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Independent or Auxiliary It h as becom e a v e r y popular and fa sh io n a b le p a stim e in som e circles o f our so c ie ty to pred ict th e doom o f w om en ’s organ iza tion s. Som e v e r y p ro g re ssiv e w o m en fe e l th a t a “m ix ed ” o rgan iza tio n s w orks out b e tte r ; m ix in g m en and w om en adds som e s tim ulus to w ork and c r ea tiv ity , not to m ention procreation. Som e w om en fe e l th e y can w ork b est in “a u x ilia ries.” W om en ’s L ib eration, th e m o st p ro g re ssiv e of all w om en ’s organ ization s, d e n ies th e s e b eliefs. T h ey are out alone in th e fie ld fig h tin g fo r th eir r ig h ts. It is tru e W om en ’s Lib h as accepted “g a y ” s is ters. H ow ever, sin ce i t is rather hard to describe th e s e x o f th e s e ind ividu als, a t le a st a h a lf of th em h ave been accepted on th e b a sis o f th e ir p h ysiq u e rath er th an on th e b a sis o f th eir p er su asion of p sych ological m a k e up. W om en’s L iberation h a s also b egu n to lib erate it s e lf from variou s p olitical p atro n a g es and fello w tr a v ellers o f a n on-re scrip t d estin ation . A ll told, d e sp ite a v a r ie ty o f “com m u nal” trends, an y seriou s w ork th a t is to be done for w om en seem s to be done b e s t in w om en ’s or g a n iza tio n s rath er th a n in m ixed organ ization s or “a u x ilia r ie s.” H ow ever, th er e are s till m an y com m u n ities, esp ecially co m m u n itie s o f eth n ic background w h ich fe e l w om en should not h a v e independent organ ization s. T here is a fe e lin g th a t a sep arate organ ization ta k es w om en aw ay from w ork in g w ith th e com m u n ity , d isp erses resources, dupli ca tes a c tiv itie s . “A u x ilia r y Com m itte e s ,” — “a u x ilia r ie s” are b ein g form ed in order to help p rim ary organ ization s (m o stly m ale or m ale-m an aged organ iza tio n s) in p erform an ce o f lesser or rou tin e ta sk s th u s lea v in g lead ers and m em b ersh ip fr e e to address th e m se lv e s to problem s o f m an agem en t and cr ea tiv e en d eavors. T hus m an y ch u rch es or ganized th eir “sister h o o d s.” P r o fe ssio n a l organ ization s, even th o se w ith “m ix ed ” m em bership, h a v e th eir ladies co m m itte s th a t b u sy th e m se lv e s w ith cocktail p arties, C h ristm as T ree P a rtie s, and oth er social ev e n ts to help ra ise th e dw ind ling fin a n c es o f an organ ization . P o litica l p arties (also “m ix ed ” m em b ersh ip) are sp e c ia lists in e n listin g w om en ’s unpaid labor and u n se lfish help b y c r ea tin g “a u x ilia r ie s.” A ll w om en th u s organized w ork q u ite hard. T h ey p erform w o r th w h ile ta sk s under th e lead ersh ip and d irectives o f th e p aren t o r gan ization . T h ese ta sk s, h ow ever, are lim ited in th e ir scope and w om en h ave v er y little sa y in th e a ffa ir s o f th e o rg a n iza tion. Of course th e ladies g e t th e ir rew ard s fo r th e w ork done — p erson al sa tisfa c tio n , a th an k you and a b ea u tifu l corsage — once a year, a t th e annual a ffa ir . I t alw a y s seem ed to m e th a t I could n ot work in an “a u x ilia r y .” I could n ot liv e w ith o u t planning, organizing, m a n a g in g a f f a i r s ; w ith o u t ta k in g th e in itia tiv e . I also could n ot live w ith o u t re ce iv in g sin cere ap preciation for th e job w ell done, nor could I live w ith o u t accep tin g cr iticism fo r so m e th in g th a t w a s n ot su c ce ssfu l. I would fe e l so m e th in g w a s m issin g in th e p r o c e s s : m a y be th e elem en t o f in te n siv e p le a s ure and pain o f g ro w th . . . . I th ink , I would be v e r y un h app y to w ork w ith a group w h ose m ain ta sk s would co n sist of m ak in g cou n tless cups o f c o f fe e and a rra n g in g fo r cocktail p a rties to collect fu n d s even for th e m o st noble cause. I would n ot h ave th e r ig h t to ex p r e ss m y opinions. I am sure I would be q u ite un happy to w ork fo r an a u xiliary o f a v er y au th o rita ria n o rg a n iza tion, as fo r exam ple a ch urch or a p olitical p arty. I w a n t to m ake m y own d ecision s about th e job I am doing. T h a t’s w h y I am n ot a m em ber o f an “a u x ilia r y .” I am “m e ” and I am n ot ‘ a u x ili a r y ” to anybody. I am w illin g to help w h o leh ea rted ly th e com m u n ity b u t on an equal fo o tin g w ith oth er ind ep en d en t organ i za tio n s. H ow ever, I am n ot sa y in g “no” to th e “a u x ilia r ie s.” T h ese are needed b y som e o rgan iza tio n s and also respond to th e n eed s o f som e w om en. T h ey do a good, alth o u g h a lim ited job. One day, w h en I b ecom e very From the C onvention of the G eneral F ederation of W om en’s Clubs in P ittsburgh, Pa.: U krainian represen tatives Mrs. A nastasia V olk er (UN W LA) and Mrs. Maria K w itk o w sk y (Ukr. Gold Cross) am ong other associate m em bers of GFWC. M issing on the photo is Mrs. N a ta ly Pazuniak, Ph.D . represen tative of the W orld F ederation of U krainian W om en’s O rganizations. 20 НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ — ЛИПЕНЬ-ВЕРБСЕНЬ, 1971 Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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