DORIS LESSING
195
think differently.
I do remember some admirable feminists I've seen at work. One is a
woman
I
saw in Arizona, a Chicana, who was trying to give birth con–
trol to the local poplllation, had been in prison several times for it, and
she said she had to fight in this order of importance: her mother and the
older women, her brother and father, the priests, and the police. She was
a very brave woman.
Feminists in Islam have to fight on a level that hasn't been seen any–
where here, probably for a hundred years. They are persecuted by every–
one, sent to prison, and above all these self-appointed God-men, the
mullahs, give them a very hard time. They beat them up. God knows
what they do not do to them. They are the most heroic women, so
brave, so wonderful.
•
Question:
"If the feminists had emphasized the importance of economic
equality for women rather than many of the nonsensical issues they pur–
sued, would that have made the women's movement successful at the
.
';)"
nme.
DL: I'm always in favor of economic issues being tackled first because
that's where the changes come. You know, it's absolutely no good
talking about equality to a woman who is entirely dependent upon a
man for any money she gets. That is a very basic thing. Now, I have to
talk against myself and say that in a recent survey in England, married
couples were asked what the issues were that they found difficult between
them, and money was down at the bottom of the list. I don ' t know
what it would be like here.
But, this is much more complicated than we think. For example,
probably the most advanced legal system in the world for women is in
the Soviet Union. On paper, they have the most wonderful deal. In
practice, it is very bad. The women in the Soviet Union have an
extremely bad time . So, the legal situation hasn't much affected the
actual situation.
Question:
"In this country, there is a great movement of politically cor–
rect people who disdain any differences between race, class, sex, age, in–
telligence, etc. Do you think this will lead to a uniform, colorless, gray,
sexless androgyny?"
DL: Well, we can disdain these differences as much as we like, but they're
all
there. Because I don't live here, I can't really interpret that question
properly.
Question:
"Did the women's movement fail because of its emphasis on
sexual freedom instead of economic equality?"
DL:
This whole business of sexual freedom I think goes with revolutions.
