I'm glad you're a supporter! Of course we do realize we need men on our side in our struggle for liberation - I don't know how the rules will end up shaking out down here, but if we end up with separate places again, it might be good to have a GenderCriticalEveryone sub for us to talk and strategize on and chat even. It's very cool that you respected the boundary last time.

When it comes to having female only places to talk, Lundy Bancroft at https://peaklivingnetwork.org/readings/ said:

"BUILDING ALLIANCES

Unity between men and women in liberation struggles is a challenge. Sexism, like all forms of oppression, is divisive. The quality of our alliances with women is going to be up to us; women will trust us to the extent that we earn their trust. Every time they work with us, women will be wondering, “Are our concerns going to be gradually pushed aside? ls our leadership going to be undermined? Are our working relationships going to be sexualized? Are we going to feel silent and invisible?” Women have good reason to worry, because these dynamics unfold in almost every mixed-gender organizations, no matter how conscious the men appear to be.

Women pay other prices to have men along as allies; we insist that they temper their outrage, we expect that they should be grateful to us, we demand that they listen to us whine. If we step outside of these habits, and above all stop sexualizing working relationships, we’ll find ourselves gradually less and less on trial.

The quality of our listening will be the other key determinant; our defensiveness is one of the biggest obstacles to effective alliances.

“DIVISIVENESS”

Women who speak bluntly about sexism, or who demand opportunities to gather without men present, get accused of “divisiveness.” These women are not causing divisions. They are, rather, refusing to ignore the divisions that sexism has created, refusing to continue the charade of unity. When women get opportunities for separateness, the possibility for true unity actually increases. Why? Because women gain the centeredness and solidarity to operate from their own reality instead of from pretense. They then come back to their relationships with men able to insist on redefining them, instead of having to accept them on men’s terms.

This same principle holds across all lines of oppression: genuine unity is only possible as we learn to better understand and respect the different experiences of the oppressed, their different cultures, and their different relationships to social power."

The most important part I think is "When women get opportunities for separateness, the possibility for true unity actually increases." I've found it be very true and it's not really a slap at men as much as a centering practice for us, a way to sort of ground ourselves before going back into the battle.

Anyway, welcome to the movement!