Minneapolis, MN – 100 people came out of the cold of Minnesota’s winter and jumped into the fires of the struggle on Friday, March 7. Beginning at 6 p.m., the hall of the Lucy Parson’s Center was packed for an event to mark International Women’s Day.

Key points of discussion centered on the origin of gender oppression, and the role of women as both workers in their workplaces, but also those who have the brunt of work in the home forced upon them. Olivia Crull of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and a founding member of MN Abortion Action Committee, put it concisely: “If we want to understand where gender oppression comes from, we first have to talk about reproductive labor and the family. Reproductive labor is exactly what it sounds like: it reproduces our health and energy outside of work. It includes things like cooking, cleaning, entertaining, childbearing and rearing.”

Crull noted, “Historically and currently, women perform the bulk of this labor so that when their husbands return to work, having been fed and cared for, they’re able to continue producing for their capitalist bosses.” Crull also noted the important role that women play in that reserved group of unemployed workers, being drawn on by the billionaire class to expand workforces in growing industries, and on the other hand being pushed out at the first sign of economic downturn.

Expanding from this discussion, speakers touched on the role of women and the impact of gender oppression in each of their particular struggles. Robynne Johnson, speaking for MNAAC, discussed the importance of the struggle for women’s and reproductive rights to all struggles, stating, “To support reproductive freedom is to support working-class women and gender oppressed people everywhere.”

Johnson continued, “When Roe was overturned in 2022, states across the country began rolling out abortion bans and stealing the right to bodily autonomy from women, and recently we’ve seen legislators introduce dozens of bills aimed at limiting trans people from receiving gender-affirming care. These laws are direct attacks on working and oppressed people. When the ruling class institutes bans against our bodies, they are stealing our autonomy away from us, just like they steal all the wealth that we create.”

Attendees listened with great interest to the words of speakers and after that were invited to participate in a Q&A portion to get deeper into the matter of each of the speakers’ issues, and how the fight for women’s rights and an end to gender oppression connects to other struggles. At the closing of the event, attendees were invited to take part in a march the following day, March 8, to mark the working class holiday of International Women’s Day itself.

The event was spearheaded by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s Twin Cities District and included speakers from FRSO as well as: the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA – CWA), the MN Anti War Committee (AWC), and the MN Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC).

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