i have been working on something for a while now. something that i think will help us move forward in the ways that we’ve been needing when referring to female liberation and feminism.
INTRODUCING: THE RULES TO ANTI-MISOGYNY.
i dedicate this to all women who have been shunned and ridiculed by modern society for their feminism being too “harsh.” too “unpalatable.” not “inclusive” enough. to all women who are forced into shame over female liberationist beliefs, and told that to prioritize liberating the female sex is, in “fact,” anti-feminist.
the truth is that, in a society built on the subordination of the female sex class, true female liberation will be unpalatable. it will be met with bashing on all sides of the political spectrum, picked apart by biased scholars, and resisted by all who benefit from female subordination and male supremacy, including those who call themselves “feminists.” sometimes even our own sisters. but we acknowledge a truth that they completely ignore: that liberation is not one-size-fits-all, and that oppression is more complex than previously theorized.
the notion that all oppressed groups face the same battle (and therefore must fight for all liberation) is flawed at best. what may be good for one minority group may spell disaster for another. in an attempt to be all-inclusive, modern activists fail to truly invest personal power into any given topic, lest they hear of a trending new movement to get behind.
this “progressive, inclusive” approach to activism, most ironically, serves as a muzzle for true political uprising; if you must fight for everything, you stand for nothing, and this movement (which i will call Attention Economy Activism, or AEA) leaves the modern activist overwhelmed, exhausted, uneducated on the topics at hand, and intolerant to any disagreement or nuanced conversation. everything’s important, but nothing is vital, and passion dies in this haze.
you are not wrong for prioritizing what you are called to fight for. that calling has led you to extended reading, watching, discussion, learning, organizing, etc. your search for knowledge on a particular subject or few subjects doesn’t make you a “bad activist.” you do not owe all movements your activism on account of being a minority. the modern activism landscape has completely ditched the concept of allyship— that it’s okay to not know everything about a topic, so long as your first point of reference when trying to learn is an activist who’s specialty is that topic.
we prefer to be masters in our fields, not jacks of all trades. and that is okay.
so this is for you. to help make things easier for allies, for feminists, for all who love females— i hope this just got a bit easier for you. xx
