girlfishes

[girlfishes]

To all trans men reading my blog out of hate/boredom/existential despair/curiosity/etc: I love you, I hope you have a good week, idk anything about y’all but wherever you are in life, I wish you healing. Please don’t believe any myth that radfems hate you: we don’t. We want to protect you and other female humans more than anything in this world. You deserve to be happy and I hope one day you are.

[girlfishes]

Constantly seeing liberals dunk on women for wanting female-only spaces because “a predator isn’t going to be stopped by whether something is legal or not” as if the crux of the issue isn’t whether it’s acceptable for a woman to defend herself against a possible predator by yelling “get the fuck out, you don’t belong here” when a male enters her space. Is the law on her side?

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The notion that straight people who approach sex unconventionally are comparable to gay people is predicated on a conception of gayness as sexual deviance. It’s homophobic.

[girlfishes]

From the start of the new year, any Muslim caught wearing a burqa in Switzerland will face a fine of $1,144.

Switzerland is leading the way for the West.

[girlfishes]

Oklahoma is attempting to pass a bill that would ban explicit romance novels. Authors, narrators, and sellers could all face fines of up to $100,000 and up to 10 years in jail for each instance.

If you live in OK, call your representative and tell them this bill should not be allowed to pass.

This is likely a test case. Republicans will try to pass it in OK and if it passes other states will likely try to pass similar laws.

In the meantime, get physical copies of books you like. Download those pdfs. Archive your AO3 stories and keep them on a physical hard drive. (Storing those files in the cloud could be problematic in the future as the company managing the cloud service can see what your files are)

[girlfishes]

I don’t do it to change minds, (but I have a few times). There is a real utility in writing out your arguments and trying them out against an opponent. It encourages intellectual consistency and helps me think through my own positions and look for potential holes. Writing and speaking and thinking all activate different parts of the brain, and I frequently find myself thinking of new ideas and making new connections as I’m writing.

Even if no one changes their minds or even fights fair I’m all for essay typing and ruthless arguments.

Sorry but I don’t find it very inspiring that y’all will yap and divulge soooo much of your time writing arguments against people that literally do not care. You can stop with the essays. So people are just beyond help. They’ve seen the arguments, they just hate women.

When I was a teenager, it took ONE argument about bodily autonomy to get me on board with abortion. It took ONE argument about sexist stereotypes to get me on the gender critical side. People either get it or they don’t. Stop wasting your breath. You’re not gonna sweet talk a misogynist into thinking women are people. Make your posts, block, and move on.

[girlfishes]

Hello how are you?

Im kinda new to radfem and super interested in joining this movement but I have a few questions ...

1

I know that rad don't change themselves in ways that are considered "attractive" (to the male eye) this includes shaving, wearing heels, makeup etc. However I am an artist. I paint and draw and it brings me joy and helps me claim down ( I have bad anxiety) . I am entering a science field and have less and less time to draw and destress. Putting time aside very morning to draw on my face with bright eyeshadow or wing liner or colorful lipstick brings me that same joy. Does that make me less of a radfem? I do my makeup in a way that most men do not find attractive and while I do get complements for my apearance its always from women and I do my makeup for me and the girlies only.

2

Also is it less radfem to use a sperm donor for having children? Bc 4b movement means you don't have a man's children. So does it still count if you become pregnant with a donor sample and raise the child on your own ?

3

I know that radfem is a women led movement by women for women. Does this mean that men who believe in this movement and its principles are never allowed to join radfem? And why not?

4

Why do so many radfem think men are evil at their core? Like ik that men benefit from the patriarchy and uphold it but I do not personally think little boys come out the womb as full blown sexists. I think it is taught to them from a young age but then again, that's just me. Does this make me less of a radfem and why is this considered such a hot take ?

To clarify, I am a woman, I was born with a vagina, and I am genuinely asking like I'm dead serious and I'm willing to learn

tysm in advance I look forward to your response :)

Hi! Thanks for reaching out. I don’t consider myself a representative of radical feminism by any means, and many other radfems disagree with my takes sometimes so bear that in mind when reading my answers.

I’m glad you’re interested in radical feminism! However as it happens on tumblr and other spaces online this is less of a movement and more of a circle where we take turns shouting at each other. I encourage you to find irl feminist activists groups, even some that you disagree with on some things and work together for a specific cause.

Now for your questions!

For the first one regarding makeup, I’ll invite you to do an experiment. Go without it for a day, and see how you feel. Do you feel naked or not put together enough? Or does it not change a thing? If you were a man, would you also use this as a method to destress, or is this just a rationalization you use? I don’t live in your head and I’m not going to tell you what to do, but please consider these questions. Read The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf :).

I will say for certain that supporting the makeup industry is not a feminist action.

For the 4B sperm donor question, I would learn towards saying no, but I don’t know the technicalities. I’m a lesbian so I don’t think I can call myself 4B since I’m not making any extra sacrifices, so I haven’t gone too deep into the rules. There are some radfems who believe there is no feminist way to produce children, but to be honest I haven’t read too much theory about that or thought in that direction.

One cool thing is that making gametes from stem cells is going to be possible soon, which means that two women can make a biological child of both of them. If we all agree to make only girls we could have a male free world! Of course that probably won’t happen but a girl can dream. For me that would be more along the lines of 4B since no male is involved at all, but again I’m not too familiar with the nitty-gritty rules of the 4B movement.

For your third question: Men can’t be radfems, but they can be allies. I’ve actually had a few men private dm me about what they can do for the movement. I’m not sure if they were looking for praise or what, but I usually tell them to tell their buddies to stop watching porn and to escort at abortion clinics. It is very important that radical feminism centers women and our voices and analysis. Even if a man is well meaning, he has been socialized as a man and has male privilege and we want to keep our spaces free of those things.

Your fourth question is a source of great contention on Radblr. As for why many radfems think men are inherently evil, their main argument usually is that patriarchy is worldwide and almost 100% of men are misogynist and that it wouldn’t be that way if men weren’t inherently bad.

My view? Power corrupts. Men have physical and societal power. This combined with cultural inertia gives us what we have today. I think that human behavior is incredibly malleable, for better or for worse.

Don’t worry too much about whether or not you can call yourself a “true radfem”. Do what you think is right and continue asking questions and learning as much as you can. If you think that you mostly align with other radical feminists, I would consider you a radfem. Just like if someone has mostly libfem opinions but a few radfem opinions I would consider them a libfem. I think that all-or-nothing thinking in this regard gets in the way of progress. But that’s just me.

[girlfishes]

I'm sorry but this is exactly one of the reasons leftists won't fucking unite because they woobify themselves instead of trying to take action.

[girlfishes]

That’s pretty debatable over many geographic regions, but yes, things did really suck for classical women. I’m just speaking about the symbolism of the image itself, not really about the wider historical context.

And this has been done metaphorically to millions of women over human history.

I wonder what her face looked like.

[girlfishes]

BASED PROFILE PIC AND BACKGROUND ‼️❤️

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[girlfishes]

Yeah for sure Christianity was used in so many different ways during that time period, which lends me to believe that it is the character of the people themselves and not the religion that is owed praise. One of the reasons that slave owners used to justify keeping Black people as slaves was a paternalistic idea that they had to protect them and make sure that they became Christian for the sake of their own souls. The same justification was used in the forcible assimilation of Native Americans and the removal of cultural identity. I think that Christianity does have some positive aspects, but it’s used so often for harm that we can never be critical enough of how certain beliefs and practices affect other people.

And this has been done metaphorically to millions of women over human history.

I wonder what her face looked like.

[girlfishes]

I think its important to point out that statistically, women commit less violent crime, less crime in general, less rape etc. Because, yea that's important for a lot of feminist points. However, I really dislike it when radfems use this as an argument for why women deserve liberation or for why they fight this fight overall. Like a "checkmate" argument for why women are better. It's an argument that ultimately leads nowhere. "Women are better people so.." so what? So they deserve human rights because they are better than the people who have full humans rights? Because what would you do if women did commit equally as many horrible things as men? Would women be rightfully oppressed then? What's up with women who DO commit these crimes, even if they are in a statistical minority? Are these individual women now okay to oppress? The fight for womens liberation can't be build upon the assumption that women are better human beings than men. It needs to be build on the notion that women are human and need to break free of a system that will never accept their humanity. We have no idea if women would statistically be just as horrible as men if we didn't have an incredibly old patriarchal system which has shaped our socialization for so long. And honestly, I don't mind the thought that women could be just as gruesome if given the chance in a thousand years or so. Women are human and nothing women do as a class or as an individual will change that. Human being deserve to be recognized as such and that's the basis of my belief system. And because I know some of you will pull a "you piss on the poor thing" on me, please read the first sentence again. Because in a lot of instances, these statistics ARE important. For example when arguing about if female only spaces should exist. They should however not be used as a sole basis for why feminism is important

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[girlfishes]

Explain why trans people are a different minority than others protected? What factually is different in the application of legal minority status? You said it's undeserved then legally show why? I mean it's not like there's risk to others right?

Dawg please gather your thoughts instead of spamming my ask box every time the two of your brain cells collide.

[girlfishes]

Then I can see how our approach differs. As an atheist I’m not near as much concerned with what the church believes versus what it actually does. For example, I believe that the church during the time of American slavery and segregation is responsible for not advocating the inherent value of all human beings, even though you can make an argument that the theology itself does.

And this has been done metaphorically to millions of women over human history.

I wonder what her face looked like.

[girlfishes]

Trans only prisons have been opposed by radfems every time they're introduced. See trans folks also fight for those as it'd be safe and end the fight and allow transition. TERFs oppose this every time it was a Cathy Brennan specialty now Beck does it.

Radfem wants the weapon.

A trans only prison is a fantastic solution in my opinion. So if some radfem fights against that I disagree with her. We’re not a monolith. Same with trans only bathrooms or trans only spaces. You can make whatever space you want for yourself. But don’t intrude on women’s spaces. That’s all.

[girlfishes]

“There is no example of this thing happening”

Gives example of thing happening:

“That’s whataboutism”

Yes classic argumentative technique I’m truly impressed.

I am a “trans exclusive radical feminist” in the same way I am a “Christian exclusive radical feminist” or a “Muslim exclusive radical feminist”.

You have the right to identify yourself as you please. I am within my rights to believe that how you define yourself is false. No, I do not believe that you are a child of god, because god doesn’t exist. I do not believe that your gender identity makes you a woman, because there is no gender identity inherent to womanhood.

Your immaterial beliefs about yourself have no bearing on how I should perceive you. Your immaterial beliefs about yourself have no bearing on how I should define my own experiences. And your immaterial beliefs about yourself do not override the material reality you share with everyone else.

This doesn’t mean I hate you. On the contrary, it means I respect you enough to take your claims and their consequences seriously instead of humoring you like a little child.