A FOUR-page supplement on surrealism in the 22 March issue of Socialist Challenge, contributed and financed by a group of surrealists, included 'automatic texts' containing extremely violent images of women.
The newspaper's Board reconsidered position on the publication of this text, and concluded that it should not have been printed.
However, we must make it clear that the Editorial Board did not endorse the views contained in the supplement. We text was accompanied by a critical comment from the Editorial Board which began: "Some of the automatic texts published here, especially that Stephan Kukowski, contain extremely violent images of women. They are fantasies of male agression to women of a kind which are only too often played out in reality — in rape, woman batThe Fourth International: The Long March of the Trotskyists, Ink Links PRE-PUBLICATION OFFER You can get this historv of the Fl for only £2.50 (normally £2.95) if you order it by 30 April (pap add 30p).
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GREATER MANCHESTER Socialist can be contacted nanchester Socialist Challenge Centre c/o 14 Piccadilly. Manchestel win a view to forming a saltoro sc groUD.
meets on the second Thursdays of each month. Future meetings on: Culture and Society, Party. Socialist Unity. details phone Manchester SC Centre, putside Yorkshire Bank, High Street. Saturday MUSS SIDE SociAlIsi entre baturday.Socialist Challenge *5 April 1979 page 14"
aney are among the most humiliating and images of WY OBLICHE bourgeois ideology up. Feminists have attacked such images - in art, advertising, and the media — as constituting an actual incitement to violence against women.' We utterly rejected the surrealists' claim that the "merely' recorded the disgust Tell Dy someone rape. Our starting point was how best to combat the sexist nature of these contributions:
by deletion WaS publication?
We intended the critical publication of the text as part of our support for the fight to end violence against women. After discussion we recognise that we did not achieve our intention.
On consideration we should have removed the text with a note of explanation.
Then, if we had wanted to further expose the text, could have done so on our terms in an extended article it would have possible TONKE up questions: sexual fantasy and relationship to violence against women; sexism in art; the right of the oppressed to 'censor' art. Our aims were never to condone me degrada tion of women.
Protests over the publication of the text came from a number of quarters, including members of the International Marxist Group and in particular from some 20 angry women demanded a meeting with the Editorial Board on 27 March.
The women — attended the feminist conference pressed disgust that a socialist cond material. One of the women read out a long statement which analysed how the text degraded and humillated women, in the most violent way. None of us disagrees with this assessment of the text. We understand and Line anger Cane expressed.
The statement ended with demands from this group of women which included: report of the meeting Socialist Challenge; four pages feminist viewpoint on violence against women; and the £200 which the surrealists paid for the supplement to be paid either to the Rape Crisis Centre or the Women's Aid Federation. The The decision to publish the automatic text was not taken on the basis of any NORTH EAST NEWCASTLE Socialist local supporters are active! If you 2905in them, phone Pete on (0632) DURHAM Socialist Crn. 2 loneer Caliages, Low who STOCKION ON•/Ecs readers can buv socialist Gnalence trom Green books upstairs in une opencer man snooping SCOTLAND ror intormation about ine paper or 1s supporters ocollane please contac whalenge DOORS Sat afternoons. sarangement 2217481). Widerange POr Fourth International publications. EDINBURGH Socialist group at 01-39 o466 ty.
Phone George details.
DUNDEE Information namense actres tones Cute lenge should degrading that Since it was launched SocialList Challenge has had a policy of giving space in its columns to denied access to the media. In many cases, these have been included within pages in the form of suppletext ments or speak-out columns. With the surrealist group it witnessing a was different.
approached us space. We agreed as we think surrealism is a legitimate area or of concern for a socialist paper.
However, collective to pay the costs for their supplement. We were not prepared to give four pages of our normal 16 pages over to it. We retained control over the content of the pages - hence the editorial statement which accompanied it. It is how we exercised that should be criticised, not that we asked the surrealist collective to pay the pages. been benefited financially.
In respect of the demand for access to the paper, it is absolutely in line with our policies to turn over Socialist Challenge's pages in this way. In fact, we have asked the Rape Crisis Centre, the Women's Aid Federation and others for contributions. Spare Rib article in one of the first issues of the paper. We have never any section whe women's movement to pay for such space.
More importantly, Socialist many of them Challenge has always tried to out any our normal 16 group asking for of meeling asked the the last issue Challenge.
4-page control which the contributors costs of four extra The paper in no way women's many times contributed the Statement the supplement out debate ON Tuesday 27 March a group of about 20 women invaded a Socialist •LAC Challenge Editorial Board. We staged this protest in order to express our rage and disgust at the printing of a viciously sexist and violent piece of writing in Socialist This piece was part of a entitled debate. "Surrealist Challenge' with the subtitle Surrealism and Revo- The lution' and it was intended by be example of 'revolutionary art'.
It described a man's fantasy of a gang of men raping a dead woman, drinking her blood and tearing her body to pieces, Abortion marches - world-wide and vagina intact.
It was printed in full readers were spared none of the horrific, vicious bloody details.
he editoria comment few lines stuck in at the end of - said that the surrealists had been asked to take the offensive piece out but had refused and so it had been left in. This outrageous copon the grounds that it would stimulate the issues of censorship and violence against The same insulting argument was put to us by members of the Board when occupied their offices. They saw our protest as part of the debate. But we say that we will not allow our distress and anger to be used as material for any excuse for four full iterary thugs with no editoria control to restrict them was that they'd paid for the printing themselves. In other words any group that calls itself revolutionary and has £200 to spare proviso that they stimulate debate. What women's group can afford this luxury?
Before walking out of the Socialist Challenge offices we made four demands:
1. that in the next issue of Socialist Challenge a public apology be made to women for any mental or physical harm caused by the printing of the article.
2. that a report of our protest also appear.
that in subsequent issue 4 pages be given over to women free of charge - for us to sav what we think and fee about violence against women.
that E200 — the amount paid by the surrealists • 0C paid to the Rape Crisis Centre. If Socialist Challenge does not have £200 then they organise a benefit to raise it, Just as women's projects such as the Rape Crisis Centre are constantly having to do.
If the Socialist Challenge Editorial Board do not meet these demands then we will consider taking further action.
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THE LONG MARCH OF TROTSKYISTS