Radical feminism around the world is discussing the need to stop having illusions about the left's support for the women's movement. Today, indeed, the left-wing transhumanism (free sex work, free uterus for rent, support for gender identity, hormones to girls and boys and all the rest) is creating many problems for women.
Here an example of left-wing anti-feminism these days: the newspaper The Manifesto which reduces to a fight between envious hysterics (Carmen Calvo and Irene Montero) the split in the Spanish government over the Ley Trans. A impressive misogyny.
The second-wave feminism had already addressed the issue of relations with the left, distancing himself from it. Today, the wave has ebbed, and we are back to a supposedly natural feminism-left embrace. But the left only wants our votes and as we are seeing they give nothing in return. This happens everywhere in the world, but a large part of feminism hesitates to acknowledge it, often opening up painful conflicts between women. Here Meghan Murphy at Feminist Current. Happy reading.
The 'good guys' have long been a problem for feminism. The desire for allies and supporters has led women to value the men who preach well. In the West, a growing political polarisation that offers the appearance of only two options - left versus right - has left modern feminists with the impression not only that they have to choose, but that there is an easy and obvious choice. Give us Matt McGorry in a T-shirt".This is What a Feminist Looks Like"tell us to love abortions, and there you go too many feminists go into ecstasy. We should have learned the hard way, many times, that the guys who show themselves to be good with their political proclamations are often not only the least good, but the worst.
The truth is not that no man is good, but that, in my experience, it is the outspoken one, not the 'awakened' one, progressive in the political sense, that can be trusted.
In 1969, radical feminists split from the New Left, with Shulamith Firestone who announced: "Fuck you, lefty. From now on you can look at your own navel. We give life to our movement". Tired of the sexism of so-called 'comrades who are fighting the good fight against war and racism but still need coffee and photocopies, women have left the men of the left to fight their own fight. Why ally yourself in struggles with people who do not even respect women -those who create life, as well as half the population, and provide indispensable labour- as equal human beings? Yet modern feminists continue to cling to the hope that this time things will be different, that men who managed to avoid being caught talking about pussy-grabbing or who bravely support their girlfriends who are on the pill are allies. It can be difficult to come to terms with the fact that those who preach social justice do not necessarily have collective interests in mind, but it is important to look at reality, rather than at an imaginary ideal. Women always say this about relationships with men: you cannot force a person to change, and staying in a toxic or unhappy relationship based on the hope that things can be different is more often than not fruitless. These left-wingers have told us, many times, what they think about women's rights: why don't we listen?
Progressives defined TERF as feminists who support women's rights and believe that women's spaces and sport should be protected. They called us bigots and demanded that we be censored, fired, beaten. They made it clear that the rights of men who wish to 'identify' as women take precedence over real women. For a long time fight to legalise the sex trade, arguing that pimps, clients and brothel owners can operate with impunity because women and girls must have the "choice" to sell sexual acts to strangers. Feminists have been pushing to decriminalise women in prostitution but wish to stop the exploitation and abuse of those working in the industry - most of whom are there because of a lack of choice -. have been labelled as 'SWERF' (radical feminists who exclude sex work). The same men who want to exploit these women and girls - who delude themselves into believing that these women and girls want them - are also the ones who want to exploit them. turn us against them, claiming that we 'hate' prostitutes.
On both fronts, we are defamed rather than understood. Although the left really wants nothing to do with radical feminism, many radical feminists continue to cling desperately to the left, to the extent that they have torn the movement apart. Women are no longer siding with women, but are committed to being loyal to political parties, and reject the majority of women who want nothing to do with political debates as much as they want to be able to live their lives with peace and dignity and bring bread to their children. In other words, Feminism is failing women in the same way that the left is failing the working class. We are trapped in words and theory, and we are losing women.
Infinite Infighting among feminists has pitted those who reject left/right binarism against those who insist that any woman who does not vote left should be labelled a traitor and banned from the movement. Online feminists seem more interested in removing political impurity from the women's movement than in finding ways for women to unite for change. The hatred women spew against women deemed traitors has become stronger and more destructive than anything coming from men who simply don't like feminism (and who knows what that word still means).
I myself spent many years insisting that feminism was inherently a left-wing movement, and I could not imagine involving any man (or woman, for that matter) who did not identify with the progressive side of the political spectrum. But in the end I had to take note of the fact that women's rights are not partisan and that 'smart' men are not our natural allies. Now I work, talk and interact with anyone who is respectful and open to dialogue - a approach that many feminists and leftists see as treason.
We have a perfect example in Canada, with our sparkling-eyed leader who loves feminism so much he doesn't even know what a woman isand is afraid to defend an old statement of his that "prostitution itself is a form of violence against women". In 2017 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strongly supported the passage of Bill C-16, Canada's gender identity legislation, the effect of which was to ensure that all spaces previously designated for women and girls became accessible to males who identified as trans women. His Liberal Party, together with the NDP - even more progressive- refused to help and recognise women in distress, and today what was foreseen has become reality, because violent men are in women's prisons, and homes that protect women from male violence are threatened with funding cuts if they reject men.
You would think that protecting vulnerable women from potentially dangerous men would be the priority of a proud feminist, but it is 2021 and The double standard dictates that supporting women's rights means supporting men's narcissistic desires. Hence the recent ridiculous male successes in women's sports.
That women continue to support politicians, ideologies and parties that refuse to uphold their most basic rights is astounding, unless one believes that women today have a range of privileges because they are white and cisgender, thus erasing their need for protection.
Last week I saw the inauguration of Joe Biden celebrated by women all over North America relieved that the Big Bad is gone. We're saved! I mean, Donald Trump has really been an asshole. But however unpleasant it may have been, it is hard to beat Biden's eager and immediate decision to sign an executive order mandating that 'sex' now includes sexual orientation and gender identity.
Even if we all have to compromise on who we vote for, I will no longer compromise in favour of politicians who pretend not to know what an adult human female is.
Biden promised us in the autumn that within his first 100 days in office he would pass the Equality Act which, as feminists warned, would essentially accomplish what his executive order will accomplish. So this action comes as no surprise, yet women voted for him anyway, insisting that anyone who was truly a feminist should do the same.
And while obviously Trump is not a feminist, and the choices for American voters are limited, he is nevertheless It is ridiculous to celebrate Biden's victory as some sort of victory for women. Especially considering his abject disregard for their rights.
Feminists have allowed themselves to be fooled by emotion, by their hatred of Trump blinding them to the fact that Biden, like many vouchersis a wolf in sheep's clothing. It's not that simple, Trump=bad and Biden=good. When we make difficult choices, as we are often forced to do in elections, we should not look at the personality of an individual but at his policies. A man caught doing pussy-grabbing could simply be the man caught doing pussy-grabbing. E the man who may appear more respectful or domesticated may be the man who will devastate the sexual rights of women.
I have said many times that I much prefer openly sexist men with whom you can at least have an honest conversation compared to the sneaky ones who insist that they love and respect women, but also say things like: respect your local sex worker by paying her for a blow job; how dare you say that transwomen are not women, you bigot.
Fuck those guys. Give us Trump, sportsmen, boors and schoolboys any day of the week. At least I won't be forced to deal with the grotesque (but transparent) enlightenment of some good guy who loves equality so much he wants to fight us in the ring. Offensive authenticity beats false respect any day of the week. And of course there is plenty of space in betweenmost people simply do not fit into the categories 'good' or 'bad', 'left' or 'right'. And when it comes to acting in the real world or in politics, we have to accept that labels and platitudes do not mean anything concrete.
I am no longer interested in the left or the right.I don't care what they call you, I don't care what you want them to call you. I care about doing what is right, rational and strategic. And sometimes that's more complicated than joining a party.
No politician is perfect: we have to choose on the basis of what matters to us. But, in both the long and short term, continuing to support those who cling to progressive mantras or causes at the expense of our rights, our protection, our freedom and dignity, is a bad strategy.. Choosing 'left' simply because of the label is too simplistic and naive nowadays. While sex remains binary, politics does not.
Meghan Murphy (the original article here)
(translation by Elisa Vilardo)
