The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-07-30

proleta~iaa women ss-conscous She taught them
to realize that womens work in industry and COM
merce was an economic necessity which, despite the
dangers for health and the family which it brought
with it. was nevertheless calculated to free the
men from their economic and spiritual subordina-
ton. The women should fight not the necessity for
then to take part in industry and commerce, she
taught, but the accompanying evils. Comrade Zet-
kin did everything possible to the proletarian
women from falling into the tow of the bourgeois
women's movement. 1t of very great assist
ance to her that she was exactly acquainted with
the bourgeois movement for the rights of women
for she had been as student follower of Auguste
Schmidt, of the leading pioneers of this move
ment She exactly acquainted with the whole
complex of phrases with which the bourgeois
mems movement habitually transformed the eco
noic and class conditions into struggle for Gree
dom, Equality and Fraternity"
With great cearness Clara Zetkin defined that
which separated the proletarian women from the
bourgeois wonens movement. This is shown in
many articles which appeared in "Gleichheit," and
in her speech upon the "Agitation Amongst the
Women" held at the Congress of the Social Demo-
cratic Party in Gotha in 1885, and also her speech
upon "Women's Suffrage" made before the Women's
Conference in Mannheim in 1906 She showed how
the bourgeois women were being condemned by the
economic circumstances more and more to
splnStefhood and thus, beng faced with the qUes-
ton of existence. became ever more and more in
yolved in contradictions to the men of their class
They were fighting for the right to take an equal
part IN public life commercial activity and training
and their struggle opposed by those who feared
the competition of female labor in their own field
The proletarian the other hand, did not
need to fight for the right to take part in indus
trial and commercial life, the needs of capitalism to
exploit her removed the necessity. They were in
the same front with the men, and their conditions
were still more oppressive For equal work they
received less pay and then forced to work at
home when their days work outside was at an end
to fulfil their wifey and motherly duties.
The struggle of the proletarian women for free
dom would therefore have to take different direc-
ton to that taken by the bourgeois womens move
nent There should be no competition with the
Of their class but fight with the men of their
class against capitalist exploitation The proetaran
women would also struggle for political rights but
not for reasons based upon the natural position of
women. but solely to better their situa-
ton. The slogan of the proetarian women's move
ment was not struggle of the sexes but struggle
of the classes.
That was what Clara Zetkin made clear to the
proetarian women 1t is thanks to Clara Zetkin that
the proletarian women's movement in Germany has
kept itself free from the bourgeois suffrage agta-
ton and acted from the very beginning as part and
parcel of the general workingclass movement
Whilst pointing out the general line to be fol-
loWe she also TOOK pains TO ensure tnaC TINS 1de0-
logy should spread widely and deeply AS editor Of
"Gleichheit" she worked to create school of cap
able agitators to work amongst the proletarian
men armed with good material and fully conscious
of their aims Therefore, "Gleichheit" dealt with
every political question which arose and attempted
to the interest and understanding of the pro-
letarian women for these questions. Clara Zetkin
also sought to win capable colaborators for "Glech
heit," and she fulfilled her pedagogical tasks con-
scientiously. Very often she worked through and
thoroughly altered the contributions which arrived
for "GIeichheit" and when the authors protested
she never failed to explain the for the al
terations in long and detailed letters. Finally the
authors compelled to admit that she was right,
and thus they learnt very much
This the work Of Clara Zetkin amongst the