The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-06-24

CLARA ZETKIN
courage and wisdom in times Of il
legality or senli-legality indicate good
prospects for the development Of our
work. They are valuable factors in
extending the Party and increasing
its strength, in winning the masses
and carrying on our activities But
what about the training and clarity
Of principle Of these men and women
comrades? 1t is of fundamental i'm
portance for work among the mass
es. 1t is Of great influence on what
closely concerns the masses, how they
can be won, how made enthusiastic.
I forget for the moment who said:
One must be enthusiastic to accom-
plish great things We and the toll
ers Of the whole world have really
great things to accomplish. SO what
makes your comrades, the proletar-
ian women Of Germany, enthusiastic?
What about their proletarian class
consciousness; are their interests,
their activities concentrated on i'm
mediate political demands? What is
the handspring of their ideasf
7 HAVE heard some peculiar things
1 on this matter from Russian and
German comrades. must tell you.
I was told that q talented woman
Communist In Hamburg, Is publish
ing paper for prostitutes and that
she wants to organize them for the
revolutionary fight. Rosa acted and
felt as q Communist when in an ar
ticle she championed the cause Of the
prostitutes who were imprisoned for
any transgreSsion OF police regula-
tons in carrying on their dreary
trade. They are, unfortunately, doubly
sacrificed by bourgeois society. First
by its accTsed property system, and
secondly by its accused moral n.y.
pocriSy. That is obvious. Only he
who is brutal or short-sighted can
forget it. But still, that is not at
all the same thing as considering
proStitutes-how shall I put TITO
be a special revolutionary militant
section, as organizing them and pub
fishing factory paper for them.
Aren't there really any other work
ing women in Germany to organize,
for whom paper can be issued, who
must be drawn into your struggles2
The other is only diseased excres-
cence.
ut reminds me of the literary fash
ion OF painting every prostitute as
sweet Madonna. The origin Of
that was healthy, too: social sym
pathy, rebellion against the virtuous
hypocrisy Of the respectable bour-
geois. But the healthy part became
corrupted and degenerate. Besides.
the question Of prostitutes will give
rise to many serious problems here.
Take them back to productive work,
bring them into the social economy.
That is what we must do. But it is
difficult and a complicated task
to carry out in the present conditions
of our economic life and in all the
prevailing circumstances. There you
have one aspect of the women'S prob
lem which after the seizure of power
by the proletariat, looms large before
us and demands practical solution
1t will give us a great deal of work
here in Soviet Russia. But to go
back to your position in Germany.
The Party must not in any circun-
stances calmly stand by and watch
such mischievous conduct on the part
of its members. 1t creates confusion
and divides the forces"
Marriage in Bourgeois Society
I interrupted here, saying that the
question Of sex and marriage, in a
bourgeois society of private property,
involve many problems, conflicts and
much suffering for women Of all So
cial classes and ranks. The war, and
its consequences had greatly accen-
tuated the conflicts and sufferings
of women in sexual matters, had
brought to light problems which were
formerly hidden from them. To that
were added the effects Of the revolu-
ton. The old world of feeling and
thought had begun to totter. Old
social ties are entangling and break
ing, there are the tendencies towards
new theological relationships between
man and man. The interest shown
in these questions is an expression
Of the need for enlightenment and
reorientation. 1t also indicates re-
action against the falseness and n.y.
pocrisy of bourgeois society. Forms Of
marriage and of the family, in their
historical development. and depend
ence upon economic life, are calcu-
lated to destroy the superstition ex-
listing in the minds of working wom-
en- concerning the eternal character
of bourgeois society. A critical, his
torical attitude to those problems
must lead to ruthless examination
of bourgeois society to a disclosure
Of its real nature and effects, includ-
ing condemnation OF Its sexual NOR
atty and falseness. All roads lead
to Rome. And every real Marxist
analysis of any important section OF
the theological superstructure of So
ciety Of predominating social phen-
omenon, must lead to an analysis OF
bourgeois society and of its property
basis, must end in the realization,
this must be destroyed