International Women's Day: In defence of feminist dissent

[ismnotwasm]

Excellent article-- truly worth the read

Should we tolerate debate within feminism's ranks? Undebatable! But it's not so simple: women are socialised to avoid conflict; when we do differ, especially on politics and in public, it's still tediously labelled a "catfight". Disagreement seems reserved for the guys, who trot along the spectrum from "frank and candid dissent" up through nuclear war with entitled ease. Nevertheless, women (even feminists) fortunately don't march in lock-step, so trying to smother debate is foolish – and impossible.

Healthy argument is why I'm a feminist. I was a New Left "revolutionary", patronisingly ready to indoctrinate my initial women's group with Marxism. Happily, they got to me first, in close-to-the-bone passionate arguments about men, sex, intimate violence, unpaid labour, and how – ahem – "the personal is political".

But I have standards, seasoned over 40 years of activism. I don't waste time debating patriarchy's defenders. I don't practise or tolerate personal trashing. I don't engage with faux feminists who, whether under the aegis of religious fiat or sexual libertarianism, refuse to understand that all women deserve full reproductive rights, all women deserve to love whomever they choose, all women deserve freedom from violence, poverty and illiteracy, that the buying and selling of any human being is slavery. Feminism is for all women and girls, not a privileged few or one ethnicity, religion, age, sexual preference, ability, region or hemisphere. Women born and raised on this fragile planet have more uniting us than dividing us – and it's the job of feminists to help us realise that. Those are my standards. Otherwise, bring on dissent!

Robin Morgan is founding editor of Ms Magazine
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/07/international-womens-day-defence-feminist-dissent-argued-priorities

[redqueen]

1. "I don't waste time debating patriarchy's defenders."

K&R