#queer feminism

[genderqueerdykes]

furiously insisting that women can never be abusive because they're inherently weak, submissive, innocent and incapable of causing harm is just repackaged misogyny. if you hate when men insist that women are weak, you need to hate when women insist that women are inherently weak, too. it's misogyny no matter who it's coming from. women are not incapable of being misogynistic, nor are we inherently weak and incapable of causing harm.

[boreal-sea]

I'm going to say it again:

"Men are dangerous" is 100% patriarchal rhetoric.

The patriarchy does everything it can to train men to be dangerous. It creates a toxic version of masculinity that only profits and privileges men who choose to be dangerous. It does everything it can to put men into positions where they can be dangerous.

Which means that danger is artificially constructed.

Men are not dangerous because they're male. Men are not dangerous because they're masculine. Masculinity and manhood are not dangerous things.

The dangerous version of masculinity sold by the patriarchy is a social construct that can, in fact, be opted out of. Men and masculine people can construct a masculinity that is not toxic, that does not promote violence, that is centered around healthy relationships and communication and helping others.

Building a healthy, vibrant vision of masculinity is absolutely a part of feminism. I'm not saying it needs to be done by women - do not twist this into a claim that I'm attempting to burden women with remaking masculinity. Men can be feminists. Men who are feminists are eager and willing and actively taking part in the act of ripping masculinity away from the patriarchy and reforming it into something new.

[tekra-brings-the-rain]

One of my problems with white feminism is the fact that it doesn’t focus on dismantling systems of exploitation, but instead aims to be part of those structures, creating a concept of ‘winning’ at the capitalistic power system, which is designed to oppress. For example, female CEOs are often used as an example of success, which is basing how ‘feminist’ an organization/person/society is by how well it/they perform under capitalism.

This can also work in other ways as well, such as with queer and trans representation centering those who are successful only in a way that follows the path laid out by the current system.

All liberation will only work if you leave the capitalistic framework.

This kind of feminism had its place in history (think the suffragette movement) but we need to move forwards for meaningful change.

[intersexfairy]

with how we're all aware of how toxic masculinity leads men/boys to harass, assault, and abuse other men/boys, you'd think the fact they can be harmed by patriarchy and misogyny wouldn't be a controversial statment. *especially* marginalized men. but alas, many people have taken the "identity" in identity politics so literally, they just end up ignoring and reinforcing the harmful things they claim to be against.

also if you think the pain of the men harmed by toxic masculinity isn't a big deal because they're men... that is. that is literally you believing in toxic masculinity. like i thought we all knew part of toxic masculinity is that men shouldn't feel pain, they shouldn't cry, they can't ask for help or be truly hurt, etc. etc. and if they do any of these things, then they're not real men and not only deserve to be emasculated, but deserve to suffer. you just switched it to they are real men so they deserve to suffer.

and even though again, this is extra harmful for marginalized men, i shouldn't have to say that for you to care. if you only give support to people harmed by these systems when you think deserve it, you're always going to end up propping these systems up at some point. maybe you should stop that.

also. to any man reading this who feels like their pain doesn't matter: it does. you deserve to exist in a world where you're safe to be yourself and feel emotions, and get genuine protection and support. we all need to exist in that world. none of us deserve this hell.

[starport-rodeo]

the barbie movie honestly changed me as a person. the message of never truly being able to genuinely feel good about yourself because it’s always either too slutty or too prudish, too skinny or too fat, too happy or never happy enough. i have never felt comfortable in my own skin or pretty enough to try hard to impress others. but let me tell you, i’ve never felt so happy to walk out in public in my little pink skirt and brightly colored makeup to see a movie about a doll in the real world. finally understanding my feminine side and embracing it for the first time in a really long time without giving a shit about how others will see me.

[bog-bitch]

Heartbreaking: The Feminist Post You Were About To Reblog Was Made By a TERF

[diddyrivera]

additional resources to marxist feminism:

living a feminist life by sara ahmed

the rise and decline of patriarchal systems by nancy folbre

this bridge called my back: writings by radical women of color by cherrie moraga and gloria anzaldua

delusions of gender: how our minds, society, and neurosexism create difference by cordelia fine

close to home: a materialist analysis to women's oppression by christine delphy

(pdf) the feminist standpoint: developing the ground for a specifically feminist historical materialism

(medium) on women as a class: materialist feminism and mass struggle by aly e

(sagejournals) capital and class: the unhappy moments of marxism and feminism: towards a more progressive union

(substack) the marxfem pulpit by abigail von maure (earth2abbs on tiktok)

if anything else related to marxist feminism, just let me know :)

additional resources to eco feminism:

gossips, gorgons, and crones: the fates of the earth by jane caputi

parable of the sower by octavia e butler

neither man nor beast: feminism and the defense of animals by carol j. adams

bitch: on the female of species by lucy cooke

fresh banana leaves: healing indigenous landscapes through indigenous science by jessica hernandez

the intersectional environmentalist by leah thomas

right here, right now by natalie isaacs

feminism or death by francoise d'ealibonne

violent inheritance: sexuality, land, and energy in making the north american west by e cram

animal crisis: a new critical theory by alice grary

unsettling: surviving extinction together by elizabeth weinberg

land of women by maria sanchez

sexus animalis: there is nothing unnatural in nature by emmanuelle pouydebat

windswept: walking the paths of trailblazing women by annabel abbs

andrea smith - rape of the land

andy smith - ecofeminism through an anticolonial framework

carolyn marchant - nature as female

charlene spretnak - critical and constructive contributions of ecofeminism

heather eaton - ecological feminist theology

heather Eaton - The Edge of the Seat

janet abromovitz - biodiversity and gender Issues

joni Seager - creating a culture of destruction

karen warren - ecofeminism

karen warren - taking empirical data seriously

karen warren - the power and promise of ecological feminism

l. gruen - dismantling oppression

martha e. gimenez - does ecology need marx?

n. sturgeon - the nature of race

petra kelly - women and power

quinby - ecofeminism and the politics of resistance

rosemary radford ruether - ecofeminism: symbolic and social connections

sherry ortner - is female to male as nature is to culture?

sturgeon - the nature of race

val plumwood - feminism and ecofeminism

winona laduke - a society based on conquest cannot be sustained

if anyone has any other recommendations related to eco feminism, plz let me know :)

additional resources related to trans feminism:

the empire strikes back: a posttransexual manifesto by sandy stone

(chicago journals) trapped in the wrong theory: rethinking trans oppression and resistance by talia mae bettcher

(philpapers.org) trans women and the meaning of woman by talia mae bettcher

the transgender studies reader by susan stryker and stephen whittle

if anyone has other recommendations related to trans feminism, plz let me know :)

additional resources related to anarcha feminism:

the anarchist turn by jacob blumenfeld

we will not cancel us and other dreams of transformative justice by adrienne maree brown

burn it down: feminist manifestos for the revolution by breanne fahs

reinventing anarchy, again by howard ehrlich

anarcho-blackness by marquis bey

a little philosophical lexicon of anarchism from proudhon to deleuze by daniel colson and jesse cohn

joyful militancy by nick montgomery and carla bergman

wayward lives, beautiful experiments by saidiya v. hartman

we won't be here tomorrow and other stories by margaret killjoy

writing revolution by christopher j. castaneda

paradoxes of utopia by juan suriano

twelve fingers by jo soares

for a just and better world by sonia hernandez

if anyone has other recommendations related to anarcha feminism, plz let me know :)

[genderqueerdykes]

how do people not understand that when we hurt and fail trans women we hurt and fail all women because we've hurt and failed some of our most vulnerable, disadvantaged women. there is never a situation where you can uphold women withhold upholding trans women as well because trans women are a vital part of that population. you can't step on a trans woman's toes without stepping on a cis woman's toes or genderqueer woman's or intersex woman's or queer woman's or butch woman's toes as well. when you exclude trans women, you exclude all women. we all lose. love and include trans women or leave.

[queenofthecats]

Just wanted to say, I think I’m on the wrong side of tumblr. Why do some of y’all act like lesbians are drooling but forcing themselves not to sleep with men and male aligned people?

Lesbians are not into men, we are into: cis-women, trans-women, non-binary people, gender-fluid people, and labels similar

We are not into: men (trans and cis)

(Some lesbians have crushes on fictional men, but not real men. I’m not talking about them)

Guys, y’all don’t have to use labels, it’s ok not to. It’s ok to not know, or to feel like a label doesn’t exactly describe you. You can go by queer, but please stop using the term lesbian. You can create new terms and everything, but this was originally made for non-men to describe their attraction to non-men.

Some people feel comfortable with labels, not everybody wants to be outside of the label. I respect you guys who don’t go by labels, so please just respect people who do.

It’s completely okay to not have a label, or to create a new one. You can go by queer, and that’s okay.

I like having a box for me to relate to other people, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Just please respect lesbians space.

It feels lesphobic to identify as a man and still call yourself a lesbian, or to date men in the present and do it? Not everybody is attracted to men, this is the label that represents that. Please respect us. Maybe a different term would fit for you, or again, you don’t have to use a term. Can y’all please just stop trying to include men in lesbianism? This is the whole point of being a lesbian. You’re not a lesbian if you’re not a non-man liking non-men. You’re either a straight guy or bi/pan or just generally queer.

[clowncary]

Coining Misabviriy

original post here.

coined alongside @lunainthemoona

....

Ever since I had joined conversations about transandrophobia, I have never once felt a deep connection to persue the term beyond declaring its existence and supporting those who theorize. I am not someone who is entirely sure that I even felt represented by the term, something to use and something to be used. I did not feel as though it could describe my experiences as someone who was not a man and did not have a connection to manhood outside of how I raised myself.

This disconnect had allowed me to find people who were like-minded in what I had been proposing; a term that refers to the invisibility, malgendering, and feminization of queer masculinity.

It is not the fear and subsequent discrimination of trans men, so it cannot be transandrophobia. It is not the sexism and hatred of trans women, so it cannot be transmisogyny. It is not the prejudice and erasure of nonbinary, intersex, and altersex people, so it is not exorsexism.

I have read work from different places to further aid me in this process of desconstructing what me and a wolfemic transfem have coined — Misabviriy.

Misabviriy, as it is disected, is the hate (mis-) for queer masculinity (ab- for “off” or “away”, viriy for “manhood, masculinity”).

Misabviriy and Superiority

The first point is that masculine individuals are being depicted as superior to women and above in any way as long as one performs the masculinity correctly, which gives incentive for said masculine individuals who are correctly masculine to use said performance in order to get rewarded. Then, because they are doing it correctly, there is the expectation that they must have a prize. If they do not get one, they feel as though they have been lied to and their masculinity is being threatened. Because queermascs are masculine and/or transition to masculinity, there is the assumption that they want said patriarchal power and are able to get it naturally without recoil or a fight.

Misabviriy and Invisibility

Due to the hypervisibility of queerfem individuals by queer media, transphobic outlets, and crude imagery, there is hyperinvisibility in queermascs. The interest in transfem bodies due to their sex traits, and the disinterest in transmasc bodies specifically come from the narrative that because queermascs and transmascs are either confused “little girls” or holding fragile masculinity, transfems and queerfems must be the predatory “grown men” and ugly women type who can’t date fragile mascs. To those following TERFism, queermasc people are hiding their real selves behind masculinity as a way to compensate for failing the patriarchy horribly, and are not the real culprit because they are being “groomed” and tricked into masculinity by being a tomboy or a butch. Said queermasc identity is then questioned until they are either shoved back into the closet, or they stop being masculine.

Misabviriy and Sex

Displays of misabviriy that revolve around sexualizing the sex traits of queermascs have been widely ignored in the community. Masculine intersex people have been told that they were not intersex, and that their masculinity could be changed with corrective rape. Butches get this treatment as well and often due to being lesbians and not being a woman “correctly”. Notable displays of it are with the “cuntboy” depiction where transmascs are reduced to their reproductive system, the “silent protector” type in butchphobia where a butch is deemed useful only in sex and when protectinf femmes, and the mystification of masculine nonbinary bodies when they are not visibly feminine. Queermascs who have vulvas are also expected to bottom in pornography and in relationships, leaving a hole of content and resources when it comes to topping after phalloplasty or with a tdick. In this area, queermascs have higher rates of suicide and the possibility to be sexually assaulted, and yet the only aid a queermasc will get is if they are feminine enough on the outside to hide it. Queermascs are also more likely to detransition or become feminine at the wishes of a cis or trans sexual partner, prioritizing the sexual partner’s pleasure with a sexual “tool” instead of a preference. Testosterone is a common transmasc form of HRT, and yet it is hard to be transsexual as a masc. Testosterone is a controlled substance, and no amount of market work around will help get it any easier for DIY HRT. The lack of queermascs and transmascs on T when they want to makes others believe we are still “women”, that we want to be feminine, and that once we get it we’ll be ugly. Some people, like intersex people with low T, could die without it. And yet, we still do not have it. I am not on T, but have been taking DIY DHEA, and it is because I know that I can only afford and find resources on DHEA.

Misabviriy and Malgendering

As mentioned before, malgendering is when validation of an identity is used only to be against said identity, usually for excusing violence or discrimination. Queermascs, especially transmascs, are positioned between being denied womanhood based on identity and being denied manhood for “choosing” it and doing it wrong. Malgendering is used to scare, to put fear into one for what they may face as the gender they transition to. While not exclusive to transmascs, malgendering is used against transmascs by wishes of harm, calling trans men the “men of the trans community”, and using correct pronouns and terminology to make a joke from said trans person. GNC women who embrace masculinity are targeted the same way, starting with many people using their masculinity as a way to validate their strength, only to use that affirmation to challenge them to a fight since they are “so strong”. It paints their targets as weak fragile women. The idea that queermascs are fragile and tainting their body with masculinity is used by Baeddels, Radfems, and TERFs who target trans men and call anyone else “collateral damage" for being in the way. In queer spaces, wolffian mascs and anyone who is remotely masculine regardless of gender are seen as dangerous because their ties to masculinity means that they apparently operate under the patriarchy and work for it. Queermascs, especially those who are trans men and intersex people, are more likely to be denied life saving treatments and gynaecologists due to their identity, and this denial can lead to death.

Misabviriy and Feminization

Queermascs such as masculine nonbinary people and butches have always been feminized by the outside world as a way to quell the disgust or discomfort with them being masculine. Separation of masculinity from their queer identity is a common occurrence in communities that are supposed to aid them in being who they are. As said before, queermasculinity and those who are of it are seen as confused little girls (the basis for ROGD) and predatory men due to their connection to masculinity that is “wrong”. Because of this, not only are queermascs the victim when first transitioning but are predators lurking to lure transness into innocent girls when they are post-transition and confident. From inside the community, many butches have faced being left out of media and out of the narrative when it came to lesbianism as they were slowly turned into guard dogs and sexual pleasure — focusing heavily on how a butch is “still a woman”, and the joke of “forgetting the bookbag” that is overused. Depictions of masculine women and queermascs are always in a way where their physical features “prove” them to be not actually masculine and that they are pretending to be masculine. Queermascs have also reported feeling extremely left out and lost in inclusive spaces that actively call out queer masculinity alongside patriarchal masculinity while uplifting patriarchal femininity that wishes to benefit from the patriarchy by pulling women and queer men down into terms like TIF, female brained, “woman bits”, and fake feminism that relies on bioessentialism (TME, TMA..) and gender wars (they ultimately do not earn benefits due to misogyny)

[boreal-sea]

It's time for a companion poll!

Cis women, this poll is for you, based on the first poll I made for trans afab folks (link), which was itself based on a post by a radfem who has rosy sweet loving experiences of using the public women's restroom. She finds it to be a place of solace and safety, where she can always find menstrual products and as a child, safety from boys who were bullying her.

[pumpacti0n]

[mgso4-sayer]

Whenever I see girl math girl dinner girl science I think of those 5 years and up educational books that market themselves as "for girls!" and slap pink stickers over it. Just saying are you five

[satedsaint]

hearing from young people that they get infinitely more respect when they're seen as a man and experiencing that myself when perceived as male vs female and also experiencing the scorn given to people who are sexed as "female" but appear to be masculine or even just gender non-conforming.

seeing people come away with the idea that this is a natural state of being and the reason we do not comply with sexist and misogynist stereotypes is not because they're not true but because we're not women. the idea that there's this majority of cis women who ARE women and possess some feature or characteristic that makes them Woman, not female, the idea that it's their choice to participate in systems of gender, the idea in some cases that it's their fault for the harm and abuse they experience under these systems of gender and heteronormativity. "well she dated a man she must have known what was coming." disdain for people regarded as "women".

hatred towards anyone of any sex who breaks the gender and sex binary and disrespect towards anyone attempting to work all of this out. the many trans people i know telling me it's not as simple as "trans man" or "trans woman" but the effort it takes to explain that is always too much so they must present a simplified version of themselves, within the boundaries of gender, in order to participate in society. and i sit here and wonder how we're ever going to get out of this

[lezbi0nic]

It's always kinda funny to me when ppl say stuff like "why aren't feminists talking about THIS!" and the bad thing they're referring to has 100% been discussed by feminists before lol

[genderqueerdykes]

whats feminist about dragging other women for their appearance. what's feminist about calling other women ugly. what's feminist about mocking women with facial hair. what's feminist about mocking women with small or no breasts and equating their worth to their boobs. what's feminist about abusing fat women and mocking them for how clothes look on our bodies. what's feminist about saying women's body's have to be 1 specific size and shape or else the person isn't a woman. what's feminist about boiling women down to whether or not they're beautiful and making that be their ultimate worth? what's feminist about harrassing a woman, or anyone else, who wants or needs to take testosterone HRT because testosterone is "evil" and will make them "ugly"?

what's feminist about saying someone can't be a woman because they don't have the same face shape as you. what's feminist about saying that athletic cis women have bodies that are disgusting and "too much like a man's to be a woman". what's feminist about demonizing and antagonizing women who are sex workers. what's feminist about telling butch women who are happy that they're being misguided by the patriarchy for being masculine. what's feminist about demonizing and isolating women who have healthy sex lives? what's feminist about criticizing women who don't want to have children and equating that to their end all be all in life? what's feminist about treating a woman like a failure if they don't have children?

what's feminist about oppressing, abusing, manipulating, hurting, isolating and brainwashing women?

nothing. none of this is feminism. don't let that word leave your mouth if you can't conceptualize that abusing women will never be feminist, even women you personally don't like.