Radical lesbian separatists

A secret group on Facebook and the admins said you don't understand the analysis?

I'd leave the secret group if I were you.

Forthwith

We don't understand the analysis......apparently.....

Who told you that?
Genuine question.

I’ve been thinking about this a bit. I think that heterosexuality is partly why there is such little progress in terms of equality because men inevitably see women in sexual terms and vice versa. Therefore, there will always be a huge group of women desperate to prove that they are not man-haters and will do everything they can to be anti-feminist. So the movement will never attract all or even remotely close to a majority of women. Most of the ones who say they are feminist now mean it in only the loosest sense. For that reason, I think it is much harder for women to gain real equality and to be centred than e.g. in the fight against racism. You don’t tend to get loads of black people clamouring to say that actually white people are superior and that they love and embrace their mistreatment.

I have absolutely zero idea how this could be addressed though. For lesbians, separatism is a heck of a lot easier than for heterosexual women so it really is asking a lot to ask het women to give up relationships for life and that’s why it will never be successful as a strategy.

Are you mistaking lesbians with misandrists?

Lesbians don't hate men, they just don't want to fuck them

I'm a hetero radfem, never heard or experienced this.

Yes Radical Femists and Reviolutionary Feminists were there and arguing about these issues back then...there was even a song about whether we could ever be friends. We are all still here and still speaking out and mostly getting along just fine, although in the current climate things could be better for all women...

stumledin Radical Feminism was indeed a term used 30 years ago. I still have this book published in the 80s with chapter headings about different strands of feminism.

This has come up before. So first of all as has been said before most radfem groups on facebook are about little more than the personal views of those on it. They dont speak for anyone else. And some of them are fairly toxic.

RadFem did not exist 30 years ago. Current Rad Fem has far more to do with what was called Revolutionary Feminism. The difference between that and Radical Feminism is that Rev Fems were anti men, Radical Feminists were pro women.

So for this reason in the past Radical Feminists would often have an additional label eg Radical Feminist Socialist, or Radical Feminist Lesbian, or even Radical Feminist Lesbian Separatist.

And as one answer to your question about there were even Radical Feminist Celibates.

Polical lesbianism was as much about heterosexual women being prepared to challenge heterosexual men's assumption that all women were sexually available to them. So wearing a badge saying Lesbian was telling men dont make assumptions.

Radical feminism is about your feminist practice. ie what do you actually do that reinforces your feminism.

You are just as much a radical feminist if you join or support a local group of young mums and help them say campaigning against council cuts, or probably more so than anyone sitting on facebook standing of a soapbox.

If what unites you is what you have in commons with other women than you are a radical feminist. Being against men doesn't necessarily make you a feminist, and is some cases makes you a lesbian chauvanist!

And before anyone jumps in and says I am wrong I am basing it on having been a radical feminist lesbian separatist for over 40 years ie it is my lived experience not the posturing of keyboard feminism.

It's a view that, as those of you who know their feminist hi(er)story will be aware, has a fairly established provenance in radical feminism, notably with the Love Your Enemy essay. (By the way I'm using the term Rad Fem in the way it would have been understood 30 odd years ago, which is different to today's usage I think. And some lesbians did feel it informed their life and choices, eg Julie Bindel- https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/jan/30/women-gayrights

What Facebook forum are you referring to?

I’ve not come across any radical feminist lesbians telling me that sexuality is a choice, and I hang out with a lot.

Political lesbianism has been around for donkeys years and has always been contentious.

langcleg or perhaps the OP has just name changed (as I just have). Why does it matter?

Welcome to Mumsnet. Interesting, if contentious, first post.

Where's this happening? You're a bit vague.

Of course it’s not a choice, I could never, ever, force myself to be intimate with another Woman, I’m not attracted to women in any way shape or form.
Sounds like the Radical lesbian feminists you speak of are every bit as delusional and cultish as TRAs and MRAs.

Thoughts...?

Im not a utopian and i never thought i was a radical feminist until my views got labelled as radical feminism by others (ie thinking that women are a definable category). I often find i disagree with some strands in classic rad fem works written by traumatised women in their 20s emerging from abusive households (cf The Female Eunuch and The Dialectic of Sex). I do think sexuality is more fluid than i used to, so there is never an excuse for saying 'that's just how i am' if you act out sexual feelings that involve abuse of others. However, being physically attracted to men is not abusive either of yourself, the men or society. Accepting yourself is important before requiring change i think.

Can’t say I’ve seen that here. Lots of discussion about whether fabfems (more commonly known as political lesbians) should call themselves lesbian, but nobody trying to enforce anybody’s sexuality.