Women are too divided and exclusionary toward each other for a women only movement to truly succeed. I’m not saying I’m perfect, but the way women will exclude other women for being sex workers, mothers, heterosexual, having different opinions, or not being radical enough creates a problem. If the goal is to build a movement for women, it has to include all women.
Men’s misogynistic movements (and I’m not saying this to praise them) often appear stronger because they don’t usually exclude other men from joining. Even when they disagree, they tend to keep them within the movement and place them into different categories rather than removing them entirely. They understand that collective power requires having more people involved. These groups aren’t free of internal conflicts either; they still divide over things like ideology, race, religion, class, leadership, and tactics. However, they often prioritize a shared goal over their differences, which can make them appear more unified.
I feel like if women could do the same and build around a common goal instead of constantly excluding each other, movements like “I hate men” or women centered movements would have a stronger chance of succeeding. A movement that excludes too many potential supporters will struggle to gain enough power to create large scale change. The broader the coalition, the more disagreement it will have to accept, while smaller movements may be more consistent ideologically but will also have less reach.
Women get exlcuded from feminism for being heterosexual, lol? I sort of need you to expand on this.
It should be fairly simple and straightforward to understand.
Social media is a great tool for spreading ideas, and finding community where one physically has no access to a community with like-minded people. A lot of women will discover feminism, criticism of surrogacy, prostitution, and the trans movement through online blogs and discussions. Tumblr is an accessible way to keep up with news, studies, and articles from a feminist perspective which is seen by thousands of women even if the notes do not reflect it.
The problem is that like most social media, tumblr has a circlejerk problem where many of you feel empowered to refer to women you disagree with in degrading ways, and treating separatism like an ultimatum. I've blocked many blogs calling married women with families stupid bitches or subhuman cock-suckers because a straight woman engaging in her sexuality or becoming a mother is seen as immoral.
I shouldn't have to explain to you why a community that looks down on male-partnered women will have problems attracting straight women, who just happen to be 90% of the female population. This sort of mockery drives away not only women who are already partnered, but those who don't feel ready to commit to separatism, or simply unwilling to. The result is that women who would've agreed with you on everything else (surrogacy, prostitution, sex-based oppression...) end up distancing themselves from the online space, which results in them seeing fewer articles, studies, and discussion from a feminist perspective. It doesn't mean these women will throw away everything they've learned and become anti-feminist, but I'd still consider their absence a loss.
