. By giving generously today, and/or becoming a regular monthly sustainer of Stop Patriarchy, you not only make this essential work possible, you join a vibrant and liberating community of others who determined to bring about a better world for women and LGBT people everywhere. |
DIY: Ways To Do It & Why It Matters
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Starting off in your area on your own or in a small group? You are part of something much bigger! All summer long, join Stop Patriarchy in going out to masses of people at concerts, in parks, at festivals and wherever people gather to challenge all forms of degradation and enslavement of women and involving people on the spot to join in standing up. Also, stage “pop up protests” at porn stores, anti-abortion churches and fake clinics (anti-abortion “Crisis Pregnancy Centers”), and other sites of women's enslavement.
1 in 3 women will be raped or brutalized in her lifetime. Every woman lives with the fear and threat of this in her life, as well as the constant backdrop of degradation that confronts women in the media, in the schools, on the job, in the homes, and on the street. Lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT) face discrimination, bullying, and demonization for not conforming to patriarchal gender and sexual “norms.” The women and LGBT people who need an END to patriarchy – and who can be called forward to join this movement – are everywhere. So are the men who also need to be challenged to take a stand against all this degradation of women. Everywhere you go, draw these people in on the spot – and going forward – to join the fight against all forms of violence, degradation, sexual objectification, puritanical shame, and legal persecution of women. Have stickers and signs for them to hold, fliers for them to join in passing out, t-shirts to put on, and other roles for them to play. Be oriented towards talking with and teaming up with new people, answering their questions, unleashing their fullest participation, while also giving them space to check things out and learn as they go. Through all this, fight to manifest Stop Patriarchy as a growing political force of people who are fighting oppression and modeling a new and liberating culture – one of full equality and respect between women and men, for LGBT people, and against all forms of oppression and dehumanization. If you can, set up regular times to go out and get back to everyone you meet. Ask them to become a regular financial sustainer of Stop Patriarchy. Tell them more about Stop Patriarchy's mission and get into questions they may have about that (check out SP's Frequently Asked Questions – or submit a new one – here. And find ways to involve them in future activities. |
Stop Patriarchy StoreBuy stickers, t-shirts, patches, tote bags, and more: go out with many ways of spreading the message of women's liberation, protest patriarchy, and fundraise for Stop Patriarchy, and make a statement this summer.
Downloadable MaterialsPrint out fliers, displays, and signs, and join in a national push to confront people everywhere with the full scope of a war on women raging now. Invite them to be part of fighting back with you.
Organizing KitExplore this organizing kit for ideas, protest chants, and more materials -- and make sure to send reports, questions, challenges, and ideas to StopPatriarchy@gmail.com.
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Photo: Eino Sierpe
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