What Brought You to Radical Feminism?

[October]

Hello, Silt River, Havocsmom, Chuckles, and all the recently joined! Nice to see more folks chiming in and sharing their experiences.

I loved this:

And, by the way, from talking to other women my age or older, it seems like there are a lot of us who are ready to act. It's amazing we've stayed quiet this long.

Awomyn!

Chuckles, without intending to simplify radical feminism (there are so many great resources that go into length), for me, it all comes down to meaning: The movement for the liberation of females from male oppression / patriarchy / misogyny / male violence.

The language of that statement is firm and clear to me. It is not a movement for males, period. Real allies are always welcome, and can use their power to help in many ways. I support and encourage a number of other movements, some of which are not appropriate for me to do more than be an ally for.

I am bisexual, and support lesbian-only and lesbian separatist groups and spaces. I am also white, and do not feel it is my place to speak for (or over) people of color, nor infringe on their spaces or efforts to connect and organize without the presence of their oppressors. I support their work - as someone trying to be an ally.

All of this to say that I don't believe that excluding males from a female liberation movement is hateful - to me, to do otherwise seems counterproductive.

[havocsmom]

Thank you for your welcome, October! It's been a wild week for me. Women I've known for years have been pulling me aside to have conversations about white male privilege. These are women who are in powerful households who have very little to gain from a change in circumstances.


It's so nice to have a safe space. I've had more honest conversation both here and IRL this week than I've had in the last couple of years.

[Z6IIAB]

October <3

[McPerson]

I've always been curious about the world and why people think the way they do, what causes them to hold certain beliefs and why they chose those. In most instances I see a slew of cultures and ideals that are gathered purely due to their having been born and indoctrinated into them for the majority, or the entirety, of their lives. I find these concepts fascinating in ways that are difficult to describe with radical factions hitting those high points without equal, though I've always been able to keep my mental distance from them to look them over objectively. I would be lying if I said that Radical Feminism wasn't one that ended up skewing my views some; the points are meaningful and driven, the issues that are pointed out are real and tangible, and there are few gaps to be seen in the cause. These are rare traits in a radical faction, especially the points being real, far too often a faction will have a cause that is purely fabricated out of their own imagination, like the Incel community and the absolute absurdity that it claims are issues.

It was my curiosity that brought me to wanting to learn more about the Radical Feminism community, but it was the compelling points that urged me to stay and really take it in. I have since noticed many of the patriarchy aspects getting pushed into society and into women, especially at a young age; the marketing and “contestsâ€￾ that are put forward, “The Bachelorâ€￾ being a particularly appalling demonstration of that. The political battle for women's rights and anything even appearing to aid women being a brutal uphill fight for reasons that are so meaningless and entrenched in identity politics that it's simply disgusting.

For a very long time I've known that women had it harder than men in society, but I was never able to articulate the reasons, “it's just the way it wasâ€￾ and I couldn't ever put any points on it. As I've gotten older and learned more about the world, I've learned what those reasons are as attention has been brought to them. While I've never been in many of the most iconic situations, I can empathize, and I wholly agree something must be done to stop the atrocities against women and Radical Feminism offers the answer to the overwhelming majority.

It feels so easy to fall into the depths of Radical Feminism as there is so much good to be done with it and there is such a strong need for it, but I have to hesitate. I was raised to and believe in learning all there is to know about a faction or cause before throwing in what relatively little weight I have behind it, and unfortunately there are a number of questions I still have about it. Likely the most predominate one is about the seemingly ever present stance on PIV sex being abhorrent, while I agree that it is often used as abuse and is nearly the sole method of male on female rape, the sheer disdain and at least implied banning of it raises the question of how would the human race carry on with meaningful numbers without it? Artificial insemination is an option, but I've seen that be dismissed as “breeding like a cowâ€￾ which leaves very little alternative for humans not going extinct, or am I misunderstanding that entire aspect?

[Newfish]

Likely the most predominate one is about the seemingly ever present stance on PIV sex being abhorrent ... leaves very little alternative for humans not going extinct, or am I misunderstanding that entire aspect?

* You are greatly overestimating the general hostility; we are not a hive mind. An anti PIV stance, especially a viscerally disgusted one, is unspeakable in almost all other communities, so it comes out here. But it's culturally so beyond the pale that seeing it stated unapologetically and without censure makes a really big impression on you.

* Generally it's truly meant as a personal stance rather than a societal one. The closest to "banning" I have seen suggested is a cultural and legal shift such that consent is considered withheld by default. This would have the practical result of shifting (some) consequences for "misunderstandings" onto men.

...might write more later, but consider this a draft.