Dr. I. van der Tuin Field of expertise: Feminist philosophy and feminist historiography Short bio: Iris van der Tuin is assistant professor at Gender Studies, Department of Media and Culture Studies and the Research Institute for History and Culture, Utrecht University. She has recently been awarded a VENI grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific […]

This first feminist issue of Te Elfder Ure, a Dutch Marxist magazine, is a first attempt to start the discussion on the position of women in capitalist society.

In this autobiographical novel, Anja Meulenbelt, describes candidly her personal history, from her first marriage, to her relation with her son, from her political awakening(s), to her lesbian awakening.

A calls upon women to permit themselves some ‘healthy egoism’, adopt a ‘fighting attitude’ and exert political pressure on parties to improve the position of women.

In this interview it is stated that feminists needed to (re-)consider their heterosexuality as the essence of their oppression and that lesbianism was hence not (just) about sex but a political choice.

The article states that the women’s movement in the Netherlands is a white women’s movement. Loewenthal argues that the systematic exclusion of ‘non-white’ women produces racist knowledge.

The main goals of the article are to raise awareness among white feminists about their own ethnocentrism and racism, to provide an opportunity for black ethnic minority women to recognise their own stories and to stimulate a discussion about the position of black ethnic minority women in relation to feminism.

The research is based on interviews with 1054 women between 20-40 years old, from different parts of the country.