When i see mainstream feminisms history, i see a history of white cishet women who want to be equal to white men and no longer be oppressed by them, but still want to be superior to black women and trans women and the “bad” white cishet women. They want to throw off their own chains but retain the chains of others that benefit them. Theres a clear line from then to now imo. And like, the problem isnt that terfs arent feminists, the problem is that they are feminists.
Thats not to say feminism is worthless, but its history and its mainstream aspects have been overwhelmingly white, cis, and focused on a very narrow definition of liberation.
Yep. Glad to see other people saying it. People need to understand that feminism is not based and revolutionary by default. To me, as far as I’m concerned, “feminism” when discussed in a vacuum, without any qualifiers, is talking about a bigoted, exclusionary, and non-intersectional movement. This is why I do not trust feminists unless the emphasis on genuinely inclusive, intersectional, and leftist principles is made unequivocal. I do not consider myself a feminist anymore, but I will call myself a womanist, which still makes me a feminist by definition but does a good job at incorporating a revolutionary, Black-centered fervor while still using a singular term that rolls off the tongue just as well.
Im glad, like ive had problems with feminism basically since i started engaging with it, but i always dismissed it as me not understanding, and reading black womens understandings and criticisms of feminism helped me understand my own issues with it, and the ways ive perpetuated that same shit.
white girl talking about racism
It also made me more confident in trying to address the racism within my family, at times as a false conciousness and (far more) often as a genuine conciousness (because we assimilated into whiteness and benefit from it, and also because theres people of colour in the family). Literally ran into this yesterday trying to get my mother to understand some of the issues with handmaidens tale.
bigoted, exclusionary, and non-intersectional movement.
seriously. like, the people who have explicitly called themselves feminists and not added qualifiers have been far more likely to engage in “lowkey” transphobia towards me, explicit racism towards others, etc., its fucked.
womanist […] does a good job at incorporating a revolutionary, Black-centered fervor while still using a singular term that rolls off the tongue just as well.
I really like finding new terms ^^ both in breaking from something that isnt functional and in that when someone doesnt have a whole history to associate with a term theyre more likely to inquire as to what my views actually are instead of projecting onto me. Also revolutionary Black centered fervor is fucking needed and having terms that reflect it is really good
(maybe weird) thanks - idk, i struggle to understand what is socially appropriate and this feels like maybe it isnt but im uncertain.
Just as a side note i see your posts around and they are like always on fucking point. Genuinely, youve contributed to the development of my own understandings of the world.
Yup, I got nothing to add to this but I concur. I definitely had lefty friends back when I was a baby lib try to explain this. Some people like to use the more old fashioned term women’s liberation, or womanist like Angel offered below your reply, to avoid confusion and/or make this exact critique on the bourgeois origins of feminism.
![[CW: Transphobia] lol what was even the point of Reddit banning r/GenderCritical if they'll let subs like this slide](https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/baeda9d3-82ba-47df-a1ac-327eead3e0e8.png){kind=link}
Bigotry aside
I don’t even see how adopting transmisogyny doesn’t immediately backfire against feminism.
When i see mainstream feminisms history, i see a history of white cishet women who want to be equal to white men and no longer be oppressed by them, but still want to be superior to black women and trans women and the “bad” white cishet women. They want to throw off their own chains but retain the chains of others that benefit them. Theres a clear line from then to now imo. And like, the problem isnt that terfs arent feminists, the problem is that they are feminists.
Thats not to say feminism is worthless, but its history and its mainstream aspects have been overwhelmingly white, cis, and focused on a very narrow definition of liberation.
Yep. Glad to see other people saying it. People need to understand that feminism is not based and revolutionary by default. To me, as far as I’m concerned, “feminism” when discussed in a vacuum, without any qualifiers, is talking about a bigoted, exclusionary, and non-intersectional movement. This is why I do not trust feminists unless the emphasis on genuinely inclusive, intersectional, and leftist principles is made unequivocal. I do not consider myself a feminist anymore, but I will call myself a womanist, which still makes me a feminist by definition but does a good job at incorporating a revolutionary, Black-centered fervor while still using a singular term that rolls off the tongue just as well.
Im glad, like ive had problems with feminism basically since i started engaging with it, but i always dismissed it as me not understanding, and reading black womens understandings and criticisms of feminism helped me understand my own issues with it, and the ways ive perpetuated that same shit.
white girl talking about racism
It also made me more confident in trying to address the racism within my family, at times as a false conciousness and (far more) often as a genuine conciousness (because we assimilated into whiteness and benefit from it, and also because theres people of colour in the family). Literally ran into this yesterday trying to get my mother to understand some of the issues with handmaidens tale.
seriously. like, the people who have explicitly called themselves feminists and not added qualifiers have been far more likely to engage in “lowkey” transphobia towards me, explicit racism towards others, etc., its fucked.
I really like finding new terms ^^ both in breaking from something that isnt functional and in that when someone doesnt have a whole history to associate with a term theyre more likely to inquire as to what my views actually are instead of projecting onto me. Also revolutionary Black centered fervor is fucking needed and having terms that reflect it is really good
(maybe weird) thanks - idk, i struggle to understand what is socially appropriate and this feels like maybe it isnt but im uncertain.
Just as a side note i see your posts around and they are like always on fucking point. Genuinely, youve contributed to the development of my own understandings of the world.
Yup, I got nothing to add to this but I concur. I definitely had lefty friends back when I was a baby lib try to explain this. Some people like to use the more old fashioned term women’s liberation, or womanist like Angel offered below your reply, to avoid confusion and/or make this exact critique on the bourgeois origins of feminism.