Reclaim The Night

[ArcheryAnnie]

Was anyone on this, and what were your impressions of it?

I used to go when it first started up again, and loved it. Can't get the babysitting, now, and DS has hit puberty with a vengeance so not appropriate to take him with me.

BUT in looking at the various social media threads today, it looks like this last one was a bit of a bunfight.

Some women marching with a banner and flyers saying the march should be women only.

Some other women throwing shit at them for being "transphobic".

Some bloke from the "Sex Workers University" circulating a piece saying "RTN not a safe space for sex workers" as some women on the march anti-porn and anti-prostitution. (Because it's a bloke's place to comment on RTN, obvs.)

And the comedian Kate Smurthwaite, who was compereing, getting it in the neck from all sides because she is anti-porn but pro-trans, and denounced the "the march should be women only" group from the stage. And following that up today by telling a bunch of lesbians who challenged this that they should "organise their own march" and "stay away" (and not replying to tweets which pointed out that those women had founded a march, and that march was RTN).

And the organisers of this one trying to stay above it all.

Jesus! I imagine that this is the sort of sit com scenario for like 50 years time when we have smashed the patriarchy and we no longer need to have an special one night a year only when women feel safe to be out after dark.

...that's actually cheered me up, Hazchem. I shall look at it like that!

Belfast one is at the end of the month and I noticed on the event post someone had asked if it was a trans event too and the organisers have replied all genders are welcome.

Women are not allowed any space to ourselves, are we?

It's Reclaim the Night for women . Why on earth would "all genders" even want to be there? So little respect for women's boundaries.

In the heady days of my youth when I was at a turning point politically of going down a socialist road rather then a feminist, it was the socialist group I was going to not supporting reclaim the night because it excluded men that turned me off socialism and towards feminism .

There is a good round up of images on gendertrender of the banners that the rad fems used. I fully agree that transviolence against women is being ignored and these is an uncomfortable push to open up women/penis free spaces to trans people including those with penis still firmly intact and with no intention of removing it. The thread a few weeks ago on trans and feminism was very illuminating for me.

RTN London has been women only (including trans women) since it was restarted in 2004. It's unclear to me why the anti-trans protestors picked this year to turn up with banners and then heckle the speakers at the rally.

I dislike the trend of women picketing or attacking one another's events. It achieves nothing beyond bad feeling.

"Women only (including trans women)" is an oxymoron.

I know that's the perspective the anti-trans protestors have, I just don't understand why it is a problem this year when it apparently wasn't for the previous 9 years, when the same criteria applied.

Hi Karma. It's probably because there appears to be an unprecedented push for Trans individuals to gain access to all-women spaces, especially in the US. I.e., convicted rapists & murderers declaring they are female and then demanding access to women's prisons. Many people who were otherwise agnostic towards the trans movement (including me!) are now firmly against trans people with penises coming anywhere near women-only spaces.

If that is happening - and I would want to be sure that it was actually increased occurrences rather than increased reporting - and happening in the UK where we have different legal provision - then I can entirely understand women putting pressure on politicians to amend the Equality Act 2010, or writing to the Ministry of Justice on the subject of prisons, or asking the various prisoners' charities to look into it, or any other action that will actually have some effect on the legal landscape - but turning up and protesting a feminist march, attacking other women's hard work, knowing that jabbing this particular wasps' nest could spell the end of their event? An event which, whether you agree with their attendance criteria or not, is one which remains much needed in the feminist calendar? It's easier than effecting a change in policy I suppose.

There are feminist events that don't sound like my cup of tea for a variety of reasons… I might write an article saying why I'm not going but I would never protest them and I would never call for a boycott of them, and I certainly wouldn't attend in order to heckle their speakers.

karma why does it matter if it is increased reporting? This is happening and the fact that we may not have been aware of it before doesn't mean we just shrug our shoulders and accept it. Unfortunately trans activists have been shutting down feminist events and no platforming women for several years. I can understand why some feminists want to make a stand for RTN as a women only space, in keeping with its original principles.

RTN was founded by Rad Fems and it always was intended to be a women's only march. Because it's not women who are the problem. It's people with penises, whether they are wearing a dress and taking hormones or not. Claiming to feel female does not entitle you to encroach on women's space. Born women are socialised to accept and allow men to decide what they can and can't do. So far rad fems are the only people pushing back against the "creep" of trans rights vs women's rights.

I think it's the "go and organise you own march" thing which has got my hackles up the most. Who does she think started the whole reclaim the night movements? Those discredited, awful, outdated second-wavers, that's who. (Along with the refuges, the rape crisis centres, the abortion rights movements and a whole lot else.)

When I went to reclaim the night there were men there. The male deputy mayor came.

When was that?

Last year in Portsmouth