Feminist Fightback

[ladyballs]

FF has announced on Facebook that they're now supporting transwomen as there is so much transmisogyny in the media. Illustrated with a meme exhorting women to support their sisters, not just cisters.

Ffs.

Ooh in what part of history is feminism all about men? Please tell us?

lol, read up on your history. Feminism isn't about women alone @ladyballs**

Eh? Feminism is about liberating women from oppression. And it's not cats who oppress women. It's men.

in the character of Charlotte Lucas for example, (Elizabeth Bennett's friend in Pride and Prejudice: "...I'm not romantic you know - I never was.."

Surely Charlotte was saying she needed to get married and didn't have the luxury of indulging romantic thoughts of love. Not that she didn't understand it or couldn't feel it. She was glad to be married, despite the fact that she thought he was a bit of a twit.

Because a woman without a husband had no hope of independence.

I really have no idea where this version of feminism has come from.

Taking men into account in all the things that affect women. As though men are mere bystanders to it all and not the actual reason for it!

The only fem part of it is it's of course only down to women to fix it.

There are a vanishingly small number of men who fight for women's rights. The only men who want to be included in feminism are transwomen who want validation.

No it wasn't.

Good grief.

Well, if that's your reaction to pointing out that she is an aromantic character, you will love my theory on how she can be read as asexual too.

The clue's in the name 'feminism' @salmon

Feminism, the political movement for the liberation of women, isn't about women alone? Srsly? You are taking the piss aren't you?

Good.

Maybe eventually you'll stop being trans exclusionary - it must be exhausting freaking out over imaginary bathroom problems all the time. 🙄

Oh look a man has come along to tell us that we're being silly. Quick girlies put on your lipstick! Of course you're probably not doing it right and need a good TIM to tell you how to do it properly. 😒

Newsflash.

And "bathroom problems"? An American cousin perchance?

The only men who want to be included in feminism are transwomen who want validation.

I got told by DD1 that I should not refer to myself as a feminist ally because I am against the GRA in its current form and advocate for penis free spaces. Apparently this makes me transphobic and her FUCKING FURIOUS. I sent her a few links gleaned from here and she shut up. I don't think she's changed her mind, but at least I've given her something to read and think about.

I read this section a lot, and it's taught me loads, for which I am grateful. I rarely post here because not my place, but I felt I had to to rebut @Datun's comment quoted above. I know I haven't done enough to help, but I will step up in the future.

I am prepared to have my arse handed to me, and if that happens will take it gracefully, but I will always be on your side, because the dismantling of the patriarchy also benefits me.

Feminists are not trans exclusionary, BCG. Just male exclusionary.

Yawn. Change the record already.

P.S I’m definitely not American, Yorkshire based, have my own uterus, and fed up to the back teeth of bullshit like this. No I don’t ID as a woman, but then you lot like to hate on folks like me too so I’m sure it’ll be met with usual derision. You need to get over yourselves, you’re an embarrassment to intersectional feminism.

Battle Intersectional feminism is a notion made from a misrepresentation of a famous quote. I tend to identify as a radfem anyway.

I can’t speak for everyone else, but not identifying as your given sex is absolutely fine by me, gender is bullshit anyway - live how you want. Are you now a man? Do you believe you understand the socialisation of men from birth because of your own experience? Do you believe you should have your prostate checked?

Wow. That's a lot of deeply personal questions right off the bat.

I don't believe in a gender binary, never have, never will. From the age of ten, I knew I wasn't like other girls, and I also knew I wasn't like boys. I am me, whatever that is. I am forty years old and spent thirty years of my life thinking I was a weird freak who felt like both binary genders, until I was thirty-six years old and discovered thousands of people like me. I cried my damned soul out that day, finding folks who were just like me made me realise I wasn't broken.

You know what did make me feel broken? Being harassed by radical feminists telling me I was mentally ill and that there are only male and female. Being harassed by the same during my time as a sexworker, to keep food on my table, because as much as I don't believe in a gender binary, I am very much femme presenting which means I get horribly dysphoric when I can't appear neutral. Being told I was a traitor to my gender and denied agency as a non-binary person for A.) not ID-ing as a woman, and B.) being a sexworker, being harassed for it and being told I deserve to die etc, THAT helped push me to the edge of suicide towards the end of 2014. I wanted to die to make it all stop. I wanted to die because I felt like a shell and not a person.

I understand the ins and outs of male socialisation not because I ID as one, because I don't, but because in a world where I'm not a straight white man, you have to learn to understand what it entails. I can never truly understand what it means to be a straight white bloke absorbed in hegemonic masculinity and the bullshit surrounding it, but I sure as hell understand what it feels like to be looked upon on as less than human. Radical feminism made sure of that, right next to patriarchal oppression.

I have to fight every single day just to feel like I'm a worthy human being. It's difficult to do that when people loathe you.

‘I knew I wasn’t like other girls’ - congratulations, so like every other girl then? You know, because every single human being has a different personality?

battle I'm sorry you've had a tough time it sounds like you haven't had the support you need.

Would it help you to consider that the majority of women and girls feel similarly? That many of us just feel like ourselves rather than, specifically, a woman.

Personally I have no idea what it feels like to be a woman. I know that am one because I've birthed children and sex is immutable. But my personality is not defined by my sex. Nor can my sex be defined by my personality.

Battle I too have felt at odds with my sex. I feel most powerful when I do things that are not typically female, driving a truck, using power tool, lighting a fire. I also love colour and sparkles and knitting. Yet I know I’m a woman as I have periods and breasts have had children

I am a radical feminist. There is nothing in radical feminism that says it's OK to harass sex workers or "loathe" people who are gender non conforming. Rather the opposite.

I would be very interested to know where and how this harassment takes place.

"Battle I too have felt at odds with my sex. I feel most powerful when I do things that are not typically female, driving a truck, using power tool, lighting a fire."

Surely that is not feeling at odds with your sex. It's feeling at odds with ludicrous societal expectations of your sex. Fighting those expectations is a fundamental tenet of feminism.

Feminist Fightback are allied to one of the socailist organisations. I can't remember which one.
Back in the day they used to be quite good. Decent conferences, demos on bread and butter womens issues, solidarity work with women in homeless acoomodation, women asylum seekers etc. Decent understanding of how race and class interact with womens oppression.
I'm not surprised they are coming out with "trans women are women". They will be under a lot of pressure to take this line. If they were to examine it critically their organisation would be attacked by others on the left. They might be chucked off demos, have their stall attacked at conferences. They wouldn't be able to promote their activities on facebook without a massive pile on.
Generally it would become very difficult for them to carry on any of their normal activities of activism, without getting hopelessly mired in the trans issue to the exclusion of anything else.
Trans activism in its current form runs completely counter to materialism, of course, which as socialists they presumably believe in. They either don't recognise the contradiction or (most likley) they don't feel able to examine it.

Yes Bertrand but at 17 I didn’t really get that. The shaved headed, steel capped wearing, pink car driving girl didn’t quite understand the difference between sex and gender. I do now, or think I do. I’m as comfortable in myself digging a whole or choosing sparkle nail polish because they are the things I like.

ICJump.

That’s why feminists put up with the derision and mockery that comes their way when they challenge gender stereotyping in children’s clothes, toys and activities.