A celebration of Feminism - as a female what has it meant for you?

[FabricLiveBaby!]

It was a rhetorical question. To point out how daft Gaia's suggestion that "TERFs aren't feminists" is; they are, by definition.

I've seen on social media the preffered term is FARTs now (Feminist Appropriating Radical Transphobe),apparently.

It's like being back at school. "Scabby Speccy Boffin 4 Eyed Loser", "Try-hard Educated Random Freak"

Fuckin Sad. From adults n all.

But then we all know how Post Modernists and liberals like to play with language in order to be "liberating". 7 different classes which we can all move between freely. Leftism=freedom of choice.

"It's all in your mind dude, shit maybe there aint no real!"

"Go for an aura reading and some crystal healing" BLAH BLAH BLAH. Magical thinking bollocks meets the playground.

Everyone knows who the females are.

 

[JudithB]

Everyone knows who the females are.

Yep

Let's see them talking this shite to the males...

 

[FabricLiveBaby!]

Anways, feminism for me meant finally understanding where my disphoria came from and no longer hankering to get my womb and ovaries removed because they made me feel like subhuman scum.

No longer wanted no tits at all, and at the same time no longer felt that it mattered if I never I grew to at least a C sized bra.

Feminism made me realise that I wasn't a freako for not enjoying make up and finding high heels stupid and uncomfortable. That I wasn't an odd kid for preferring Design Technology over Fashion, or the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band instead of Take That. For understanding that clothes don't make the woman. That femininity don't make the woman. And that spending loads of money in order to become accepted and valued is a stupid, pointless endeavor.

Feminism made me realise that it was REALLY OK to be female and not worry about what penis people thought of you. It also made me realise that it was REALLY OK to be different. That my body was OK, as is. That I was OK. That there's nothing wrong with being a female human (I still tell myself this every day... do I believe it, yes and no... another thread) And that classes are a real thing. And that a female body is really important to recognise in order to stop what happened to me happening to others.

Feminism made me feel human again, and made me realise that bodies are just bodies and that capitalism lives through female oppression.

So colour me TERF/FART.... or actually you might as well just call me "SCABBY GABI" again. Whatevs. It's the same shit 30 years later.

 

[Athos]

I've seen on social media the preffered term is FARTs now (Feminist Appropriating Radical Transphobe),apparently.

It's like being back at school. "Scabby Speccy Boffin 4 Eyed Loser", "Try-hard Educated Random Freak"

Fuckin Sad. From adults n all.

But then we all know how Post Modernists and liberals like to play with language in order to be "liberating". 7 different classes which we can all move between freely. Leftism=freedom of choice.

"It's all in your mind dude, shit maybe there aint no real!"

"Go for an aura reading and some crystal healing" BLAH BLAH BLAH. Magical thinking bollocks meets the playground.

Everyone knows who the females are.

Another reason to give social media a swerve!

 

[Pickman's model]

Hi Pickman's Model and TopCat... could you tell me what about feminism you celebrate?

 

[Cloo]

I am starting to apply things I’ve learned from feminism to my life now. For example, my other half can have a shitty temper sometimes, and without feminism I might have started teaching my kids (daughter especially) ‘Don’t do X [otherwise innocuous thing] because it winds your dad up’ but when I find myself thinking I might say that I realise that I do not want to teach her that she is responsible for managing men’s anger. Because what starts that way ends up in adult life as ‘Well I suppose he only punched me because I made him angry by loading the dishwasher too loudly while he watching the football’ or whatever.

I have indeed told him that I won’t teach her that kind of thing and why.

And it has made me stand up for myself a lot more, and calmly, when he loses his temper (something that used to cause me to cower) because I don’t want to show my kids that you just give in to the shoutier, angrier person and you don’t have to combat it by being louder and angrier.

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Men cannot be feminists. We’ve learned that. They can be allies and if they are allies it means they have to listen to what women are actually saying.

I don't agree. Of course men can be feminists.

 

[TopCat]

Lucy Parsons was right about so much. A fearless leader, passionate orator and an inspiration to me all my adult life

 

[ElizabethofYork]

Lucy Parsons was right about so much. A fearless leader, passionate orator and an inspiration to me all my adult life

Incredibly, I've never heard of her. Off to do some research.

 

[Treacle Toes]

You are not oppressed; you do not live in a developing country, being forced to work for the equivalent of 10p a day, nor are you one of the thousands in this country who are forced to rely on food banks, nor are you being suppressed, you do not live in a country where women must request permission from men before they can do even the most basic of activities. You live in a country where you can have your own bank account, where you can have a job (and keep every penny you earn, after tax). You are fully free to have a life wholly independent of your husband/partner. For you 'oppression' is a role, an act, something you put on and take off like a Marc Jacobs coat, because that's what 'feminism' has seemingly become - a hobby for the middle-class. Do you care about the thousands of women who can't afford to feed their kids…? Almost certainly not (at least not genuinely, you probably stick £10 in a Barnardo's box occasionally, or stick a couple of tins in a supermarket food bank collecting box, but I'm pretty certain that you'd find the idea of meeting someone who's destitute utterly abhorrent).

.

There are so many assumptions, stereotypes, condescension and extremes in this it's difficult to know where to start with it. Gaia are these rules about who and who isn't oppressed or can be a feminist only being leveled at Judith because of her posts here or do you apply them to all of us women who don't live in 'developing countries'?

 

[TopCat]

Can a Tory woman be a Feminist?

 

[campanula]

Yes, they can identify as a feminist, claim they are adopting a feminist perspective. However, what does this mean? Feminism is not a dogmatic set of theoretical and practical positions which must be adopted at all times. There are many flavours of feminism...with different priorities. I would call myself a Marxist-feminist...i f I had to adopt a specific political label...so my perspective would differ from a Tory one...yet there may still be overlap in some areas...inasmuch as we may both have specific concerns about women's health (for example) but I would expect my understanding to be overlaid with a structural awareness of power inbalances...which would lead to a lot of divergence in our particular frames of reference.

 

[Cloo]

I don't agree. Of course men can be feminists.

They can be, but I do find often even those who identify as feminists will find some of women's self-described experiences 'a step too far' to accept as real problems. Especially if it's something where their behaviour may have been complicit.

 

[campanula]

In general, TopCat, I find I am seeking commonalities and shared priorities more and more, these days, because I am fucking sick to death of divisive politics, sectarian cliques and ideological purity.

 

[Treacle Toes]

I am not a feminist, I am a humanist; I believe in equality, equal rights and justice for everyone, regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, skin colour, nationality, or religion.
.

Unless you don't believe in equal rights and justice for women you are, like it or not, a feminist. Humanist and Feminist aren't conflicting positions.

You may not describe yourself as one, you may not like the idea of 'feminism' but you are one unless you specifically believe women to be lesser, deserve less etc.

I find it odd that women will jump through these theoretical hoops to denounce 'feminism' and distance themselves from it. I always feel that it's done to signal to men, not other women. 'Oh i'm not like those women...'

There's also the massive point about you yourself being a woman and as such are benefiting from 'feminism', battles fought and won, battles being fought now etc...

 

[Pickman's model]

i see you've been back, JudithB, and since you solicited an opinion from me i'm surprised you haven't commented on it

 

[Poot]

Can a Tory woman be a Feminist?

That's an interesting question and may be answered differently by different people but I don't think a Tory CAN be a feminist. Tories just don't do equity. Most of the Tory women that I know would tell you that they aren't feminists anyway. They're fond of keeping people in their place for the most part, Tories.

 

[andysays]

 

[Poot]

I have a tshirt that claims I'm Wonderwoman.

 

[friendofdorothy]

I have a tshirt that claims I'm Wonderwoman.

I have a tshirt that says: I still hate Thatcher
I'm thinking of adding an 'ism' at the end of that.

I would say for many years Tories were anti feminist, anti women, anti queer, pro patriachal family values, keeping us all in our place, etc etc. No idea what the fuck they stand for now.

 

[mango5]

Saw this friendofdorothy and thought of you

 

[friendofdorothy]

Saw this friendofdorothy and thought of you

I remember buying that back mag in the day

I'd never heard of 56a Infoshop - it sounds great, I had no idea that place existed. I must go and have a look. Thanks mango5

 

[mango5]

Oh yes the infoshop in Walworth has a great archive, always good to pick up the Past Tense calendar and radical pamphlets.

 

[TopCat]

Incredibly, I've never heard of her. Off to do some research.

What did you think?

 

[ElizabethofYork]

What did you think?

Inspirational.

An early opponent of identity politics?

 

[Pickman's model]

Now you've started liking my posts JudithB perhaps you could comment on my opinion that you solicited some time ago

 

[JudithB]

Now you've started liking my posts JudithB perhaps you could comment on my opinion that you solicited some time ago

I asked your opinion of something?

 

[Pickman's model]

I asked your opinion of something?

On this very thread. Go back to where you asked my what about feminism I celebrated. You'll have received an alert about it at the time and another when I asked you to comment on it in August.

 

[JudithB]

Oh yes, the women from the early 20th century. All great anarchists and yes they did lay some foundations for women's rights.

But I thought you were trolling. I would have expected anyone serious about feminism and women's rights to have an interest in those feminists active, let alone alive, in the mid 20th century. But good examples none the less

 

[Pickman's model]

Oh yes, the women from the early 20th century. All great anarchists and yes they did lay some foundations for women's rights.

But I thought you were trolling. I would have expected anyone serious about feminism and women's rights to have an interest in those feminists active, let alone alive, in the mid 20th century. But good examples none the less

i would expect anyone serious about feminism to recognise that it is all about the relationship between men and women: but you've said no man can be a feminist - that is, no man can wish to rebalance or work towards a rebalancing of the relationship between the sexes. no man can wish to see or work towards equality of women. i'd usually call that crap politics but you've made the point so repeatedly it must be trolling.