The other day, a commenter asked for a definition of radical feminism. Coincidentally, SarahMC and PilgrimSoul had just been talking about that very subject. Here are some of our thoughts. Join in!
On the perils of identifying as a radical feminist:
SarahMC: I qualify as a radical feminist in many ways, but it’s rare that I ever identify as one. There are so many different strains of feminism, and I agree with aspects of all of them, but I don’t find that there’s a reason to qualify my feminism with another label. Sometimes it’s more trouble than it’s worth, and it can be easier to simply let your words reveal your views. Even many feminists have adopted the deceptive framing of anti-feminists, who’ve successfully cast radical feminism as a man-hating philosophy that wishes to privilege women over men, enslave them, kill babies and outlaw heterosexual intercourse.
PilgrimSoul: Yeah, I usually leave my “This is What a Radical Feminist Looks Like” t-shirt in the closet. I do not defend this choice, which I did not make on principle. I made it out of sheer exhaustion from the baggage, as you mention, that people bring to the term. The cultural weight is, after all, against us. It’s like radical feminism has been reduced to bogeywoman everyone on the internet met in college or at Michfest or saw on tumblr. But I, personally, don’t seem to know any examples of this variety of “radical feminists.” But I got into radical feminism through an academic rather than activist route, perhaps that explains it.
On definitions:
PilgrimSoul: I would define radical feminism as follows: radical feminism insists that a patriarchal power structure exists in this and other cultures, that that power structure actively and deliberately oppresses women, and that the only way we can get at that power structure is through honesty, in consciousness-raising and other exercises focused on women’s experiences, about the ways in which the patriarchy continues to shape our lives. Radical feminists are particularly known for their critique of sexuality, since they tend to see that as a primary site in which patriarchy, well, happens.
SarahMC: I see radical feminism is a specific way of understanding the world and addressing the problems therein. The sex class “men” dominates the sex class “women” in a system called “patriarchy” which exists for the benefit of men and detriment of women. The goal of radical feminism it ending male supremacy (i.e. patriarchy) and thereby the oppression of women. Many radical feminists, myself included, recognize and strive to end all kinds of oppression: racism, classism, ableism, and heterosexism, among others.
On terminology:
PilgrimSoul: You know, I think one of the things that gets us in trouble as radical feminists is the way we tend to talk about things. We talk about “men,” and people think that means “all people with penises” when what we usually mean is “the socially constructed ideal of what a man is, to which most but not necessarily all men subscribe.” Put more academically, radical feminism is not equivalent to biological essentialism. Patriarchy does not reside in the Y chromosome. It resides in the world, where we live, and where the Y chromosome is given supremacy. But people seem unable to understand this nuance.
SarahMC: That is a huge pet peeve of mine. I am constantly accused of thinking “men are inherently x, y, z…” which is basically the exact opposite of what I argue. I reject the idea that people are inherently anything according to their sex. I think almost all observed emotional, mental, and intellectual differences between the sexes can be attributed to nurture rather than nature. People also seem incapable of realizing that critiquing and examining certain behavior =/= desire to outlaw said behavior.
On why we continue to be attracted to radical feminism despite all the baggage:
SarahMC: I suppose it’s important to me to constantly ask “why?” when it comes to human behavior, rather than accepting things at face value. “I choose my choice!” is not sufficient for me. At the heart of my radical feminist leanings is my absolute hatred of strictly enforced, unchallenged gender roles. The blind acceptance and perpetuation of gender essentialism is at the root of so much oppression, and it’s something that absolutely pervades society. I cannot stomach watching adults police children’s gender; it breaks my heart and I desperately want to bring an end to it.
PilgrimSoul: What attracted me to radical feminism was its refusal of simplistic interpretations of pretty much everything. Which is funny, because radical feminists are accused of being overly simplistic, of judging and condemning. But let’s put it this way: the radical feminists I recognize are people like MacKinnon and Dworkin and, to use an internet example, Twisty Faster. But those are very smart women who write complicated things about the complicated way patriarchy inserts itself into all of our lives. I guess I can understand that it’s easier to adopt simplistic interpretations, both of these women’s work and of the patriarchy itself, but I’m not sure that it gets us any further towards actually undermining male supremacy. Which, correct me if I’m wrong, is even what regular garden-variety feminism says it’s about when it talks about making women equal to men.
What on earth are you two nerds talking about?
SarahMC gets props for relieving the tension.
Wow, this is a really great post and I’m so glad you addressed this issue. I’ve noticed that a lot of feminist blogs (and really, feminists in general) tend to avoid the issue of radical feminism because it’s seen as a fringe movement, or a solely second wave issue that has died with the advent of sex-positive feminism. I’m so pleased to see intelligent young women discussing radical feminism instead of how empowering it is to be a stripper.
I’m still an undergrad (I’m 21), so most of the people I know that identify as feminists, even if they’ve been educated in feminist theory, think radical feminist ideology is irrelevant, and I think that’s really unfortunate. In fact, in my women’s studies class last week, a few of my classmates tried to shut down the discussion of a bell hooks article because they said it was silly to define feminism as an end to sexist oppression. Someone said: “Everyone knows feminism is just about equality!” I’m (obviously) still learning a lot about different feminisms, but I think reading and discussing all kinds of ideas is crucial, and I’m really disheartened to see that a lot of my peers don’t really care about anything but the really contemporary sex-positive stuff and queer theory. I love reading about those things too, but I think they get a little bit too much emphasis by some people my age just because it’s so current.
I don’t know what kind of feminist I would identify as. I’m still learning a lot and I think it’s been really useful to read essays from all over the feminist spectrum. I’m just so glad that you all brought this up, because it’s an often neglected area (at least in my experience) and it’s definitely one worth talking about. I guess I do accept a lot of radical feminist ideas, but I don’t consider myself educated enough at this point to claim that (or any other) title.
SORRY this was so long, but I just wanted to let all of the writers here know that I’m so glad you made this site. It’s rapidly become an awesome feminist blog and it’s really a pleasure to read such insightful posts.
SHIT, sorry that was so long; feel free to skim.
I really enjoyed this discussion, everyone. I’ve only begun to identify as a radical feminist in the past year. I only didn’t before because I haven’t been to college and haven’t read most of the ur-texts that people reference.
It seems like a lot of feminists on the internet want to avoid defining feminism beyond “pro-equality” or talking about how it should inform our lives. There’s this backlash-impulse to accuse the bad radical ones of wanting to take people’s cards away that seems to stunt real discussion of what our belief in equality demands that we do. That’s why I like this blog so much. Like PilgrimSoul, I think feminism demands at the least that we examine our thoughts and actions and recognize our internalized sexism.
I know I’m coming in waaaay late on this, but I was wondering if you had any specific articles to suggest for introducing myself to radical feminism. I know I have some Dworkin articles sitting around somewhere, but it’s been a while since I did any theory work and I don’t even remember which types of feminism I’ve even read articles about (college–I’s blocking it out). The only thing I do remember is that I hate hate hate green/ecological/Earth Mother feminism with a passion.
I don’t think I’m a radical feminist since I don’t believe in the end of dominance as a concept. Awareness and honesty about gender dominance is my main goal as a feminist, but I don’t see consciousness-raising as leading to an END to dominance, since that concept just doesn’t make sense to me.
Would you say radical feminism embraces consciousness-raising as a end in itself, or simply as a means to ending dominance altogether? In other words, how much emphasis do radfems place on ending dominance?
May, the seminal Dworkin is Intercourse, and Dworkin… well, even I have a difficult relationship with her sometimes, and she has a language of her own that takes time and thought to understand, so I rarely recommend her as a first step.
I would ordinarily tell people to read something like MacKinnon’s Feminism Unmodified as an initial primer. But that you can only order as a book.
Thus, for online stuff I would really recommend actually, first, spending a lot of time reading Twisty’s archives at I Blame the Patriarchy. Twisty has a great knack for attacking things from a rad fem perspective without requiring a lot of background first, and she is pretty much paradigmatic of what I would call “good radical feminism.” Also, she is hilariously funny.
Also, May, re consciousness-raising and dominance – I would say radfems do think that the end of dominance as a strategy is key. (This is why, for example, I would call bell hooks a radical feminist as well, even though she is not typically included on The List – she is all about ending dominance.)
Consciousness-raising is the path to “awareness and honesty” about dominance for most radical feminists, but as hooks says somewhere in Fem Theory: From Margin to Center, but I cannot locate the precise words right now, consciousness-raising is not enough. Once you are conscious and you see dominance, it is hard for me to understand why you wouldn’t want to end it? Perhaps you could elaborate?
Re: ending dominance. Even as someone who uses a label other than radfem, I can’t think of any other reason to make the realization unless it leads to action–feminist revolution, even. Whether “revolution” means taking to streets with pitchforks, passing sharp-toothed legislation, or something as “simple” as opting out of Beauty Culture (I realize it isn’t simple at all–merely that it is something many individual women could do on their own), I’m for it. Which is why I do actuallly wish women would say No to high heels, cosmetics, name-changing-at-marriage, etc. How you act matters. Those things are not tantamount to ending dominance, but I am frustated by those who think just realizing and discussing the evils of Patriarchy is enough. It’s a first step, not the last.
Thanks for the suggestions! Maybe I will order the book (can you tell I miss college?)
I think that to me, we can subvert/diminish male dominance, but we cannot do away with the concept of dominance altogether. We can check certain groups’/individuals’ ability to dominate other groups, but we cannot completely destroy anyone’s ability to desire to dominate another. The desire for dominance can be a healthy one and I accept it as a concept.
So the goal of consciousness-raising to me is merely to diminish male dominance and give the option for female dominance. I think that awareness/consciousness-raising in itself gives me power over males–power to behave in a way that does not reinforce their dominance over me, and to actively fight for female dominance in general (I want to write more on this but I have to go buy some furniture in a sec–bah).
But the concept of dominance stays. Feminism to me is about allowing women to assume a dominant role if they so choose.
Okay, all my pseudo-analysis is still very vague, but it’s what I got so far. Hope it clarifies some things.
Oh, and to PhDork: I do think consciousness-raising (eeek, I am getting sick of typing that word and I feel very mid-century right now) is only a first step–a first step to diminishing the dominance of patriarchy, NOT doing away with the concept of dominance altogether.
I am a pretty skeptical socialist and see a limit to how much we can diminish one’s ability to dominate another.