#im soooo grateful I studied history over poli sci like

[f1ghtsoftly]

Im being real I only want to organize with other women but my interest in like passing laws vs direct action is literally zero.

Laws are helpful, but they are ultimately reformist. I think, coming out of the 20th century a major takeaway I had is that women need to build things that cannot be taken away from us (basically separatism). Abortion should have never been a debate, it’s a right, if a government tries to legislate that then it is illegitimate. Women’s work should be paid. Women should run households. No women should be forced to live under constant threat of rape or battery. Sex is about love and connection not about owning someone (or their children). None of these things are complicated. Women understand this reality intuitively. It is men who do not. By asking rather than taking-we in turn legitimate this source of power but, men should not hold power over women. It is illegitimate.

The biggest failure, in my opinion, of second wave feminism in the US is it could not reproduce itself. I agree with Federici’s assessment that “Wages for Housework” (or some variation) is one of the biggest tasks left undone. By and large child production in the US remains a task for the nuclear family, ensuring patriarchy will live on for another generation and another generation of adult women will suffer inside of it. We can remedy this by creating intentional communities of women by women, raising our own wages and collectively supporting each other through family creation and in the workplace.

Furthermore, I really strongly encourage women to stop supporting causes, political movements or organizations that refuse to prioritize women’s issues. This is particularly relevant in the realm of foreign policy. I find it repulsive how many self styled radical feminists turn around and support US imperial projects abroad. We must reshape the way we organize the production of commodities if we are to liberate women. That means *not* supporting the imperialist powers in their quest to secure new markets and create sources of cheap labor+raw materials. Women’s piss poor wages in garment factories in Bangladesh is directly related to the strength of the conservative patriarchy in Bangladesh. Subsistance farmers in Brazil and South Asia need women to produce a large workforce as cheaply as possible, they accomplish this through patriarchal marriage and religion. The US forced it’s way into Eastern Europe to secure new markets and access to raw materials and the looting of the Soviet State saw the largest entrance of women into the sex trade in world history. Im not saying be uncritical about places like Iran, China or Russia, but I am saying be mindful of what exactly the person speaking intends to do about it. Global revolution is different than a proxy war between US+friends, solidarity with striking workers is different than Sanctions and Embargos which starve women and children. NGO’s operate in the interest of their donors, whoever they happen to be. Both horrors can be true and we must develop the capacity to see all of them-so that our intention to help does not untinentionally prolong the suffering of our global sisters. I cannot be more adamant that vigorous opposition to imperialism, vigorous opposition to the US government and her military is the absolute best way those of us living in the west can support women globally.

Many women are fooled by the belief that this is impractical and centering women and demanding real, revolutionary change is hopeless but allow me to ask you this, how many women have lived and died under this current regime? How many women have given their lives, have devoted themselves entirely to women’s advancement? We have made small gains-but it is not nearly commiserate to the effort we have put into achieving them. We are staring down the barrel of a new age, one where women’s bodies can be spliced and sold like pieces of meat. One where religious fundamentalism will remain a dominant global force. One where women can look forward to lives as drudges, whores or wives living with back to back pregnancies, constantly under the boot of men. Is that the world we want? Is that the world women have worked so hard to achieve?

We need a more radical, more prideful strategy befitting our dignity and in line with what we deserve. We deserve so much more than concessions. We deserve freedom and the fruits of our labor.

So please, consider that it is ok for you to be the main character in this story and stop lending your time, support and energy to causes that do not center women’s experiences. I don’t care if you’re “also lgbtq” or also a “poc” or also “colonized”. You’re suffering more than a man is, women deserve to be at the forefront of every single social movement, not a supporting role, a woman unfairly in prison is just as significant as her male counterpart. Lesbians get beat up and preyed on by homophobic men just as much, if not more, then gay men do. Women suffer worse under occupying armies, women suffer worse under sanctions, women suffer worse in post colonial political chaos then men do.

You matter just as much as they do and you need to *leave* if they do not recognize that. You will never lose by recognizing your worth.