Are mothers the best people to bring up their own children? This basic belief was attacked at the attacker was Rochelle Wortis, a young research Dwarf will be womens liberation. Clive Goodwin reports on Rochelle Wortis's paper.
Every argument about the repression of women comes down sooner or later to the question of children. For the vast majority of people there is no argument: they may go some way with you on the desirability of women having a career and so forth but when it comes to children there can be no departing from what is regarded as a godgiven truthWomen are mothers and mothers must bring up their children otherwise the children will suffer.
The scientific underpinning for the basic child rearing are an English who has had rity in this Bowlbs of the biological (or real ler have often been criticised: notably by Margaret Mead who pointed that the question of whether or not the mother is the principal figure in child's upbringing is a socio-cultural question, not a biological One. Nevertheless the argument against any other than the biological mother-child system is given tremendous weight by an enormous range of dominant persuaders ranging from eminent scientiests to popular literature which persistently plays up the "orphan syndrome. Alternative patterns of child Daddy rearing rarels get much attention.
The awful consequences of separating mother and child even for a few days, and especially in the first three years of life, is the principal argument used to keep women chained to the home. But most research supporting this deprivation' theory based on studies of in institutions who are often already suffering not from the lack of their mothers, but from inadequate and depressing surroundings. Furthermore children institutions can hardly be taken as fair population.
Photo : Sally Fraser. recent womens liberation conterence. The psychologist. The Black giving a lot of coverage to the vital questions raised by Something unusual either in them or their environment must have happened to put them there.
But perhaps the most succint attack on the 'deprivation' theory comes again from Margaret Mead. "This... 1S a neW subtle form of antifeminism in which men-under the guise of exulting I rance of maternity-are tying women more tightly to their children than has been thought necessary since the invention of bottle feeding and baby carriages. Actually, anthropological evidence gives no support at present to the value of such an accentuation of the tie between mother and child...On the contrary cross cultural studies suggest that adjustment is most facilitated if the child importance is cared for by many warm friendly Rochelle Wortis suggested in her paper that all the evidence today points to the following important factors for the healthy upbringing of children: 1. - Consistent care.
stable and easily identifiable environment. 3. A continuity of experience within that environment.
Physical and intellectual stimulation: love and affection.
One of the great neglects of present research is the role of the father.
simply know nothing about the effects of masculine attention and male child rearing. Barbara Wooten has written that comment in this area must be regarded as "purely speculative."
Home The accepted belief is that the best upbringing for children is provided by the individual home. Excheet ideas and sterile. Exchange of ideas socially productive relationships are $$$kill kill kill $$maim maim maim maim $$$$kill kill kill $$maim maim maim maim $$$kill kill kill maim maim maim maim maim kill kill kill kill kill maim maim maim kill kill kill kill kill maim maim maim kill kill kill kill kill maim maim maim maim kill kill kill kill kill John J Sharkey 1969 severely limited. For one study described one year old children who attended a day nursery at much earlier age than was previously thought wise, developed faster than home reared children, without showing any loss of attachment for their mothers, or indeed by their mothers for them For many women caring for a young baby can be a happy and rewarding experience but it can also be a monotonous and isolating one. Many women are led to believe that sending their children to a day nursery will be harmful to them child. Up to a point, of course, they are right. Even if a child goes to a the responsibility remains woman's and if she also goes out to work this leads serious problems of "emotional overload". She bears the triple This can change more equitable distribution of labour around the home and family can be established. The whole history of women's emancipation is of women demanding that they be allowed to fulfil mens roles. our never that men should begin to share with women the traditional female roles.
Men must begin to take a more active part in the upbringing of children. As in Sweden, boys and girls should be educated equally equip them for equal participation in the family work load. kill kill kill maim maim kill kill kill maim maim kill kill kill maim maim maim kill kill Kill maim maim maim maim maim kill kill kill maim maim maim maim maim kill kill kill kill kill Paid parental leave for men should become the norm in industry. Full time nurseries must be provided at all places of work with full participation by parents their organisation. But they must be staffed by men as well as women.
Rochelle Wortis finished with a plea for knowledge, more experiment and more direct action. "We cannot wait for the revolution before we change our lives for surely changing our lives now is part of the revolutionary process.
Her paper demonstrates that the major technical argument that is used to justify keeping mothers alone in their homes after their children bourgeois ideology and has no scientific basis. Having nailed this first ideological impediment she goes on show that it is not sufficient merely to demand that have equal rights and opportunities with men. The need f01 womens liberation coupled with tne : need for children to have close and continous emotional ties, which does not demand elmer a singie person or a singie (the mother at home) but does indeed demand effort and attention, these two factors together lead her to OHE major political conclusion: women's liberation demands a change in the behaviour
A Notting Hill Gate reader sent us this story. prosperous self-made industrialist found himself alone in a first class carriage sitting opposite an extraordinarily attractive intelligent looking girl. Having made millions by being unafraid to take risks he ventured to ask her a question.
"I hope you don't mind me asking you, but you are such extraordinarily attractive girl I wonder if YUL Living, Work and what you do for a "Of course I don't mind telling you" she replied, "I am a whore."
Somewhat taken aback the industrialist said:
"How very interesting, 1, have often wondered about the economics whoring. Tell SHe now much do you make in a day?"
"Well, of course it depends. On a good day I may go to bed with as many as six men in which case I would take about E120."
"Oh that's nothing," he replied, "l can make that much in a minute."
"Ah," she said, "you probably But then I've only got one cunt working for me."
TROTSKY PUBLISHED IN EASTERN EUROPE A Budapest publishing house has announced. plans for a book of eye-witness accounts of the October Revolution, and included among the authors is Trotsky. Trotsky's works have been banned in Russia since 1927 and the only Eastern European country to publish when the Russians invaded and it was never ISSUCUM Deutscher's similar fate.
Camden for People's •Power (jormerly Camden VS) have opened up a Centre above the Co-op at 120 Kentish Town creche, and as a general base for agitational work. On April 18th, iney re collecting OMIS blood for the Liberated areas of South Vietnam. Apart from the blood-collecting there will be a bookstall, creche, picture and poster displays, a wall newspaper, a meal together This will happen and a party in the evening.
Centre, but at the Dominican not al tre Priory, Maitland Park Rd., N.W.S.
There is little of any value written about the Gulf. David Holden's Farewell to Arabia (1966) gives a quick, mystified, rundown on the whole area. Wendell Philipps' Oman: A History is a useful, though unreliable, account by an American oilman and longtime crony of the Sultan's.
On Iran Tnere some more serious material: Lucien Rey's Persia in Perspective, in New Left Review 1º and 20, and Bahman Nirumand's Iran: the new Imperialism in action (MR Press, 1969).
Longrigg's stan the middle East (1968), standard Stephen Robert Engler's The Politics of Oil (Phoenix Paper 1967) and Harvey O'Connor's World Crisis in Oil (1963) give pungent analyses of the workings of the big monopolies, with information on the middle East.
Tricontinental, numbers 13 and 15, contain material on the struggle in Dhofar, and Tricontinental Bulletin 43 has a brief history of the workers' movement in Bahrein. Peking Review has also contained accounts of th Dhofar struggle December 5 1969, and January 23 1970.
publish a lot of material, and contemporary events in oil and Gulf politics can be followed in the press the Times and the Economist contain quite a lot, and the former is given publishing pro paganda supplements on the area with their usual mixture of fact and fiction.
A DWARF READER IS A DWARF REPORTER To improve news our taverare reports from we need outside London. We will welcome reports from any of our readers. Write to us, write for us. Tell us what is happening where you live. We have contacts in the major cities, but they may not know what you know, they may not be involved in the same struggles as you. So tell us!
Did anyone see Stephen Norman (19) get arrested on the Vietnam demo 25 January?
He leaving the march and walking alone near St Margarets Street, W1, carrying a banner attached to a stick. Without any provocation he was arrested. Later, in court, the stick was produced minus the banner and he olenshe weapon this case comes up an charged pessession March. He desperately neede witnesses to defend himselft against this serious charge. Will anyone who saw him, or thinks they saw him, please ring us or Stephen Norman himself at 445 8938. Big Business is getting worried about the students. A Dwarf reporter recently attended a seminar for the top echelons of Shell International's Senior Executives. They were shown a filmspecially produced for the purpose by the which American students voiced their Stamford Research SLLENSESETSH Institue,-in anxieties about BEnE world They were WErE mostly worried young liberals who felt that a life in a big company would be uncreative and frustrating-the company wouldn't listen to them. When the film was Over the up ellives discussed it with group "representative" young They speculated half-heartedly about the possibility of big companies going into the field of social work so as to be more attractive to consciencestricken liberals. They also discussed the validity of the profit-motive as the main motive behind economic activit under capitalism. They agreed that the profit-motive was not terribly 'decent, but didn't believe there could be any other. The seminar closed with their assumptions unruffled and their values unaltered, in spite of brave attacks by some of the more radical young people present. But the interesting thing why the Seminar was held in the first place The reason was revealed in an aside by one of the Shell Management. They're getting disturbed, because less and less talented young people seem to want to work for them...
Welcome to the first issue of The Big Flame, a Merseyside newspaper for militant rank and file workers. It takes Is name Trom Jim Allen's television film and promises to concentrate working class issues. tis at the moment independent of any political group The Black Dwarf 23rd March 1970 Page 16 Joined the Back emer demo pre man in ine middle March Losing as a demonstrator the started in Oxford St he suddenly hitting people joined his buddies in the The man who sells papers outside Victoria Tube Station doesn't sell the Dwarf any more. We asked him why "Well, frankly because the police told me not to. You see I'm too close to Scotland Yard. I've had to drop all that political stuff. All the brass come by here and its just not worth my while." RED ARMY ATTACKS EXPO 70 A left-wing Japanese organisation, called the Red Army Detachment, is reported to have laid plans to attack the banks and businesses that are going to take part in the World Exhibition at Osaka, Expo 70. Some of them have recently been arrested. The Red Army has over 300 cadres who receive military training.
Is Movement for the next thing Infant going Power? to be Well, maybe not quite yet, but the first stirrings are happening every Saturday morning at the Roundhouse. Children of all ages meet there regularly now for a freak-out that their teenage brothers and sisters would be quite jealous of (not that teenagers can't get in too, if they want). They dance rave around to pop-groups and light-shows; they go into corners and improvise drama (about things like accidents in coal-mines); they paint pictures which are immediately hung round the walls for everybody to see; they look at puppet-shows and they eat and drink at the bar. They also meet dozens of other children in a free-wheeling atmosphere.
The organisers are anxious expand. Already plenty of miniature skinheads from the local flats come in to join the inevitable Hapstead lot, and a big bus-loadofkids comes overevery week from Notting Hill But the organisers (ex-Notting Hill Situationists) want to get a grant so that they can arrange for buses to bring in kids from the East End and other working-class areas-they are already in touch with Community Workshops round London as a prelude to getting this going. . They hope to have a whole week at the Roundhouse this Easter Meanwhile, you can get in on Saturday Mornings (11-1.00) for 5/- if you're a grown-up and for 2/-if you're a child
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him has been Yugoslavia. A Czech edition of "The Revolution Betrayed" was in the press
Road. It will be used for meetings, film- shows, street-theatre rehearsals and shows, a