what's the difference between a libfem, intersectional, and a radfem? i see a lot of angry posts about both and i'm trying to learn more about feminism so it's very confusing? (only answer if ya feel like it i totally understand its not your obligation!)
Alright so I, like you, am a little unclear on this. So I turned to my good friend Jai who just graduated with a Bachelorās in Gender, Sexuality & Womensā Studies and is just an all-around badass feminist, and they gave me this awesome response. They also run a pretty new YouTube channel, LGBTQ&A, where you can ask questions about queer stuff. Itās great. Okay, here ya go-
āAlright, lemme give this a crack. Radfem is both hardest and easiest to define - itās original usage was to describe a certain brand of radical feminism during (primarily) the second wave of feminism. 2nd wave radfems were the ones who promoted ideas like political lesbianism - having sex & relationships exclusively with other women, regardless of primary sexual preference - and the idea that all heterosexual sex is rape. Most Secondwave Radfems will also be somewhat biologically deterministic - men and women are different, because biology, and men can never be women and women can never be men, and this isnāt necessarily a bad thing. (Honestly, to me, it sounds a lot like "separate but equalā rhetoric from the civil rights era.) Modern day Radfems are often either secondwavers whoāre just still doing the same thing, or young 3rd wavers whoāre having a really strong reaction to the rhetoric presented by the media and society and thus choose to go against it in every single way. Radfem is often used as a pejorative by more moderate feminists, although it is claimed as a title by some feminists.Ā
Libfem is (essentially) the opposite of Radfem. Libfems often work āwithinā the system to do their feminism - thereās a crossover between libfem and whatās often called āfunfemā (mean people who donāt really care about the hard work and the fight, and just want to have/do the fun parts of feminism.) Libfems also arose during secondwave, although I couldnāt say whether thatās as a response to Radfems or the other way around, or what. Libfem ideology is generally the āsoftā stuff - itās about choice and agency, and a woman can choose to do a thing, and that makes it okay for her. Libfems are often accused of ignoring the systematic oppressions which can cause women to āchooseā one path or another (sex work, stay at home mom), when they havenāt actually got the choice at all. Libfems also tend to be criticised for being primarily middle class and white (which is often a criticism leveled against Radfems, come to think of it), which means that their focus on choice and agency ignores (like I said) the systematic opprssions which force many women of colour into āchoosingā a path which they might not have otherwise done.
The best path, in my opinion, lies somewhere in the middle. This is where intersectionality comes in. Intersectionality is the acknowledgement and practice of consciously listing (bad word choice, trying to find a different one) the different ways in which our experiences of oppression interact. Libfems and Radfems alike are accused of not being intersectional enough; both groups focus on womensā experiences /as women/, before anything else, while actual women may have much different ways of thinking about themselves. Intersectionality is the academic way of talking about privilege and oppression and the intersections of our various places in society. As an idea, it started in the late second wave, as a reaction to these white, straight, middle class women trying to tell other women how to be feminist. An intersectional approach to feminism will acknowledge that not all women have the same opportunities, that women of colour face extra oppression and stigma for being of colour as well as women. Queer women experience homophobia and/or transphobia, as well as misogyny. Poor womenā¦ &c.ā
So there you have it! If anybody has any questions or comments or more information about this, Iād love to continue this conversation (or of course you can continue it directly with Jai, but I wanna learn too!).
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