Is this really a feminist board?

[GaspingShark]

I am a crap feminist. I haven't read a single book on the subject. Not De Beauvoir, not Greer, not Butler. The reasons for that are to do with a disability that I'd rather not go into, but I am a woman with a brain, and the Republic of Ireland is having a referendum on repealing the 8th this week. There it is, look, thirty threads down. And this "Feminism and Women's Rights" board's primary concern seems to be "What it will really take the peak trans the world?"

So I'm asking you, because I genuinely, honestly, cross my heart and hope to die, believe you are all better read and/or have more experience and/or more knowledge of being a woman than I do.

Doesn't that bother you? Doesn't it bother you that, four days away from the repeal vote, there's one thread on that in the bottom third of a fifty-thread page, and two or three dozen trans-related threads covering everything from Amnesty International to Jordan Peterson to exactly what Munroe Bergdorf told Venice Allan? Does it give you any pause for thought?

I don't know why op is getting a hard time. Asked a question which is fair enough. Why do some people take it personally offensive.

Transplant, or UKexit as I call it😂😂

I didn’t see any repeal the 8th thread. This one came up on active. I don’t go on the feminism board anymore unfortunately, so I only see what’s in active.

Wait what? So you're having a go at us for not talking about it, but you don't even know if we have talked about it, because you don't come here?

I just thought it was laughable how once again Northern Ireland is completely forgotten to exist in the UK.

It's not, and again, if you ever came to the feminism boards, you'd know that we've spoken about it in the past

OK, so what happens down south will affect up north - perhaps come and talk to us about that then, because, again, I don't even live in the UK, and have never lived in Ireland or NI, so I don't know anything but what I read here and see on the news.

X post. That was to melody

BTW I sighed because if you read people's posts you'll see why they are annoyed at the OP. It's explained quite well.

I know this OP from a lesbian message board and ironically they have not raised the Irish Abortion issue there. Not started a single thread.

The OP has however supported trans rights for pages on the recent thread I started there about lesbians and the cotton ceiling.
Its also disingenuous to suggest that they aren't well read because they are virtually the most well thread person on that board.
I find this deliberate goading and poking at MN posters designed to get a rise.

Now isn't that interesting? Not surprising for those who've interacted with Gasping before, but useful information for lurkers to have.

Not long ago there was a long thread about young men wanting to choke their sexual partners and the ways in which porn is influencing that. Didn't see Gasping at all on that thread, nor have I in any other discussion about porn and the harm it's doing to young women and girls. Almost as if they're not all that interested if there's no opportunity to tell women off for not having the correct attitude to trans issues, no matter how great the harm to women and girls as a group or how valid the issue from a feminist perspective. Presidents Club thread? Various recent threads about rape? Not a peep from Gasping as far as I recall.

The truth is OP was goading and pushing us into feeling obliged to give explanations and reasons. Nearly fell into it myself (still shaking off a lifetime of conditioning). OP chose not to go on the relevant thread at all, chose not to make this thread a relevant one. Instead, chose to make a kind of "call yourselves feminists?" post. Sick to death of this type of behaviour!

They are interesting in silencing women, that's all.

MRA's do the same, always telling you you're not doing feministing right, focusing on the right group. Just misogyny is all.

seahorses

You inspired my username., BTW

It simply not true that NI is forgotten on this Board. It’s not even forgotten in the current Repeal the 8th thread, that has been going on for days,

NI women are mentioned, even though the topic of the thread is clearly RoI, who have a truly fucking momentous vote coming up for women’s rights which is the thread topic.

(It really would be OK just to discuss the Repeal topic at this time... ) but actually we have also talked about what pro choice actions from people in UK might be helpful to the Repeal campaign or not.

We also talked about pro choice actions people can take that would be relevant to UK women including those in NI and Irish women who have travelled.

Like writing to their MP to advocate for the extension of 1967 Abortion Act to cover Northern Ireland. And acting on the current sticky from MN about Sajid Javid and buffer zones in Britain to stop anti choice people harassing women accessing abortion information, treatment and emotional support. Which would include Irish (and Northern Irish) women, who have been forced to travel to Britain to access an abortion.

I’ve been able to find these discussions just by reading. But then I have given myself an unfair advantage in that I do go to the Feminism and Women’s Rights Board when
I want to read and talk about feminist stuff, rather than wait to see what comes up on Active from a bajillion other users talking about anything they feel like.

Waiting for stuff to come up in active doesn't seem like the most efficient method of finding threads you might be interested in. I mean, there is a search function if you can't be arsed to click over to a section and scroll through occassionally.

How does this "shouting down" happen?

There are constant vociferous denials that there is any transphobia involved, claiming that no-one has any concerns with post-operative trans women whatsoever, just self identification. Then, every so often, people can't hide their feelings and become vicious about post operative transwomen. Inevitably, those threads get zapped. And subsequently, if you dare to cite them as evidence of transphobia, you get responses denying that such threads ever existed and sneering because there isn't any evidence.

Why are you talking about threads to do with trans activism? The complaint was about threads on other topics being shouted down. I can't think of an example of that actually happening here.

This is just bizarre - people telling us off for not talking about things, whilst not talking about those things themselves, or not even checking to see if we do talk about those things, then more people telling us off for talking about other things which are completely unrelated.

Is this what we need? A thread like a complaints box where people can post their wierd and wonderful problems with the FWR section, and someone can wander in every once in a while to respond?

Then, every so often, people can't hide their feelings and become vicious about post operative transwomen Have never seen anyone becoming "vicious" apart from tra's, so here's another "vociferous denial" of transphobia.

Complaints box sounds like an excellent idea, think of all the entertaining messages the Midnight Misogynist would leave us there!

Transplants:
This is comedy gold. Being told what to do and how to thin by people who can't be arse to post on a thread about which they themselves feel passionate

It is comedy gold, but not so new unfortunately. Teh Menz have been telling us for a very long time how to do 'feminism right'. The latest installment is from the libfem brigade, who want to uphold men's rights (same shit, just a different hand wringer).

It is more telling that most of the supporters of this thread, including the OP it seems, did not bother to engage on the other 'repeal the 8th' threads. Why is that? Especially when many of them have a history of posting of pro-trans. I did not engage on those threads due to geography, and therefore pointless. Many brit-fems did not engage because this is down to a vote, and they cannot vote, just lend a bit of moral support.

Single-issue libfems constantly scold radfems for not devoting 100% to their chosen issue. There are maybe like, 500 radfems worldwide, and thousands upon thousands of libfems. Yet they never scold the thousands of libfems not supporting them. Again, why is that? Oh yes, you got your cue from your male handlers, just try and derail radfems from pointing out where the critical issues are.

Frankly, the libfems mistake the radfems for employees.
No, we are not.

This is just bizarre - people telling us off for not talking about things, whilst not talking about those things themselves, or not even checking to see if we do talk about those things, then more people telling us off for talking about other things which are completely unrelated.

Unfortunately, that is the state of play, Disturbingly.

Fortunately, we are a bit too clever to fall for it. Old trick and all.

In answer to the OP title question "is this a feminist board?"

Why, yes it is!
Just not a men's rights board.
Not sure how anyone can get confused, tbh.

"500 radfems worldwide"? Hope there's more than that or we've had it!

Is it that you want me to care LESS about the erosion of the rights of the 33 million people-born-with-XX chromosomes-and-ovaries in THIS country?

That would be yes, and is the entire reason for this thread.

Far more than 500 :)

Like most other anti-GC rhetoric it's borrowed from the US, the Tumblr/Twitter pro-TRA part thereof specifically. It makes even less sense when they attempt to paste it onto the UK, a very different country politically.

Yes. It's like the list of buzz phrases Party Central gives you when you do grassroots door knocking - get these across at all costs. No matter that they don't actually apply.

But as a general ideology - gender identity/queer/transgender theory is hyper-individualised and promotes the commodification of self, so is also ultra-capitalist. As such, it's a right wing, neoliberal ideology - and of course, that's why it has elite/institutional support.

The problem is that its adherents also identify as good and virtuous and marginalised and these things are more associated with the left wing than the right wing. Ergo, they all identify as left wing with enemies who must therefore be right wing. And since identification is all that matters, their identification trumps the actual principles of political theory.

And that's how we get to believing that second wave feminists embrace an alt-right ideology.

The alt-right is known for its loving embrace of lesbian separatists, right?

langcleg thanks - I still have much to learn! Post truth society indeed.

Here’s a question: how can we move away from identity politics? Is it even possible in today’s climate? What would it take?

I have a horrible feeling that the answer is “some massive catastrophe.” :(

Has any shift away from identity politics ever been done peacefully with no disaster trigger?