Among the 35,000 plus women gathered in Beijing and Huairou in September 1995, ten were from The Feminist Majority. Here are on-site accounts that Feminist Majority Delegation members posted on The Feminist Majority Foundation Online throughout the conference. |
September 4, 1995 - Elizabeth Spahn
Feminists Win "Gender" Victory Beijing, China, Sept. 4 - The Main Committee of the Fourth World Conference on Women today finally accepted the recommendations made in August, 1995 by an informal consultation group on the word gender. The objections to using the word "gender" in the programme of action for the Fourth World Conference on Women had been raised by delegates from Guatemala. So far, in Beijing, no other delegations have raised objections to the use of the word gender in the document.
At the March preparatory meeting for the Conference the Vatican and its allies of Honduras, Malta, and Guatemala, as a diversionary tactic, objected to the use of the word "gender" in the Platform for Action. The delegations claimed the meaning of the word "gender" was unclear. The Vatican asserted that there are 5 genders: male, female, lesbian, homosexual and bisexual/transsexual.
A consulting committee negotiated the issue in New York over the summer and recommended the word gender be retained, and interpreted according to its ordinary usage in the English language. It also noted that the word gender has been used in United Nations documents for many years without any difficulty understanding the concept.
This week in Beijing, the Main Committee accepted the committee report retaining the word gender. When Honduras tried to raise the issue once again in the Main Committee meeting, the Vatican and Malta themselves reprimanded Honduras for being disruptive, and urged acceptance of the word gender.
Schedule of Plenaries
Statistics on the Status of Women
Copyright 1995, The Feminist Majority Foundation and New Media Publishing Inc.
