Interesting Insights - Tumblr Posts

I really like the phrase "those perceived to carry and birth children" because that sort of sums up how misogyny affects all women regardless of their genotype and reproductive abilities. I have a friend with Turner's syndrome (single X genotype) who will never be able to have kids, but people view her exactly the same way that they view me, as a twenty-something woman worthy of all the same misogynistic bullshit.

I think…at times we get too bogged down in the nitty-gritty of what makes someone female or male. Like talking about which sex produces large gametes and which produces small gametes, or variations on chromosomes, etc. Is that a valuable conversation to be had? Yes, absolutely. But I think we get trapped in that argument and it distracts from the main issue—that patriarchy is designed to oppress those with female phenotypes and the perceived ability to carry and birth children.

Because an intersex child who looks female is going to be raised with female socialization, regardless of their chromosomal makeup. Women who do not have uteruses, from birth or via surgical procedure, are still subject to misogyny and structural sexism due to their perceived biological abilities.

I think most radical feminists know this, but I don’t know how many of us realize that picking these definitions apart are ways to distract us from identifying our material oppression and coming together as women—because the more we argue about the details, the less focused we are on developing bonds between women and ultimately female class consciousness.

I’m putting these thoughts into a coherent statement for the first time, and I’d like to know other women’s opinions.