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they took the hair on our legs and decided it was a shameful, disgusting thing
they said nothing about their own leg hair
they took our genitals and decided it was an ugly, disgusting and shameful thing, only good enough for them to use for their pleasure
they praised their own genitals and drew them on every corner of this planet
they took our bodies and decided they have to be fragile, small and easy to objectify, or we aren’t worth as human beings anymore
they keep their human value no matter what they look like
they took our periods, neglecting they were all born from them, and decided they were gross and shameful thing, not even to be mentioned in their presence
all pain they have to go through is over-dramatized and talked about constantly
they took our clothes and made it uncomfortable, see through, impractical, revealing, objectifying
then they accused us of distracting them when we wear it, accused us of asking for unwanted touch and abuse when they feel entitled to our bodies
they set us up in a trap then laughed at us for suffering inside of it
they never intended to acknowledge our pain
what’s been done to us is “life”, according to them
what they do to each other is “our fault”, according to them
we’ve been used as scapegoats for their own faults
we’ve been used as toys for their pleasure and satisfaction
we’ve been used as trophies for them to show off their importance
it was enough
I had enough.
Exhibit #1
http://tehbewilderness.tumblr.com/post/156196605249/grumpyoldnurse-qualitynighthideout
Exhibit #2
http://tehbewilderness.tumblr.com/post/156195173529/grumpyoldnurse-iloveradfems
I’m not sure where the idea started that being a movement that deals with a particular political struggle should be about other topics not related to said struggle. Feminism – the struggle to liberate females from the patriarchal structures and norms of society is about female emancipation. If you happen to be a woman (and by woman I mean adult human female) then yes, this is your movement and it should centre around you and the problems that you face.
If you are not female, then don’t expect (demand, whine, threaten, etc.) for the feminism movement to be all about you. If there is a specific set of problems and challenges specific to your situation, then the solution is make your own goddamn movement and not co-opt the one that has been built by and expressly for females.
Exclusionary? Every effective class struggle is exclusionary – or do you remember all those successful strikes overseen by the business class?
Me neither.
So ‘Amen’ to exclusion and ‘Ramen’ to effective class politics and actions.
Why, oh why, don’t we see more white leaders in the #BLM? Or why aren’t there more white leaders/representation in the Canadian indigenous Idle No More movement? Could it possibly be because you don’t let the class that is oppressing you (even if they strongly feel they belong in your class) run your movement?
So, Men, in your various forms, please understand that feminism isn’t about you. Will men benefit from feminist reforms? Absolutely, and do what you can to further feminist action, as long as you know that your role is secondary (in the most optimistic case) in the movement. Understand that there is no shame in being an ally, but for heaven’s sake realize that when you make feminism about *you* it isn’t feminism anymore.
Found a much better response that mine, the Bewilderness is on fire today:
http://tehbewilderness.tumblr.com/post/156191704449/officialweatherwax-thisisourwitchcraft
Just incase you thought this might be a few ‘bad apples’, wrong again.
“It was a game that everyone but me seemed to love. I was a girl who mostly hung around boys because I hadn’t yet learned that female friendships, though infinitely more confusing, were also infinitely more rewarding. I was the self-professed type who loudly preferred spending time with men over spending time with women because they were less dramatic and complicated. And so I surrounded myself with boys who found it funny to grab my body when I least expected it, and were spurred by my discomfort to push me further and more painfully.
The game ended the night that Tom*, the one who always grabbed me, did it to me again while we were walking up a flight of stairs. Familiarly, everyone laughed and I tried to join them, desperate to appear easygoing and in on the joke despite being the literal and figurative butt of it. But suddenly, the effort of it all—the smiling, nervous chuckling, and eye rolls that I had allowed myself over the past several months—sickened me. It felt like I was choking on my own vomit of anger and humiliation. To save myself, I’d have to spew my own bile. And so I turned and punched Tom directly in the groin.
The satisfaction of the moment blazed and died quickly. He collapsed to the ground, gripping himself, hissing, “You are a fucking bitch. You are a fucking bitch,” over and over again. I laughed an awkward bark of a laugh, but no one joined in this time. No one said anything at all until minutes later when we were walking—them in a pack, and me trailing behind—to our local video store. Michael, my best male friend, hung back to keep me company.
“I get that you’re mad and don’t like it when Tom grabs you like that,” he said and I exhaled a sigh of gratitude. “But what you did…” I sucked my breath in again, “…You just don’t do that to a guy. Ever.”
It’s a small relief that I didn’t feel ashamed of myself. Instead I felt disappointed in Michael, in Tom, in every other boy that now, on our walk, avoided me because I had crossed a line and hit back.”
Have you ever kept on ‘horsing around’ after someone said “no” or displayed signs of discomfort. Well, stop it. Don’t be like Tom, he’s a boundary ignoring asshole.
http://filthyvulvachurch.tumblr.com/post/155765843984/teenageradfem-for-fucks-sake-not-everything
Well, this brings about one of my favourite twitter quotes when dealing with MRA’s in whatever shape they happen to present themselves in:
“much of the animosity towards radical feminism is explained by examining the fact that feminism is popularly misunderstood to simply be about “equal rights.” when radical feminists are accused of not including trans women in “our feminism,” the underlying implication is that we maliciously exclude them because we think they don’t deserve equal rights.
however, equal rights are only the goal of feminism insofar as they will be the result of liberation from oppression. but to pursue liberation, it’s necessary to first ask, why do women not have equal rights? why are women oppressed?
women are oppressed on the basis of our sex because we are exploited by men for our reproductive potential. women have been denied equal legal, social, and economic rights in furtherance of this specific form of exploitation. trans women cannot be exploited in the same manner, even though they are otherwise marginalized.
all human beings deserve to live free from exploitation and oppression. but only people who experience sex-based oppression can be liberated from it, and it’s neither hateful nor exclusionary to acknowledge that the oppression of women is different from the oppression of trans women.”
“Feminism recognizes that institutionalized male dominance is rooted in men’s control of women’s reproductive power (a source of other political struggles in Texas and beyond) and sexuality. In patriarchy, an enduring feature of the lives of girls and women is sexual violence — men’s unwanted intrusions into their lives. Women’s experiences vary, but none escapes this ever-present threat.
I’ve heard many stories from women about men following them into public restrooms or threatening them, a strategy some men use to harass and sexually assault women. Even more common is girls’ struggle with being sexually objectified throughout the culture, which creates a range of difficult emotions about their bodies, especially about being seen by boys and men.
I don’t endorse Patrick’s reactionary right-wing politics, but I do take seriously the experiences of girls and women who have to find ways to live as safely and sanely as possible in patriarchy. Where possible, the best solution is single-person spaces for maximal privacy for everyone. But in public facilities used by large numbers of people at a time, multi-stall bathrooms and collective showering and changing rooms should be segregated by biological sex, and we should guarantee the safety of those spaces.
Let me be clear: I am not arguing that male-to-transgender people are waiting to harass and attack women. Instead, this position recognizes that (1) some men will exploit any opportunity to move into female space, and (2) girls and women have a right to be free from the male gaze in such private spaces.
A feminist critique of the ideology of the transgender movement is not an attack on people who identify as transgender but simply asks questions that shouldn’t be glossed over and asserts the rights of women in a patriarchal society. The internal subjective experience of transgender people should not trump the objective threats that girls and women experience routinely.
–Robert Jensen on A Feminist Current.
Boom. That last sentence, emphasis mine.
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Mystro
The Arbourist
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