Has anyone else just discovered that they are a RadFem?

[loveyouradvice]

I'd always thought of myself as a liberal feminist... yup, feminist to the core and ready to fight for women and girls where appropriate but not that knowledgeable - and happy to enjoy the fun of being a women (summer dresses, sexy flirting, beautiful bodies) while acknowledging the horrors (FGM, rape, systemic inequality)....

But who knew it.... It just takes the words Transwomen are men ... so very obvious to me on so many levels.... to turn me into a RadFem....

And I've moved from being happy to encounter the occasional Transwomen in the Ladies (in well-populated, chatty scenarios like clubs) ... treating us with respect and being treated with respect... to not wanting a Penis in any sex-segregated arena...to feel threatened by the incursion of men on "our" spaces....

to sleeping badly and wondering what kind of world we are developing for our DC where playing with the boundaries of gender stereotypes (like Boy George) is less acceptable and the blue/pink divide has become so much more entrenched and the almost automatic reaction to any gender dissatisfaction in the young is to explore whether they are trans, rather than their just questioning and exploring society and their role within it....

lasqurrl no idea how you misconstrued my comment when I clearly said they could open their own shelters.

Maybe next time clarify before you decide to have a go, particularly towards someone whose used those services.

I know this is perhaps going off topic of the original thread by continuing this theme of women's only crisis centres etc.

But, I did have an issue with using a rape crisis centre. I suffer from extreme anxiety and so I wished to take my DH along with me for support but as he was male he wasn't allowed in. As a result I missed out on that opportunity to use that space. I know my case is a one off and I do appreciate that men in these spaces will be distressing to other vulnerable women. Just, I found it hard that there wasn't a middle ground space.

This isn't to say I think crisis centres should be uni-sex, or whatever term, but that a thought to how these places could include all women with mental health issues like me. Or perhaps separate places could be set up or opportunities for the help on offer to be made available at a survivors home.

or opportunities for the help on offer to be made available at a survivors home.

That sounds like a good suggestion for both your situation and that of males whether trans identified or not.

I realised I was a Radical Feminist about 2 years ago when I was called a Feminazi (favourite term of abuse against women on a politics board I used to be on) for being pro-choice and against prostitution and porn.

There is actually a good article on the polarisation of the Metoo debate on the Guardian to-day (you see you can read the Guardian and still be a RadFem) where the author shows that liberal feminists believe women need to stand up for themselves and adopt male attitudes to get on and stop complaining. Whereas Radical Feminists believe women need to come together to fight the oppression of all men against them ie the idea that women's work should be paid less; that women should do all the work in the home; that women should look sexy - I mean, I love to look good and am quite vain but can anyone, anyone at all explain to me how a woman whose main claim to fame was an internet sex tape can claim to be a feminist icon???????

or opportunities for the help on offer to be made available at a survivors home

Not practical in DV, and puts DV workers at risk of harm. But even for rape crisis support, still could be risky for the support workers.

What stopped you getting telephone support?

There used to be an email service from a smaller rape and sexual violence charity...Lighthouse i think it was called based in London. I've always thought women need multiple different ways to access support. The charity was quite religious though I should also add.

Just saw this on Facebook (www.facebook.com/LiberalFeministAgenda/ ). 'Liberal feminism' apparently now means trans cult plus some weird stuff about Satanism and Communism?? These lib fems have totally lost the plot.

LaSqrrl no one told me that was possible. Well beyond the support line given by the police anyway, that support line never got in touch and when i asked the police for the number that said it was the support line who has to get in touch with me.

I think they may have told some porkies maybe?

Here is the DV support line and they will refer you on to others if need be.
I suspect the 'someone who will get in touch with you' was more likely to be CPS.

I never thought I’d be a radical anything. But lo and behold, my views do indeed align with radical feminism more than any other type. And the funny thing is that I don’t consider any of my views radical at all. I think they’re fairly sensible and obvious. Women don’t have penises. I’d have thought that wasn’t terribly out there as a statement. Women are oppressed as a result of their biology - again fairly obvious. Porn is not good for women. Society is set up to benefit men.

I’d always assumed that radical = burn the world down. That simply stating a few facts about biology and female oppression is seen as radical is quite an eye opener. I’m not quite forty but I think my feminism is more of an older generation and I do not identify with liberal feminism at all.

LaSqrrl thank you for that. I hate to think they were telling pokies considering how emotionally vulnerable I was during it all. Perhaps there was confusion considering it fell between 3 different police departments (the rape happened in 1 county, rapist lived in another and I lived in another?)

I'd say most, (but not all) of my woman friends have similar attitudes to mine. There are legion of RadFems out there. They just don't know it.