Cleveland Women's

Counsel

FEMINIST ... at whose expense?

This article has been taken from San Diego Feminist Communications. The discussion that took place provides food for thought for all of us involved in the Women's Movement.

Some of the ideas will not apply, and some are debatable. Some would not work, and some would be taken issue with.

It does give us some input into what other groups in other parts of the country are thinking about Feminism and money.

We thought it would be interesting reading.

"The way that well-known Movement women rake in the money is sickening," said one woman attending a recent workshop. Her statement reflected the general sentiment of other participants in a "Who Should Be Paid for Movement Work?" discussion held at Las Hermanas Coffeehouse on March 11. When an economcally poor movement, such as the Women's Movement, sees its limited funds arbitrarily serving this or that individual's needs, there are bound to be bad feelings. The 15 women who attended this discussion talked about those feelings and proposed some positive ways for feminists to deal with Movement jobs and overall internal money flow.

Whether any woman should even be paid for Movement work was briefly considered. An all-volunteer force seemed appealing because it is a simple method and untainted by the unhealthy touch of money. Most feminists will continue to volunteer to the Movement what time they can eke out of their lives between job, school, children, and family res ponsibilities. However, a limited amount of fulltime paid jobs within the Movement can give our political work more continuity. Most women attending the workshop agreed that some women should be paid.

With that, agreement, we are faced with the stumbling blocks which money can create. First, salaries should never become the prime motivation for a woman to work in the movement. Then, there is the danger that the jobs which are paid could determine which political work is done and which is not. For instance, the government has shown through the funding of certain groups and projects it can divert energy from vital political work. This could affect the entire growth and direction of the Movement. There is also the danger that in creating paid jobs we create and foster the illusion that a problem has been solved that all women can now have comfortable, interesting work situations. This could undermine our demand for non-oppressive, work and payment for all women.

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The arbitrariness of who pockets feminist money now certainly doesn't set right with many women. Once agreed that some women should be paid, the group also noted the dire need for women's community communication of the topic of who is paid. Presently, that's almost any woman or organization which demands payment. Instead, many women felt that the work of women who are paid under the auspices of feminism should definitely reflect the priorities of the Women's Movement, should actively be working toward social change.

Access to becoming a paid Movement worker is presently like gaining access to an expensive carpage 4/What She Wants/July, 1977

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ousel.. some women get on easily and go round and round, for others the ride is not even a possibility. This cycle is encouraged through the ways that we work. Most feminist groups who have o paid

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position available, would not consider filling it with a woman who has not volunteered some time with the group. However noble this sounds, what we are in effect doing is screening out the majority of women who do not have such leisure time because of job or children. Thus, we have women with advantages and free time also enjoying a good job environment. One suggestion made was to relax the volunteer requirement and to interview women for the few such organization jobs, These paid jobs should be rotated every year so that no one person becomes entrenched in the security, advantages, and power that comes with these positions; and, so that more women could be offered the same opportunity. Several women voiced the opinion that the priority should be to hire poor women who don't have extensive job skills. "Why don't the women with the background, skills, and education which equips them to get a well-paid job, why don't they get them and help the Movement?" one woman asked.

It is toward the women who have taken it upon themselves to decide that the Movement should pay them (as opposed to filling an expressed group need for a paid worker) that feelings often bristled. Many women say that they won't work unless they are paid because "My time is too valuable” or “My skills are too valuable". Well, what woman's time is not valuable? Yet most women's labor is unpaid or underpaid. Though resistance to continuing this trend within the Movement is understandable, there is both naivete and narrowmindedness in that stance. Naivete in the suggestion that there is enough money to pay every Movement worker what she is worth. Narrowmindedness is not being able to see beyond one's own pocketbook to what many women's real financial situation is impoverished. Some of these women are riding the tide which is trying to turn feminism into a profitable marketplace

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where women are too "valuable" to do something for free or to adjust their fees on a sliding scale basis for other women. If there are to be freelance fulltime paid Movement workers, let them offer their skills for reasonable costs and let them be subject to the same scrutiny as organizations which charge for services.

Where the money was to come from to create paid jobs in groups which need them was another area discussed. Money cannot always be easily generatd by the group who needs a paid worker. Government and foundation funding was regarded skeptically with the suggestion that the attached strings might easily jeopardize the integrity of the project It was recalled, with some nostalgia, how perform. ers used to actually donate their time and skills for benefits for political women's organizations. Some one suggested that the practice should be revived

However, a consistent amount of money is needed to pay regular salaries. A pledge system was discussed to support such groups as Las Hermanas who need full-time workers and extra economics but who cannot pass the expense on through higher priced events and services without defeating part of their purpose. This system would encourage well-paid women to set aside a certain amount of money monthly to help support the Movement Before a group could accept such pledges, they should issue a statement of purpose for their group and devise a system of demonstrating public accountability for their expenditure of money. In this way, women who have good salaries who want to lend support would be able to make an educated choice of which feminist outlet to contribute to. The donor should have the right to have input on the decision-making of the group who is supporting, but safeguards must be built into the process so that the women with the money cannot pull strings like traditional funding sources. Since this part of the discussion was not completed, it's left to whatever empathetic readers are out there to decide if such a system sounds feas ible and, if so, how it could be put into operation It shouldn't be hard to find one of the local women's groups this system would assist.

A Feminist Credit Union Worker commented on how touchy the subject of personal money is to many women she knows; how our different lifestyles and perceived needs have thrown us into a swamp of financial individualism. General money flow within the women's community is kept mystified and we should take steps to open discussion on money. salaries, group and personal needs. More money. sharing could be going on between women's groups with shared goals and between individual women.

The printing of finances along with a statement of purpose from each of the local women's groups would probably help San Diego women better understand the function of each group and its financial needs. We'd be open to printing some of those feminist groups' budgets here in Feminist Communi-

cations.

There is a need for us to give feedback on money management. When women do a good job at keeping costs low, they deserve to hear our appreciation. Likewise, when a Movement ripoff is taking place, the woman/en should be confronted with the cricontinued on page 10