FemiFest

[FloraFox]

www.femifest2014.com

Anyone going? I'm thinking about it.

Kim, I don't see you as part of the transactivist rabble. trans people are not a homogeneous mass any more than radfems are. I don't have to agree with every statement you make in order to be broadly supportive of you, nor do I have to agree with anything Cath Brennan et al says in order to be broadly supportive of them.

My major problem with the whole trans*/TERF thing is that it is being co-opted by men, men who think that silencing women and in particular feminists is a GOOD THING. I know that that is going to make me look like a TERF, and if so, then I will own it.

No, I've read some of her stuff. Her older stuff was actually fairly supportive of trans*women, she agreed that they were women at first. Her views changed rapidly though when she constantly got attacked for saying that people with penises should probably be barred from women's prisons and changing rooms.

The people she outed iirc, had spent a goodly time harassing her and calling her a TERF before she finally got pissed off enough to do that. I don't condone what she did, but I can see why she did it.

The whole TERF 'thing' is a total godsend for MRAs and other misogynistic dickheads really. Not only do they get to shout at feminists, but they get to look like the good guys! However, make no mistake, they either a) hate you too, or b) think that trans*women are men.

zeeblebum.wordpress.com/2014/08/02/man-feminist-misogynist-my-confession/ This, by a man, is interesting. I agree, CaptChaos - it's a great way to tell feminist women off.

Long-time lurker here, just delurking to say this thread is 209 posts in; do you think at some point the conversation may turn to actually focus on the conference or is it going to continue to be hijacked by the trans issue?

And trans activists wonder why women born and raised as women would like their own space every now and then...

Hah yeah my thoughts exactly

If anyone has any questions about the conference, I am happy to answer them.

Karen Straughan, a leading MRA, has said that many of the MRAs are trans women.

I don't know why we are still talking about trans activists and MRAs as if they are separate groups.

Buffy, Flora, WhentheRed, ArcheryAnnie, Seven and NormaStanlyFletcher have all talked about the conference. I'm pretty sure they are feminists. It did get derailed, as these threads always do into a Trans* discussion though, I'll give you that.

The second day of the conference looks really interesting, I'd be particularly interested to hear Karen Ingala Smith and Rachel Moran speak, is it possible to only get tickets for the second day femin ?

Who do you mean, kim? I've seen lots of these names on other threads and I don't even go here hang out in this topic loads or anything. I just pasted a few names into the search and they all had posted on other threads in feminism on the first page.

I think it would be better to say specific names or not at all, really. Vague insinuations can't be dealt with sensibly and open heartedly.

The tickets are sold for two days. But as there is an option to give what you can afford on the eventbrite site, you could buy a ticket and only pay for one day.

I have never heard Karen Ingala Smith give a talk, but I have heard Rachel Moran, and she is a very powerful speaker.

Thanks femin will see if I can get back down to London and then buy the tickets.

I would really love to hear Karen Ingala Smith speak. What she is doing with regard to VAWG is so important and brilliant.

I really admire women like her, who take the initiative to tackle a very real issue. In spite of so many women being murdered every year by men, the issue is still not taken seriously.

It's not as though folk might feel they have to namechange given the stigma attached to certain points of view or anything.

Well, who? I mean...no, I just mean: who? Why are you being so vague? I don't understand the purpose of what you're saying. If you've got good evidence that Poster11 or whoever mainly posts on trans threads you could say that. You don't need to draw any unwarranted conclusions. It's not a personal attack, is it? It's a factual statement and it might be useful to other people when evaluating people's position and biases. Or it might not be useful. But it would at least be true and clear to everyone.

But this saying-but-not-saying thing is not useful. It makes me feel guilty and accused but unable to defend myself. Sort of in the way that I always felt weirdly guilty when asked who had, I don't know, vandalised the vending machine. I knew I hadn't done it, but I still felt super guilty and uncomfortable! Do you know what I mean? You've experienced that too, right?

Karen is unusual in the women's sector in taking such a brave stance on naming male violence against women.

Oh cross post. Thanks!