Better Red Than Wed? Gender Relations and the Role of Women in the Communist Party of New Zealand, 192l-1970

Abstract

Based on the oral histories of past members of the Communist Party of New Zealand this thesis is primarily concerned with women's role in the Party, how political activity was mediated by family responsibilities, and vice versa. Members had access to at least three sources of ideology about women and the family: Marxism, the example of the Soviet Union and prevalent beliefs in New Zealand society. This study shows that gender relations in the CPNZ, and in members' families, generally replicated those within the society in which they lived; hence they were minimally affected by 'foreign' sociopolitical ideas. When politics is defined narrowly as about parliamentary political parties and local government, the picture is incomplete. Women's previous invisibility in socialist history in New Zealand is unwarranted. When the range of women's work in the Party, the community, and the family is incorporated within the political, the significance of their contribution can be appreciated. Women's support work in the public and private spheres was important; without their cooperation the Party political structure would have been seriously weakened. The CPNZ itself took women's unpaid work for granted, generally reinforcing traditional stereotypes of masculinity and femininity, and the public/private split. As with New Zealand organisations generally, the culture of the CPNZ was male; so was its language. The Party expected a high level of commitment, and did not take into account women's special circumstances. Class was prioritised over both gender and race, and 'women's issues' were, if discussed at all, given a low priority. I argue that although the CPNZ did not in practice demonstrate its theoretical commitment to women's equality, it did provide opportunities for women not commonly available elsewhere. Women who did achieve leadership positions largely adapted to men's modus operandi. This thesis argues that networking, cooperation, and collectivity are typical features of women's ways of working. The study shows that CPNZ women cadres chose predominantly practical rather than abstract political pursuits. Consequently, work on 'women's issues' such as birth control, equal pay, and peace, which have enormous implications for the material circumstances of people's lives, were undertaken with some success. Being involved in women's issues, however, does not make one feminist. The CPNZ typically had a conventional Marxist response to feminism as bourgeois; resolution of the woman question was to be deferred until after the socialist revolution. The earlier attainment of women's franchise in New Zealand resulted in a weaker link between feminism and socialism, I argue, than elsewhere in the late l9th/early 20th century. The link between socialism, second wave feminism and anti-racism is more easily made. Reasons for joining and leaving the CPNZ are shown to be gendered; so are the political roles undertaken. This thesis demonstrates that the Party mirrored New Zealand cultural norms: the CPNZ was hierarchical and segregated along gender lines. The personal cost of membership was high as political activity was consistently at odds with family pursuits. Having observed the level of commitment expected in the CPNZ, some daughters of members made the deliberate choice not to join any political party, for fear of losing their independence. However, despite its faults, many of which led to women members leaving the Parry, this study shows that reflections about the CPNZ, and past participation are mostly affirmative.