This is about anarchafeminism.  My anarchafeminism.  Just like feminism, just like anarchism, anarchafeminism is defined by the woman it resides in.  I think an anarchist woman wrote a feminist manifesto and got it published into a book.  I've never read it and do not claim its words as my own.  These are my words.  They are not any other woman's words.  But they could be.

"Anarchism and feminism have always been closely linked. Many outstanding feminists have also been anarchists..."
This is the first line on Infoshop.org's Anarcha-feminism kiosk , which, as far as I know, is run by a man.  This line is where our problem starts (or where we will start to explore the problem, because the problem attacks us from so many different angles all at once and it's impossible to tell where it started -- only where it needs to stop).
Anarcha-feminists are not women who happen to be both anarchists and feminists.  Anarchism and feminism are not closely linked.  They are not related.  They are one.  By separating anarchism and feminism, men are able to marginalize women and our struggles and to effectively cut the heart and the social out of anarchist philosophy and theory.  When we challenge internal group patriarchy, men quickly relegate that "issue" to the feminist realm.  "Oh, that's a feminist issue.  We're dealing with anarchism right here.  You should go talk to NOW about that one."  Anarchism is not just about money, brothers.   It's not just about economic class.  If I were interested in economic  class war as a panacea for the world's problems and my problems, I'd be a communist.  I'm not a communist.  I'm an anarchist.  I recognize that economic class isn't the only type of class, and it isn't the "main" type of class system, either.  Attempting to look at the current class system in terms of economic class displaces a lot of people, because economic class lines are not evenly drawn across races, genders, geographies, sexualities.  How do you deal with someone like me?  I don't feel economic oppression.  I'm upper middle class.  However, I still feel oppressed because of my gender, and it's not because I'm going to grow up to make 75 cents on every man's dollar.  I feel oppressed because I don't feel safe walking down the street in my own town.  I don't feel safe in my own anarchist community.  I don't feel safe in my own home.  It's because I'm a woman.  Economic  class warfare and the subsequent abolition of economic classes will not solve my problems.  I will still be raped.  I will still be beaten.   I will still be silenced.  I will still live in fear.  This is a revolution, and I don't want to hear excuses about how you're not  strong enough to deal with a revolution that's bigger than you can even imagine.  Anyone can fight a class war.  Anarchists fight oppression on all fronts.  
A statement like "many feminists have also been anarchists" verbalizes this forced fragmentation and subsequent shattering of anarchist principles.  At the same time, it makes a horrible attempt to "link" the different fragments by attempting to show how one fragment (in this case the feminist fragment) is "linked" to the male-defined main body of "anarchism" and "anarchist history."  If we stop fragmenting anarchism, there will be no need for these weak, insulting, tokenizing "links."
If you decide to " Read more... " on Infoshop.org's anarcha-feminist kiosk, you will come to their FAQ about anarchism and their section that attempts to define anarcha-feminism.  A good portion of the section explains that true "radical feminism" is anarchism, and any feminism that isn't anarchism is just playing into The Man's hands [ "Hence anarchism's traditional hostility to liberal (or mainstream) feminism, while supporting women's liberation and equality" ].  This is an all-too-common tendency of anarchists in general (even women): we patronize and criticize marginalized peoples, their activism, and their movements because they are not "radical" enough for us.  We try to convince them that anarchism is the only way there will ever be true equality, and anarchist revolution is our one and only option for bettering our lives.  I agree that the only way we're going to get out of the cycle of "fighting" for a right then "fighting" to keep it and "fighting" to defend it is to overthrow the government and the corporations and the fundamentalists that we are fighting against, but until we overthrow every single hierarchial power structure there is, I have to find a way to live, and we as a people need to find a way to live.  I can't wait for the anarchist revolution to happen so that I can stop holding my breath.  I need protection from rape, from violence; I need food and shelter.  The anarchist movement is not offering me any tools, and structures, that will help me live.  Who came into my classroom in sixth grade and taught me and my classmates how to use a condom?  Who fought to gain entrance to my sixth grade classroom to teach me that?  Who, when they are locked out of classrooms, gives me free, confidential access to things I need to help me live a healthy life as a woman, the way I choose?  The answer is not "anarchists."  It's those good-for-nothing, spineless, Democrat-voting, hierarchial, inherently patriarchial, liberal whinos, Planned Parenthood.  They've done more for me than your fucking revolution has, so until you figure out a way to meet my needs and the needs of other marginalized, at-risk people, why the hell should I join your revolution?  Don't give me that "in the long run revolution is better for you and your people" crap.  If it weren't for them I might've had unsafe sex and gotten sick or pregnant and then I'd really have problems squeezing into the tight mold of what a true revolutionary anarchist is.
Luckily, a good number of anarchists do realize that as anarchists, we need to begin meeting our own communities' needs before we topple the Evil Empire.  Let's face it, the Evil Empire does provide some necessary things for a lot of people in some small way or another.  These necessities come at a cost, and the price is generally blood, sweat, and tears, but they're there, and many people are finding ways to survive within the system or parallel to the system.  We're not going to overthrow any system that a majority of people (in this country at least) are dependent upon in some way or another, unless the system becomes unnecessary.  Anarchists are taking steps. 
~Some communities have redifined Food Not Bombs so that it is no longer a once-a-week mobile guerrilla soup kitchen.  They've turned it into an interactive food redistribution organization.  The more free food people have, the less money they have to make to buy food, the less they have to do wage labor, the more time they have to devote to whatever activism and/or mind-expanding, eye-opening project they see fit.
~Many communities have some sort of health service or collective set up to keep anarchists happy and healthy without medical insurance and a ton of money.  Services include women's health, mental health, homeopathy and herbal remedies, eastern medicine, etc, and they don't require a doctor.  In cities and towns where there are no public hospitals, these collectives are a vital form of preventative health care.
~Community gardens give people a place to converge and connect.  They also provide healthy fruits and vegetables  for the entire neighborhood.

So it's time for you to do something truely revolutionary, brothers.  It's time to fight patriarchy.  For some reason, this is an incredibly difficult task for many men (or people in general).  I've seen men throw molotov cocktails at police officers; I've seen them take over abandoned houses with homeless people, and I've seen them make moving speeches about oppressed people they've never seen or talked to for more than five minutes.  However, I've seen these same men's backs as they walk (or more like run) away from me when I need their support in challenging sexism within our own community.  So here it is.  This is your big chance to do something revolutionary instead of just talking about it.  This is something critical that depends upon your actions.  But you're too busy shutting down the WTO and fighting capitalism (whatever that means), all the while stepping over my battered body and the bodies of my sisters.  This isn't some difficult-to-grasp theory, or some long, drawn-out battle plan.  Your job is simple: support me in the way I choose.  Ask me what you can do.  I will tell you.  If I can't, then take the time to sit down with me and talk.  We can figure it out together.
"But, you don't understand, Sister.  You're putting me in a very difficult position.  It's not fair to put me in a box like this."  You're right, I don't understand.  Let's stop talking about you for once and talk about me.  Listen closely, because while women who challenge sexism are extremely strong, brave people, we're still fighting internalized sexism.  When you start talking about your needs and your wants and the mental anguish we're putting you through, that selfless mother figure who's been shoved into our minds and our hearts might help you beat back the strong assertive woman who's attempting to break free.  How many times have I fallen into the trap of feeling guilty about my strength because it's making an impact?  How many times have I backed down because men have told me that I'm making them feel bad when I challenge their sexist, opressive behavior?  How many times have I considered the "difficult position" that I put men in when I challenge them and their friends?  And how many times have they considered my difficult position?  Let's talk about the "box" that sexist oppression puts me in.  My box is my apartment.  I don't leave it.  If I go to shows to see bands, I might run into my homicidal ex.  If I go to my favorite food places, I may run into people who have attacked me for challenging my ex's threatening behavior.  If I go to activist meetings or activities, I know they will be there.  So I stay in my apartment, my box, and I play Nintendo and whine on the internet where no one can hear.  Are you starting to see the difficult position I am put in simply because I am a woman?  You have the privilege of choosing your position in this situation.  I don't choose.  I didn't choose to have an ex who wanted to slit my throat.  I don't choose to get talked down to or ignored when I talk to activist men.  I don't choose to live in fear.  I don't choose to be depressed, and I don't choose to have an eating disorder.  These are choices that were made for me, by people like you.  Just because you didn't talk down to me or just because you didn't threaten to slit my throat doesn't mean that you're not forcing me into my box, into my difficult position, by simply doing nothing.  So don't tell me about your difficult position and the pain you're going through.  You have a choice.  I don't.  Be a fucking revolutionary and step out of your comfort zone.  It'll require some pain and struggle on your part (and mine, but that is a given), but isn't that what revolution is all about?

 [go home]                     [go to messageboard]