Rannie- Allen

One interesting point in Allen’s book was his discussion of the politics of women of the Cuban revolution. In this way, a contradiction presents itself from the Cuban Revolutionary government, because steps have been taken to promote women and their rights, in the hope of improving the lives of women and their families. This happened, for example, with the Family Code in 1975, stipulated at the First Party Congress of the Cuban Communist Party. This document promoted equality in families, so that both members of a marriage would have similar rights and responsibilities. For example, these could include taking care of children, and the home and having the right to work outside of the home. In addition, birth control and abortion were made available to women. These steps can be seen as huge improvements in women’s rights, potentially increasing women’s autonomy. For example, abortion is still illegal some Western, capitalist countries, suggesting that this was quite a large step at the time.

However, providing these rights to women did come with the privileging of the family unit. This means prioritizing heterosexual rights over homosexual ones, since only heterosexual marriage was recognized. In addition, Vilma Espin, president of FMC, stated that women’s equality should not mean focusing on antagonism between men and women, but rather the prioritizing of the family nucleus. The idea of promoting women’s rights through the interests and workings of the traditional family nucleus is an interesting one, especially since traditional family structure has been seen by many radical feminists as oppressive to women and potentially even a glorified form of slavery. Promoting the family can be especially dangerous when we consider how dangerous the home and male partners are to women, causing incredible amounts of violence and pain around the world. This is especially the case when strong nuclear family notions are coupled with ideas of privacy of that family, which serves to keep violence hidden from the public sphere.

With this in mind, the Cuban Revolutionary government seems to be simultaneously promoting women and their rights, while at the same time, legitimizing male privilege through the support and prioritization of the marriage and traditional family structures. Allen criticizes the Cuban state for not going far enough to promote women’s equality while at the same time claiming to further women’s rights. However, taking oppressive measures and justifying them with concern for women and their safety happen in Western Capitalist countries, too. Like the Puar readings from earlier in the semester highlighted, the government of George W. Bush gave saving women in Afghanistan as a reason for invading that country. Promoting women’s rights could be seen as a legitimate cause for liberal America, completely ignoring the fact that many women would be killed, put in danger and displaced as a result of the invasion.