Second Shelf books, at it again

If anyone is interested, News from Nowhere is a proper book store run by a women's workers cooperative since 1974 in Liverpool. It does have a section for trans authors, but also one for women writers and actual feminism. Not the fun kind of feminism that appears to worship cocks, but the real kind that seeks to liberate women from the chains of patriarchy.

Solidarity, sisters. I would that we could free ebooks from the patriarchy and mental bounds of liberal feminism.
I bet she would sell more books if she didn't alienate her target customer base.

Our family has been associated with an independent leftist bookstore for the last couple of decades. This is NOT how you run an independent bookstore.

Your customers are your life blood, frankly, when you are in the independent business; only a fool decides to alienate potential segments of their customer base by explicitly telling them they are not welcome. Really poor business sense, imo.

When I sell a book, I am invested in SERVICE - what does the person in front of me need, how can I best meet that need, what is the absolute best effort I can make to match customer to text. I am not invested in applying slurs to a customer.

The ethos of the bookstore our family is associated with is that the free exchange of ideas through books is a very valuable thing. The shop is not remotely interested in censoring women. Guess the owners understand the true value of solidarity.

Side note - I've seen some American transwomen of the shouty on the internet variety attempting to appropriate the labrys, so that bit may have been on purpose.

I knew as soon as I wrote it that there would be MTF trans somewhere appropriating the labrys from radical lesbian feminists. They're so predictable. Why can't they stick to their pink and blue baseball bats with barbed wire wrapped around them (I'm sure ebooks would approve of that)

Still Mary Daly got there first. It's slap bang in the middle of the front cover of Gyn/Ecology. The slash is the handle of the labrys. The labrys belongs to women, nobody is taking it away from us.

Solidarity, Detroit. Good to hear from you.

drawn to other constructs of feminism

OK, like what? Aren’t you going to give us a reading list?

The disparaging looking down from a place of alleged intellectual superiority is all well and expected, but intellectualizing oneself out of reality is unsustainable.

Hence clicking their hight heels together three times chanting twaw twaw whenever they feel reality start to seep through the holes in their arguments.

Appealing to their empathy, compassion or decency seems to be an exercise in futility.

I'ld like to discuss the real world ramifications of your liberal feminism, ebooks? Or is talking to the likes of me beneath book people like you?

"My aeronautical engineering"

The correct shape for a plane is square. Square, I say! Also ideally made of solid iron.

Of course feminism isn’t good for men

I'm not sure I agree with this. I'd say many aspects of feminism are good for men, but that is incidental, not the purpose of feminism.

As for being book people, well I'm a professional book person. I don't just read books, usually three or four a week, but buy them, in bulk, for others to borrow.

In my professional experience 'woke' books are deeply unpopular. The public reject them whole heartedly in favour of the latest Nora Roberts, James Patterson, book on military history. Soz wokesters but you just aren't writing what people want to read.

Kittens how about “my” chemistry? That could certainly land us interesting places.

Side note - I've seen some American transwomen of the shouty on the internet variety attempting to appropriate the labrys, so that bit may have been on purpose.

I think ebooks definitely thinks we don't read books.

Maybe just a Judith Krantz from time to time?

If we did read books I don't think we would read them as s/he does. We'd probably get distracted by having to eviscerate a fellow wafty ephemeral book person on Twatter.

I hope you've bought large book shelves, you'll need them to store all those feminism ebooks you know nothing about.

I thought "book people" meant other book sellers, but reading the post again, maybe not.

Does ebooks think we don't read books? That's quite funny when we've discovered the massive gap in her feminist bookshelf.

I wasn't picking up on your erudition, ebooks. Just your bizarre way of speaking online that is not unlike a certain Twitter feed already mentioned here.

We the book people are very important and most superior to you the unread terfy masses!

Re "my feminism", I want to try this with the sciences. Obviously "my biology" is already well represented in TRA circles so perhaps it's time for "my physics".

Oh yeah I got that kittens. I just thought it was really funny given that The Book People are the binary opposite of an up-its-own-arse independent in Soho.

And it reminded me both of the pompous tweeting style of the owner but also of Linda and her five year old foray into the world of the one page sentence that is Dickens.

I never hear people talk about “my” socialism. I never hear anyone say socialism is good for everyone and needs to include capitalists.

I don’t know why the “my feminism” people treat feminism like their own person vision quest or a Goop self-care routine, when it’s a political theory and practice as old as, and as worked out as, socialism.

Of course feminism isn’t good for men — that’s why they fight it so hard. Power is zero sum, as is the distribution of real, material assets. It’s childish to imagine otherwise.

Any woman free to leave a marriage with half the household assets has gained something at the expense.of her husband: his right to prevent her doing so and to maintain control over all assets.

Now, ebooks : consider the implications of that shift in power and control away from men in all arenas of life. And look up the meaning of the word “backlash,” because you’re giving cover for it.

While you’re reading the Second Wave, you might also investigate the roots of the postmodernism that is the predicate theory for the contemporary liberal feminism and genderism you espouse — you’ll find some very ugly soil it grew from some very dirty water nurturing it.
Postmodernism IS the backlash to the left, including left-wing feminism.

Detroit.

I hope you are keeping well and wish fervently you find a safe place to sleep as the weather grows colder.

I suspect that bit was meant to imply that the rest of us are not book people. Nothing like a bit of snobbery to really win people over.

Well that was weird. Especially the bit about 'genuine book people'. Do you think she means she is The Book People? If so I need one of those packs of 25 Winnie the Witch stories @ £10 (rrp £99.99) for some party bags.

The last time I saw someone get that up themselves about works of literary fiction it was Linda Riley telling us she'd won a prize aged 5 for reading Dickens .

I wonder if ebooks thinks lesbians who are actually lesbians, and don't willingly do dick, are transphobic if they refuse a transwoman?

Where they stand on surrogacy?

How about prostitution and porn?

Do they have opinions on anything other than female erasure being a good thing and only equal and fair?

You do realise that you're going to have to read those books now ebooks, so you don't get caught out by another rad fem asking you difficult questions. Do read them, they were written for you.

Another amusing thing is that ebooks posted a piccie of her favourite feminist bookshop (imaginary), which I missed the first time.

At the end of one of the bookshelves is a labrys. Do you know what a labrys is ebooks? Of course you do, you're an expert. For anybody else who doesn't, it's the symbol of radical lesbian feminism. Very, very terfy. All over twitter as a symbol rad fems use. Featured on the front cover of Gyn/Ecology which obviously ebooks has read. Wielded by Amazons and women warriors:

findinglesbians.blogspot.com/2013/08/labrys-tool-of-lesbian-feminism.html

As ebooks is an expert she can't have posted it mistakenly, so I reckon she secretly ebooks would like to join the gang.

Detroit 💐💐💐

I think it’s important to remember that Second Shelf didn’t just proclaim a pro-trans-identified-male philosophy and stocklist (odd for a feminist bookshop but whatever...) but also deliberately insulted, mocked and derided their customers who asked very valid questions.

I'm not renowned for my straight answers.

No, eBooks, I’m sure you aren’t.

And now you’ve shown us all just how “queer” and “edgy” you are, I’m still wondering if you’re ever going to give an honest, truthful answer to my question:

Are you now saying you disagree with the OED definition of feminism? The one you said you were fighting for?

Or was that a rather pitiful attempt to deflect attention away from the fact you can’t answer it, because you know but don’t want to admit that feminism is indeed for and about those of the female sex?