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There’s a lot of radtwt chat about focusing too hard on gender. And I get that. Sometimes we do. But the more I think about gender ideology and what it’s doing to modern feminism and women’s rights, the more I realise it is in fact the biggest threat to feminism today. A thread.
I say that because we are being stripped of language and concepts. If we don’t have the language to describe experiences rooted in misogyny, if we can’t say “women experience this because we are born women,” how can we accurately address *every* other issue we want to tackle?
Eg periods are stigmatised across cultures because WOMEN HAVE THEM. Period poverty exists because of misogyny. To describe this phenomenon and lobby for women requires the language “women have periods” or even just “females have periods.”
But we increasingly can’t have either.
But we increasingly can’t have either.
The very concepts that make feminism meaningful are being degraded.
Take patriarchy. Radfeminism understands the root of patriarchy to be bio differences between men and women—which allow men to take advantage of women.
Now they say “sex is a spectrum” like it does no harm.
Take patriarchy. Radfeminism understands the root of patriarchy to be bio differences between men and women—which allow men to take advantage of women.
Now they say “sex is a spectrum” like it does no harm.
But without acknowledgment of sex differences, identifying the causes of patriarchy becomes meaningless. The power dynamic becomes obfuscated. The roots of patriarchy become hidden.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT PATRIARCHY WANTS.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT PATRIARCHY WANTS.
Patriarchy exists when women are considered subordinate as a sex class, because *the reason patriarchy exists* is because of the difference between the sexes.
Not the genders. The sexes.
If we can’t say that, we can’t address the root causes of our oppression.
Not the genders. The sexes.
If we can’t say that, we can’t address the root causes of our oppression.
So if gender replaces sex in our policies, if sex and gender are both “spectrums” and anyone can be female, the root of patriarchy ceases to make sense or be easily explained. The root of our persecution becomes impossible to describe.
And *every other issue* flows from that.
And *every other issue* flows from that.
I’m struck by a nonbinary woman reminding me “I experience misogyny too.” Of course you do!!! That’s the point! No matter what gender you identify as, your sex determines your place in the patriarchy.
I also no longer think that this is a first world problem. When I see the UN, UNICEF, WHO changing their language to fit gender ideology, I realise that this will affect the most vulnerable women and girls who are receiving support from global organisations.
We have to stem the tide in the West BEFORE it reaches the East. This is going global in a way that will truly have disturbing consequences for women everywhere. And I say that as a Desi woman.
So, yes. We can (and should) make time for a multitude of issues. We shouldn’t be so narrow minded that we don’t address anything else.
But for me the most pressing battle is gender ideology denuding our concepts and our language, and I’m not going to apologise for that.
But for me the most pressing battle is gender ideology denuding our concepts and our language, and I’m not going to apologise for that.
