Joel A Lewis Youth Against Fascism.pdf

YOUTH AGAINST FASCISM
health in democratic societies. The first article by Liane argued it was necessary for
women to "look well in order to feel well" and that "untidy hair and red-rimmed eyes"
helped cause "apathy and listlessness" within young women. Liane continued stating that
"women who can combine good grooming with an intelligent interest in and knowledge
of things of the mind is the perfect specimen of womanhood" and that a "trim appearance"
was an important expression of "these days of enlightened thought." 130 Other
women reacted to Liane's column, starting a democratic debate about gender and modernity.
One critic stated that "a truly beautiful woman is one whose beauty is her own and
not the product of somebody's preparations." 131
Challenge also dealt openly with issues of sex in relations to health and modernity,
giving readers an opportunity to ask potentially taboo questions about sex. 132 Other
articles dealt with more controversial aspects of sex and gender, openly discussing issues
like abortion. One article dealing with the illegal abortion of a young rape victim pleaded
with readers to "bring sex into the open." The article condemned the "system that
perverts sex into filth, that hides the truth, and that denies young men and women knowledge
of their bodies that would give them happiness… let them know all that modern
science and medicine can tell them." 133 For the YCL, information and free access to
healthy and progressive lifestyle choices were essential characteristics of youth culture in
a modern democratic society.
American young communist rhetoric was framed in response to the diluted class consciousness
of American workers and popular perceptions of democracy in the United
States. YWL rhetoric on democracy was highly oppositional from the outset. Denunciations
of American democratic politics were framed to develop the class consciousness of
American youth. In their first political statement, the YWL dismissed the American
democratic state as an instrument to "keep the workers in subjugation" and that its armed
class nature was "camouflaged under the term democracy." 134 The YWL claimed that the
repressive aftermath of WWI was revealing the "true nature" of American democracy; the
"veils of democracy" were being "tossed aside one by one" by both the American state
and American workers. 135 Other articles highlighted the persecution of radical workers
and the lack of judicial protection for child labor. The YWL asserted that such phenomenon
undercut the "proud boast of Americans that the United States was the most
democratic country in the world… that it was really serving the interests of the people." 136
Though dismissive of reformism and the democratic process, the YWL was not politically
nihilistic. 137 The YWL asserted that attacks on American workers demanded "that it
begin to act politically" and that supporting a Labor Party could help "save the working
class of America from further and complete enslavement." 138 With the onset of Bolshevization,
YWL rhetoric varied little from official YCI propaganda.
American communists traditionally put little emphasis upon participation in democratic
politics since American democracy utilized a two-party system. In the early twenties,
American communists had campaigned tirelessly for a Farmer-Labour Party. Initial
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