welcome to the fest

Another question I had for folks was whether you're 'out' about your radical feminism. If not, is there a specific reason?

I am only about 50% 'out', in that if I'm ever asked, or in a discussion about my stances, I am bluntly honest. My close friends and family know my stance. I post some radfem content on my Facebook... and have a radfem side-blog. I wish I had the bravery to be loud and proud, but I do have some libfem folks I love, and I have a terrible feeling they would be horrified, and it would lead to serious conflict.

I continue to work towards being more open about this. So far, I've had one disputing discussion online with a casual friend (that got jumped on by her libfem friends). Someday, though, I hope to be stronger. Reading Sinfest alone has helped me remember that I'm not the only one who feels this way on radfem topics.

tbh, my friendships come first. but, only people that don't pay attention would think I'm not a radical feminist, it's pretty much evident. I'm working on the sad truth that people ARE replaceable and no one is worth more than your core beliefs or, in this case, REALITY.

I'm still learning the vocabulary words, as it were. I would say I'm closeted mostly from ignorance, not knowing the groundwork. Where does liberal end and radical begin, for instance.

Also because of something that was touched upon in another thread, where it was mentioned that if a feminist says something, and a large group of men applaud, something's off kilter. I don't want to illegitimize an individual or a movement I believe in by cheering too loud.

It's why I came here to gain perspective.

Passively, I play things pretty close to the chest. If asked a question, I'm pretty talkative about it, but nobody out here ever really asks. It's pretty sticks out here, I'm about the only one interested in anything philosophical.

I'm fairly vocal about my feminism and always have been.

As I posted on the introductory thread, I never thought of myself as a radical feminist, but what is perceived as radical now was fairly ordinary, standard-issue feminism in the UK in the 80's (when I was a teenager/early 20s).

There is always a backlash. This time around women - aided by all-pervasive social media - seem to be doing it to themselves. I don't necessarily blame them. I used to be one of those 'oh, I'm not like other women' cool girls - basically because I didn't perform femininity very well and male-coded stuff was so much more interesting to me. It took til my 30's to see that this is all part of patriarchy - divide to conquer - and so although I will roll my eyes in private at libfem, porn-friendly, sex-positive (like if we don't support the commodification of women then we're some kind of buttoned-up Aunt Lydia-style prude - yeah, right!) feminism, I won't get cross with them. I'll keep calmly explaining my POV and be there for them when patriarchy fucks them over.

As a male sympathizer with the feminist cause, I openly declare my alignment with the radical approach.

Inside that, the tensions between radical feminism and transfeminism cause me no small amount of discomfort, but as a cis hetero man I can understand that the fact that the focus of feminism is not _my_ experiences and concerns, does not mean that I'm excluded from the collective. I always feel welcome and comfortable among my radical feminist friends, and if I want to exchange experiences and concerns that are specific about my condition, such as, say, what to do with my masculinity, I know I'm more than welcome to create my own groups of men to treat the issue without compelling my radical feminist friends to dillute their focus. And that does not mean that I consider my fellow women any less my sisters. I wish radical feminists and transfeminists got along better among these lines.

October wrote:Another question I had for folks was whether you're 'out' about your radical feminism. If not, is there a specific reason?

I am closeted because expressing my views on this subject would interfere with my ability to work as I do. My chosen profession is one in which I teach others ways to ease their suffering in both physical and emotional ways. As much as possible I try to be a blank slate that my clients can project off of. Expressing my opinions would spoil the effect I am trying to cultivate. Perhaps that is dishonest, but I don't think saying nothing is dishonest.

I do have strong opinions regarding feminism, ever since the ERA days and I also have very strong anti-prostitution and anti-pornography opinions .

I look forward to reading and sharing on this forum. I am not very well versed on the radical feminist platform nor the Nordic model yet, but I look forward to learning more.