Has anyone else just discovered that they are a RadFem?

Also a rad fem.... Analysing my more liberal past stance, I can see it was a mixture of A) not really thinking about the issues in depth despite having a ton of shit happen to me and B) ingrained man-pleasing. In fact I kind of view A and B as a vicious cycle.

if men were brought up to pull their weight at home and everyone respected the work that women traditionally do outside of earning money, life could look very different.

Yes THIS

I've been thinking for so long that child-rearing status and traditional, caring 'womens roles' should be raised up so that men want to stay home with children.

TBH I don't know if I'm a radfem because I'd still consider myself a socialist first. I love the radfem anaylysis that applies marxism to the female body (i.e. women are the proletariat and their bodies are the factory and patriarchy skims off the excess profits-kids) But I don't believe that men are always the oppressor, put simply - "do tramps have male privilege?" Does this mean I;m not a radical feminist> I hope not!

I think we should stop talking about 2nd wave, 3rd wave feminism and just talk about feminism. These categories are the break between generations that keep women divided. i.e. Ash Shankar last night being sneering about GG because she's an 'old crone.'

It's not just traditional men that get it. My OH is very right on & left wing. And he totally gets it. Like me, he might have labelled himself liberal before, but hadn't fully thought self ID through.

He'd now be the first to admit it was his male privilege that allowed him not to see the full implications for self ID initially. He's totally without ego though, which perhaps helps with the "getting it" part?

"Liberal feminism is an effort to negotiate and compromise women's rights, so I would say not feminism at all."

This

Over the last few years my feelings about the oppression of women by men have grown stronger. I think as I've got older, things which in the past I would have laughed off, are now unacceptable to me. I feel like I've been walking round with my eyes shut all these years.

And I'm grateful to Mumsnet posters
for raising awareness of he issue around transgender, as without the feminism board, I'd still be ignorant to what's going on.

I'm so upset about the men who are enabling this BS and so gleefully ignoring all our concerns DJLippy - I think the liberal men are more outspoken about these things and are not helping at all.

Our allies are probably the more traditional men like my DP - he’s the last person I expected to really ‘get it’. He’s a real ‘pink for girls, blue for boys’ type but seeing that this shit is the logical conclusion of that type of thinking has really made him listen.

He watched the Genderquake debate with me last night, saying he’d give it 10 minutes and then we’d find something else, but ended up watching it all. He’s been discussing it with workmates and family. He’s happy to call the “women have penises too, deal with it” brigade deluded twats and say they should all be put out of their misery, but also talks more eloquently about it having heard about it all from me! I think the more regular blokes we can get involved the more the patriarchy can actually work in our favour for once!

I’m another one who has realised recently that I’m a radfem - having watched Peach Yogurt’s description of it, that ‘radical’ is about changing things from the root, not being extreme, it makes sense.

Women’s biology isn’t going anywhere - and as the inequalities in the workplace come from the expectation that we will bear children and take time out of work to care for them - we need to address that from the ROOT. If society were set up so that women weren’t disadvantaged by having children the whole thing could be different. If workplace crèches, private rooms for pumping/fridges etc were readily available, if men were brought up to pull their weight at home and everyone respected the work that women traditionally do outside of earning money, life could look very different.

I saw what we call "liberal feminism" or "sex positive feminism" being invented by the corporate media during the early backlash years.
If you wanted to do more than write the quarterly antifeminist article about women opting out of education or the work force you had to put a sexy spin on your "can women have it all" article. So they did what was required to have a career in journalism as a professional feminist.
Basically they adopted the individualism of post modernism and punched down instead of punching up.
It was painful to watch.
When people say that Radical Feminism is old fashioned "second wave" feminism they are right up to a point. Liberal feminism is an effort to negotiate and compromise women's rights, so I would say not feminism at all.

I think it was after my daughter was born. I read one of the threads about trans. And then I saw it everywhere. Gender replacing sex, women being treated badly, the drip drip effect of every day sexism. And the handmaidens. They are the most difficult part.
What also makes me sad is that no man will ever fight for women, rare is the man who will speak out. It's always women having difficult conversations, saying unpopular things.

I didn’t really realise I was a radfem until about three years ago, though I now see that I have been getting more radical for years. Liberal feminism is a young woman’s game -it makes sense when you feel powerful as a result of your youthful attractiveness. Once that goes (or you stop caring about it), the scales fall off your eyes and you see the structural inequality.

Also agree that libfem is a middle class, privileged thing.

I am a white upperclass priviledged woman, who happens to have two daughter and a career in a male dominated environment. I will fight to support other women in that environment. These are mainly younger women, often asian and lower class. Being in my position I can kick male butt and pave the way and I will. If I can do that I can also do my little bit for my daughters to do whatever they want. And let's be honest, it is minimal risk to myself but hopefully big opportunity for others.

Does that make me a radical feminist? Probably not, but replying to TRA's on twitter probably does...

Absolutely.

Terf is the new Suffragette

Yes, I've come to the same realisation this year and now get angry almost daily at the shite I'm expected to agree and go along with. No more. Call me a terf, I couldn't give a damn.

I think of liberal feminism and the sort of feminism men like. They can still watch porn and use prostitutes and expect women to be all shiny and polished and don't have to face any tricky questions about structural inequality. And they can still laugh at all us hairy rads with our dungarees and smouldering (not in a good way) bras.

Ah, welcome! Wait until you start in on the anti-prostitution too. #radfem

The more i read about liberal feminism the more i think it is a type if feminism that only works if you are a cossetted middle class / privileged female
yesyesyes!

@SluttyButty You spoke really well - I think many people would agree with that. Speak out more - being an ill-informed gobshite doesn't ever stop me speaking!

@LookMoreCloselier
I genuinely believe the trans debate will lead to the re-birth of feminism. I've been radicalised. I bet more women have. I didn't know how much men hated us. IMO #PeakTrans should actually read #PeakPatriarchy. I'm so upset about the men who are enabling this BS and so gleefully ignoring all our concerns

As my son grew older I began to really see the way young men view and treat young women - in a way I couldn't when I was a young women myself. I also started to understand how capitalism exploits and monetises women in just about every area of life.

But I only realised I was a radfem several months ago when my beautiful lesbian daughter got swallowed up by the trans cult.

spareribfem and me!

I realised it when reading the boards on here and found there was a name to go with my thinking. I've done courses with the ou on social sciences a few years ago and that's what set my mind thinking about it.

However I'm not as eloquent as most of you hence rarely comment on threads. I do however read as much as I can to educate myself better. See I've waffled on this post.

The more i read about liberal feminism the more i think it is a type if feminism that only works if you are a cossetted middle class / privileged female

God that's so true.

Oh yes. Right around the time I thought, “Oh FFS another trans thread” and then I read it, then read more, and more and suddenly I got really fucking angry about how women were persistently and deliberately (in no particular order) overlooked, abused, shouted over, overburdened with wifework and caring responsibilities, raped, stalked, harassed and killed. All of this done to women by men (NAMALT obvs although that pisses me off to have to say it). And I thought, fuck that. Yes. I understand now. I’m a radfem.

Yeah I am feeling like we are taking a step back with all this stuff, since the definition of gender is the state of being male or female from a social and cultural point of view. So what does it mean socially and culturally to be a woman - to wear a dress? make up? enjoy romcoms?
Perhaps I am actually a man as I like beer and I dislike shopping. I thought feminism meant that we could do whatever we wanted, male or female and be equal, we don't want to be conditioned into these social and cultural norms so what does someone actually MEAN when they say they feel like a woman when they biologically are not one? And what does it matter anyway?

Yes, very recently - about a month ago when I discovered this board on MN!

"and happy to enjoy the fun of being a women (summer dresses, sexy flirting, beautiful bodies) "

You can do all that and still be a radical feminist!