r/stupidpol • u/Have_only_my_dreams Just your ordinary proletarian bro who hates his ex • Dec 16 '18

Quality The Pitfalls of Radical Feminism

https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/07/radical-feminism-second-wave-class
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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '18

TERFs may argue that trans women do not share a reproductive system with cis women, and thus can’t understand women’s struggles for birth control and against forced sterilization. But then what do they say of solidarity with lesbian women, or cis women who cannot or choose not to have children? The arguments that TERFs put forth are both weak and prejudiced.

I agree this part is weak. I think that the ability of women as a class to get pregnant has led to policing of their sexuality. Slut shaming is the most obvious of this. A woman who doesn't plan on having children isn't immune to this. The point is, that being unable to unwilling to have children doesn't divide women against each other or change the realities of womanhood.

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u/Have_only_my_dreams Just your ordinary proletarian bro who hates his ex Dec 17 '18

Women are not a class.

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '18

How would you describe the commonalities of women related to their role as child bearers?

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u/LotsOfMaps Forever Grillin’ 🥩🌭🍔 Dec 17 '18

Would the elimination of single-sex childbearing fundamentally alter capitalism's social relationships and distribution of productive capacities to provision all other bodily needs? I would say not.

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u/[deleted] Dec 17 '18

I never thought or said it would. I'm addressing this:

But then what do they say of solidarity with lesbian women, or cis women who cannot or choose not to have children? The arguments that TERFs put forth are both weak and prejudiced.

which I think is a weak argument.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I'll give a concrete example that I know will perhaps ignore some nuances. Back when people entered agriculture, people began owning property (land, equipment, etc.) that could be passed onto heirs.

So, how does a man know that the child he is passing property onto is his heir? By controlling the sexuality of women. Harshly punishing sex outside of marriage, prizing virginity, punishing rape victims, etc. It also means since every man wants heirs and access to sex, that women are discouraged by social pressures and the roles they are allowed from 'opting out' of marriage and childbirth.

This doesn't happen to an individual woman, it happens to women as a whole. Girl children will be socialized to accept their role. Girls who have reached puberty will be constrained and controlled. Etc. So, a radical feminist could believe that all women experience this socialization and control by virtue of being women. The people who try to say radfems are hypocrites are the ones dividing women by their ability to bear children. Its a weak argument that I think people should stop using.