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Women, Men Split on WarIf women had been making the decision about whether the U.S. should launch an unprovoked attack on Iraq, the war might not have happened, according to pre-war polls. A February 2003 New York Times/CBS poll revealed that 12 percent more women than men supported a diplomatic solution with Iraq. And an early March Zogby International poll showed that while 45 percent of men said they would strongly support a war against Iraq, only 21 percent of women did. "This is one of the few times that the gender gap works in our favor," quips Linda Burnham of the Women of Color Resource Center.
Women are also playing key roles in the massive U.S. antiwar movement. In addition to the traditional women's peace groups, such as Women's International League for Peace and Freedom and Women's Action for New Directions, many new women's antiwar groups have sprung up in all parts of the country. Mothers Against War, based in Amherst, Mass., began organizing mothers and grandmothers last summer to oppose a pre-emptive attack on Iraq as well as any unilateral military action by the U.S. against another country. Similarly, Mothers Acting Up have Mother's Day peace events in the works in a dozen cities from New York to Tampa to Boulder to Los Angeles. WOMEN TAKE LEADIn Albany, N.Y., Women Against War protested Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer's pro-war stances, organized a fast for peace at the Albany Women's Building and participated in numerous marches and educational events. The most active of the new groups is CodePink for Peace, which organized a four-month women's peace vigil in front of the White House from November 2002 to March 2003. The CodePink women became notorious for their creative direct actions, including singing antiwar Christmas carols at Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's house and delivering pink slips (actual women's slips) to Bush Administration officials. Besides its office in Washington, D.C., CodePink now has active chapters in 36 states and five countries. On March 8, International Women's Day, many groups organized to show how women are negatively affected by war and militarism. Organizations such as the Global Women's Strike, Women in Black, the Feminist Peace Network, the National Organization for Women, and the Women of Color Resource Center sponsored women-led antiwar events on that day. These groups are continuing their work during the occupation. The Global Women's Strike has begun a weekly peace vigil in San Francisco in front of the Bechtel Corporation to draw attention to the corporations that are profiting from the war. CodePink is targeting corporate media outlets for not covering the human costs of the war. In April, the Women of Color Resource Center (WCRC), MADRE and the Mills College Women's Leadership Institute hosted a gathering of community-based organizations and national women's organizations. The gathering formed working groups to launch actions and education campaigns that highlight the connections between gender, militarism, race, class and nation. The WCRC's useful postcard, "10 Reasons Why Women Should Oppose Terrorism," can be downloaded from www.coloredgirls.org. Andrea Buffa works with Global Exchange and is former director of the Media Alliance in San Francisco. |
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