you truly cannot say anything about lesbophobia without getting dogpiled by peoole who 1. see all criticism of lesbophobia as some form of bigotry, and 2. use the very few misogynistic lesbians that exist as a gotcha to silence conversation surrounding the unique oppression we face.
why do lesbians have to provide 500 disclaimers about how supportive we are of other women, how much we love other women, how we aren't talking about all straight/bi women, how much women of other sexualities suffer, how we arent like those nasty misogynistic dykes—which, by the way, disclaimers that are never reciprocated or required of other women—to be granted the right to discuss our oppression?
why must we always make space for non-lesbian women in conversations about lesbophobia? why must we prove our solidarity with non-lesbian women by downplaying the oppression we face to center their experiences in our conversations? and why are non-lesbians across the board never held to the same standard?
it's lesbophobia, plain and simple. the dual oppression of homophobia (homos are mean and exclusionary and hate everyone who isn't them), and misogyny (women must be all-inclusive, people-pleasing, and submissive) exclusively faced by lesbians. which is why having these discussions is necessary in the first place.
and derailing these discussions with other conversations, no matter how important those conversations are, directly contributes to lesbophobia by policing conversations about our oppression. the ultimate goal is to silence us, by making it so difficult for us to speak on lesbian issues that we give up on it altogether. and no, your intent doesn't matter when the result still harms us.
time and time again, we see that any acknowledgement of our oppression incites a knee-jerk defensiveness in non-lesbians, which is an argument we were never meant to win. nobody listens when we speak, or understands what we're saying, or empathizes with our struggles. we are expected to let everyone else determine the validity of our claims, and to listen when those people tell us we're wrong—and why they are more oppressed than we could ever be—and how we are the true oppressors over them.
this attitude being so normalized in the most pro-female feminist movement of the modern era shows how widespread lesbophobia is, and proves why lesbians deserve our own branch of feminism to discuss lesbian issues.
the plight of the lesbian must never be acknowledged, lest the plight of everyone else be forgotten.
prguitarman
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dailybridgerton
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