"Spinning' and 'weavingThe time of the crisis Covid, by slowing down the pace of everyday life, has offered us this precious opportunity, opening up unusual spaces for reflection and attentive looks at the present-future.
"Spinning and Weaving: Radical Feminism for the 21st century'.edited by Elizabeth MillerIt brings together contributions from women from all over the world that outline the 21st Century Radical Feminism.
What is the text about? What results emerge? What do women in the world say?
We ask Elizabeth Miller who tells us about the anthology's genesis, themes and objectives
How did the idea for the book come about?
The text is a mosaic of contributions from women all over the world. Books are important, indeed
because they are a collection of ideas that can be read by other people and therefore can
use those ideas to inspire themselves and change their lives. Women need to get rid of the
patriarchy, and we need the voices of other women to help us recognise the way in which the
patriarchy conditions our lives. The groups of self-awareness of women are a magnificent way of
to do so. Just as exchanges through social media can play a positive role, even if in
this way, unfortunately, it is not possible to collect and organise important ideas in one place. I
I myself have engaged in online discussions with many women on Radical Feminism and have been able to hear
many brilliant ideas in this regard. I therefore wanted to collect these ideas and make them available in a single
place, so that other women have the opportunity to read, re-read and be inspired by them.
There has not been a significant collective collection of writings by radical feminists. So I
decided to make one myself. I contacted more than 100 radical feminists around the world and 37 of them have
written as many chapters of the book. This book is my gift to the radical feminist sisters and to all the
women and girls of the world. It is a project for women and girls, so that they can become aware of
of the need to free themselves and to do it themselves.
What topics are covered in the text?
The book includes eight sections, organised around eight themes: "The foundations of Radical Feminism of the
21st Century', 'Intersectional Feminism', 'Pornography and Prostitution as Forms of Oppression'.
of Women", "Lesbian Radical Feminism", "Women's Sexuality as a Theme of Feminism".
oppression and exploitation of women online", "Transgender politics and the movement".
of Men's Sexual Rights', 'Fiction, Poetry, Memoirs and Radical Feminist Literary Analysis'. 44 chapters, written by 37 radical feminists of different nationalities, ages, ethnicities, backgrounds, sexual orientations and life experiences.
What are the main points that emerged from the various contributions?
Women all over the world have to deal with patriarchy, which often manifests itself in the same way. The
patriarchy is organised around the control, exploitation, silencing and suppression of women's freedom
operated by males. In all countries, men control women by threatening to use force.
physics against them (domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment and murder) and controlling the economy and
legal and political systems, hindering the possibility for women to govern themselves politically, to emanate
standards that protect and empower women, and to have economic resources and a high standard of living.
of life other than subsistence or slavery. In almost all countries men control the reproductive capacities of women (our access to abortion and birth control systems). In almost all
Countries with the use of force men dispose of women's bodies to exploit them. Women and girls
(who have not yet become women) are forced into prostitution and pornography. Men
girls are bought as 'brides', women are kidnapped and impregnated with violence, women are
forced, through violence or economic desperation, to become 'surrogate mothers'. To women
and girls, in many parts of the world, are denied access to education, to leave their homes, and to
to live independently, to have the resources to do so.
All women, at different latitudes, are indoctrinated into a compulsive heterosexuality: to marry and to be married.
be sexually accessible to men. This is presented as 'natural' and inevitable.
Women and girls are not given the opportunity to decide for themselves whether they want to have a child.
partners of the same sex or even not to have sex with anyone. We are inculcated with
since childhood the fact that the role of women is to be the property of men, to
to look after their home, to bring children into the world for them. In every country, women need to become aware of the way they are oppressed, to learn how to reach out to other women in order to form alliances, to protect, to rise up and to achieve common liberation.
What kind of Radical Feminism emerges from these writings?
What emerges is the voice of these women and girls. The voice that learns to say "No". Radical Feminism analyses the reality, insists on the see the world as it really is and not as people tell us it is.. These voices say that Radical Feminism knows that there are two sexes - females and males - and that the male sex oppresses the female sex through control and possession. Radical Feminism knows that men are not women, that they can never become women and that human beings can never change sex. Radical Feminism recognises that the first thing women need to do is to see themselves as complete human beings, who have the right to exist separately from men, and
without asking their permission. The second thing women must learn to do is to recognise the
right to say "No" to men and to reinforce that "No". We can say "No" whether it is to the
demands of men when having heterosexual relationships with them, no to prostitution, pornography, no to giving up our careers to give birth and raise children, to living to care for men, to comfort them, no to keeping silent about our biological nature and our life experiences, to the having to wish for what they want us to wish for, pretending not to do anything or backing away from their demands for access to our sports, our changing rooms, our prisons, our women's groups. Radical Feminism encourages women to put themselves at the centre of their lives and to ask themselves what they actually want for themselves.
How is Radical Feminism organising itself in these years?
Like international political movement for the liberation of women and girls from patriarchy. The word "Radical" means "roots".to indicate the foundational core of something. Radical Feminism is Root Feminism, it goes beyond the appearance of things. The root of the oppression of women is their sex. Males oppress women because of their biological sex, demanding the availability, exploitation and destruction of our bodies. They use us as sexual and reproductive tools. All the other means that males use to oppress us
(economic, political, social) are rooted in theprimal oppression based on biological sex and reproductive capacity. Radical Feminism is True Feminism - the only Feminism capable of liberating women and girls to live their lives freely and self-determined.
Radical Feminism places itself in contrast with 'Liberal Feminism', also known as 'Egalitarian Feminism', which does not aim to change or dismantle the system but only to enable more women to gain access to political and economic power within this corrupt system. This would confer privileges on some women, but would not serve to liberalise the majority of women and girls in the worldas not all
women would have access to economic resources or the opportunity to hold public office.
Why do we still need Radical Feminism?
So that everyone can see how things really are in the world. In this way, everyone can become aware of what patriarchy really is on a planetary level and how it works to oppress women. Only then can she get rid of it. Therefore, Radical feminists must continue to write and disseminate their thoughts and make them accessible to women and girls all over the world.. One way in which patriarchy perpetuates its power is by hiding from women and girls the ways in which it oppresses them. Patriarchy twists everything around, convincing women and girls to read as an opportunity for 'empowerment', 'fun' or 'free choice' what actually causes them harm and suffering. It strips words of their true meaning. It does so to make women collaborative with their own oppression. For this, we need to write and disseminate the theories of Radical Feminism: to deprogramming women from the cult of patriarchal indoctrination. The political theory of Radical Feminism belongs to every woman and can be written by every woman.
Depowering, disenchanting, awakening women and girls from the trompe l'oeil created by indoctrination
patriarchal.
Tiziana Luise
