radfemftw

[radfemftw]

This one isn't printable, but still. A little gif for when you feel like being mean 🤷‍♀️

[radfemftw]

Interest in a dedicated feminist online forum community?

What are women's thoughts here on an online feminist community, a forum (like phpBB for example), for discussions? Would enough women would be interested in this? Forum software has decreased in popularity, but is still used for niche subjects/communities. (Some real life examples: https://www.reef2reef.com/ and https://www.gardenstew.com/) I'm mildly interested in trying to set up forum software as a technical learning experience, but only if there would actually be interest in using it (because it would cost me money to buy a domain name and web hosting).

It seems like there are so little dedicated spaces for feminist women on the internet. Most feminist communities seem to be libfem, and/or plainly taken over by men (if they purport TWAW, then they definitely are taken over by men). Tumblr has a radfem community, but it's still part of a larger social media system which involves many TRAs (some of which harass radfems), and men, porn bots, etc. Ovarit is useful for consciousness raising, but it seems to me like the Overton window has been shifting towards more conservative takes than feminist ones, especially in how there appears to be more anti-trans takes on there than actual gender critical feminist ones, which kind of makes me bored of it. And so again, radfems are then stuck in a larger community, this one of conservative/non-feminist women, who are there because they dislike trans people and appear to have found a space where they can safely make fun of them and not actually to discuss gender critical content (the recent realization that I even need to be defending common feminist stances like women's right to abortion on Ovarit has been demoralizing). I basically want to make a place where feminist women can just take a break and not have to constantly be building up from ground zero, defending against TRA insults, arguing against conservative/right-wing rhetoric, and instead maybe discussing feminist topics or just chilling in some hobby forum sections or something, idk.

I was initially going to call it a "radfem community" but I see no reason for the community to not include women who identify more with other branches of feminism like gender critical feminism, black feminism, lesbian feminism, eco feminism, socialist feminism, intersectional feminism (I mean the original definition of intersectional, not "tumblrized intersectionality"), etc.

I think there would need to be some "gatekeeping" involved so that it doesn't end up filling up with neoliberal feminists ["choice feminism"] or "prolife feminists" [an oxymoron], so that would need to be figured out. This community would not be meant to be a place for feminists to have to hand-hold people and slowly explain over and over how gender is sexist, or how porn is misogyny, or how abortion is a part of women's healthcare and bodily autonomy. This place would be meant to be a solace from that. Imagine trying to participate in a Calculus class where people who haven't even taken algebra are constantly joining the class and asking "why the fuck are there letters with numbers in math now?!" The class would barely, if at all, progress. Likewise, this community would be for feminist women to have an agreed upon basis for basic feminist stances, and move forward with deeper analysis. There are plenty of other online communities for women who are new to (non-lib)feminism to learn about how "but I like wearing makeup, it's art" isn't a feminist stance. We don't need to keep spending finite energy hashing this out, we need to be able to move forward.

My basic thoughts so far:

It would be women-only. (But there would be no vetting that would involve requiring to share personal information, it would just be an honor system.)

I think there must be some basic feminist stances that members need to agree on, otherwise the community might as well just be a part of any mainstream social media platform. I would assume a decent starting point would be: gender critical, pro-choice, anti-prostitution, anti-pornography, anti-surrogacy, anti-beauty culture?

Some category ideas I have so far: feminism (with maybe different sections for the branches of feminism, and sections for discussing feminist books/websites/documentaries); politics (with sections for discussing or sharing news about feminist political topics like reproductive rights [for abortion, birth control, bodily autonomy], gender critical, surrogacy, prostitution, etc.; spirituality (for those who are into Wicca, or other spiritual beliefs); casual (for general chat, hobbies, music, arts, etc.)

So yeah, what are women's thoughts on here about this?

Would this type of community interest you?

What would you want to see in it?

What would you not want to see in it?

Has this been done before and I am just oblivious? (I tried searching for "feminist forum," but nothing relevant seem to come up.)

Am I naive and this is not going to work?

Please let me know! I welcome any opinions. Thank you. 💜

[radfemftw]

I hate when people say “I’m against abortion except for if the pregnancy threatens the life of the mother” every single pregnancy threatens the life of the pregnant person. We’ve gotten too far removed from that, taken for granted that pregnancy is safe. It is not. Pregnancy and puerperal complications have been a fairly common cause of death throughout history. Even now, maternal mortality is on the rise in the US, the maternal mortality rate varies wildly across the states and it is disproportionately higher for Black women. Being pregnant is getting more dangerous, not less dangerous.

[radfemftw]

female artists i like (in no particular order)

Ghada Amer (1963-present)

Sisters, 2017

Julie Mehretu (1970-present)

Migration Direction Map, 1996

Stadia II, 2004

Vija Celmins (1938-present)

Untitled (Big Sea #1), 1969

Seascape/Whale, (1990)

Natalia Goncharova (1881-1962)

Pillars of Salt, 1908

Cats, 1913

Paula Rego (1935-present)

Good Dog, 1994

War, 2003

Ellen Gallagher (1965-present)

Bird in Hand, 2006

Morphia, 2008

Elizabeth Peyton (1965-present)

Belle Belle Belle (La Belle et La Bête), 2017

Julian, 2006

Laura Owens (1970-present)

Untitled, 2000

Untitled, 2008

Leonora Carrington (1917-2011)

Crookhey Hall, 1986

The Ancestor, 1968

Chrysopeia of Mary the Jewess, 1964

El Mundo Magico de los Mayas, 1963

Yayoi Kusama (1929-present)

Pumpkin, 1999

Mushrooms, 2005

Adriana Varejão (1964-present)

The Miracle of the Fish, 1991

Anything, 1998

[radfemftw]

One "old-fashioned" thing I will defend until the day I die is single-sex schools and universities. That system is incredibly beneficial for women and girls. It allows them to focus more on their learning, free them of the pressure to appeal to boys, and protects them from male violence. I don't understand how that's not a women's right demand.

[radfemftw]

the essential dykes to watch out for

[radfemftw]

DO NOT SUPPORT SALVATION ARMY 

[radfemftw]

Obsessed with the men coming out as women because they “feel like it on the inside,” who then proceed to write essays proving they’ve never felt empathy for a woman once in their lives

[radfemftw]

petition to call “fanservice” something else bc i am in fact a fan and that type of thing does me a DISservice

[radfemftw]

This week MAGA extremists in South Carolina introduced a bill mandating the DEATH PENALTY for women who seek an abortion. Corporate media remains criminally silent on these grotesque attacks on women’s health and basic rights.

The men who want to kill women who get abortions: Rep. Rob Harris (803)212-6788 Rep. Josiah Magnuson (803)212-6876 Rep. William Chumley (803)212-6894 Rep. James Burns (803)212-6891 Rep. Steven Long (803)212-6878 Rep. Jay Kilmartin (803)212-6963

[radfemftw]

also a moment of silence for female characters who get a lot of shit but would be adored if they were male

[radfemftw]

Me as an art critic: this piece really explores the… Misogyny of the artist 🤔

[radfemftw]

ayami sato, one of the best female baseball players in history, who was just signed to be canada's first ever female professional baseball player (on a team with all men to be clear)

[radfemftw]

THIS DIVAAAAAAAAAA

[radfemftw]

“4B is what conservatives want” is so bullshit. conservatives only oppose premarital sex, but they want women to date, get married, and have children SO BADLY it makes them unhinged. you have to ignore 3/4 B to make that dumbass statement. and 4B is about female agency, which they hate as well.

[radfemftw]

*hits feminist blunt*: I don't wanna ever see any praise for a man or the male sex. "There are good men out there who work hard on being good." And I'm a law abiding citizen, where is my fucking national award?

We'll be talking about the right to live as free people EVERYWHERE and you're praising a man for thinking rape is wrong? The bar is below the earth's crust. Liberation for all my sisters, not praise to some man for doing the bare fucking minimum. Decenter men from your frameworks pls.

[radfemftw]

"men are oppressed bc its difficult for them to express their feelings!! 🥺🥺🥺" bro I'd rather have it be hard to talk about emotions than have my literal human rights taken away