Could there be a feminist party in the UK..?

a party with a women's section to promote feminist analysis & policy for the whole party is more effective

Buffy, the whole point is who is accepted and who isn't? Where there are divergent opinions how will things be decided? All I was questioning was who would be accepted and where issues appear on policy how does the party avoid alienating a large percentage of its voters on contentious issues.

Mike Buchannan has the financial backing and has the support across the board of the MRAs. And notice how the concept of a party solely for one sex fills some people with fear. The target that party is aiming to deal with is issues specifically that affect men like suicide rates and homelessness. It is a scary thought that the party will be active next year and if we are to have a political party we can't really object to men having one if they want to put the money together to do it. Yes they will lose their deposits but i would expect the same of a feminist party.

wetherall he's is a bit of a weasel to be fair, but has a google alert on his name, so I expect he'll be here to tell us how we're breathing wrong and how life for him and his cronies is so utterly terrible. I hope they all lose their deposits.

If you do and advanced search on his name on MN, you'll see what he thinks about it all.

there's this:
leftunity.org/introducing-the-lu-womens-caucus/

I was searching for something else and came across article about a men's (anti-feminist) party that has been set up in the UK.

Apparently they will be contesting 30 seats in the2015 election.

It's being run by a woman hater called mike Buchanan and is called 'justice for men and boys'.

I find it quite frightening tbh.

I hadn't realised this was happening. I don't want to link to it as it's filled with misogyny.

Well, maybe that's the first problem right there - how to present a feminist party to the masses that cannot be easily dismissed as loony or man- or sex-hating. How could it be done in the UK? Could there be a break-away from one of the main parties, like we had with the SDP in the eighties? Could someone like Harman or May lead? Or would it need a new face?

Well it sounds as if sausage's pals have successfully sabotaged the attempt to set up a feminist party in the UK.

Funny how they take the time to sabotage a feminist party but leave the bnp et al alone.

It would look like any other party - certain wings/factions might hold more radical (in the normal sense) views, but there would have to be a more moderate leadership. The party would have to work to overcome the image that feminism has, but then they all do - Tory toffs, Labour lefty loonies, sandal-wearing Lib Dems etc etc.

It would be interesting to see whether it could attract a UKIP-style groundswell of support due to the public's disaffection with the main three parties. Is there a charismatic figurehead - someone who can make coherent arguments without alienating large swathes of voters?

Now you are just making shit up.

So a feminist party would be no more extreme than the green party? Lets look at who would be unacceptable (other than myself)

Non cis women obviously
Sex workers of any sort (including striptease and porn performers) unless they tow the party line.
Any woman who dares agree with sex workers about them having freedom of choice.
Libertarian feminists unless they are prepared to tow the party line.

I am sure there will be more but the feminist party will be busy excluding females and I for one wouldn't vote for it. Women make about 51% of the UK population but I would be surprised if a feminist party got more than 1% of the vote. What does it say about us when our party is busy excluding those of us who don't fit the party model?

I think this piece in the feminist times sums up why a feminist party would have issues here.

So if that feminist party has been around for nearly 2 years what do they stand for, who is funding them, and who are their members? Are there prominant female politicians willing to jump ship (was Harriet Harmen talking in code? I doubt it.)? Why aren't they getting more publicity? The website could have been set up by a single person. Maybe we should take over...

(Sorry for not ignoring but...) men are animals.

So, for that matter, are women (being as we're the same species 'n' all).

I would love it to be a radical feminist party

" Feminism seems to me to be more aware of intersectionality than most other political parties so would perhaps be in a better place to not silence BME/working class/lesbian/disabled women."

I agree with this.

There is already a them and us scenario. And it hasn't been created by feminists. Feminists just point it out. Just like a socialist party points out social class inequalities. They haven't created that situation. They are trying to rectify it.

And as for focusing on the glass ceiling. Just look at the topics in FWR, for example. Very few about the glass ceiling. Plenty of variety. However, I do take the point about white middle class. Isn't that pretty much the same for every political party though? Feminism seems to me to be more aware of intersectionality than most other political parties so would perhaps be in a better place to not silence BME/working class/lesbian/disabled women.

It is unlikely to be a radical feminist party when radical feminism is pretty much silenced at every mainstream opportunity! And 'knee-jerk policies' is pretty insulting to those women who have developed ideas and thoughts over many years.

For the same reason I didn't want Mike Buchanan to start a single sex party for men I am not comfortable with a party focused on us. It would create a them and us scenario. And I do worry that it would turn into a girls club all white middle class university educated who are so worried about the glass ceiling they forget that 98% of us will never even get close to it (the same applies to men I am implying the small number of jobs). The problem would be it would not be a feminist party instead it would be a radical feminist party and may well alienate women like me with knee jerk policies. And remember others may not be keen either (here)

The Feminist Party popped up in my Twitter feed today.
thefeministparty.wordpress.com/

To add, I would definitely vote for a feminist party. To argue against a feminist party because they would only concentrate on feminist issues is like arguing against the green party because they only concentrate on environment issues, which they don't!

I think the problem with a feminist party would be the great diversity if opinion and policies. It doesn't work at all for the Tory party, they're really splintering because they're too diverse.

And I know this is an old socialist argument so apologies in advance but I think I have more in common with working class women (and men ) that the very wealthy woman.

I feel the disparity between rich and poor more in a grating way than I do being a woman in a patriarchal world.

the mainstream parties are too reliant on male privilege for their very existence to be able to take on board feminist views to an extent that would make a difference