Hello friends, sisters. A Spanish radfem here. I just wanted to share my story, to honour the GC sub and its wonderful mods and members. Around spring last year I went into r/GenderCritical in search of abolitionist feminists (against prostitution, pornography, reproductive exploitation). I had been reading proper feminism (Kate Millet, Gerda Lerner) for a while by then, and had been questioning why libfems were censoring women so much within the organized feminist movement (in which I have participated actively for several years in my country), so I was ready to peak.
But I was still SO stuck in self-censorship and guilt, so terrified of what could happen, that I did not dare connect the dots about trans by myself. When I joined r/GenderCritical, I told myself, "only for the abolitionism". Then I started reading, and reading and reading. And I couldn't stop. And of course, in one day, I peaked. And I kept peaking for at least the four following months.
I spent them frantically reading GC and all the sister subs, learned about autogynephiles, actual consequences of self-ID in countries that already have it, the whole MRA movement camouflaged as TRAs. I felt exhilarated at having found such clarity of mind, and thanks to this incredible secret world that I could access compulsively! I was also scared, of course. Terrified I would be immediately ostracized by my very libfem environment if anyone were to find out what thoughts I was now having. But r/GenderCritical made me understand I wasn't alone. I remember reading a comment by someone back then, along the lines of "when I feel alone I think there are other 30,000 women with me" (that was more or less the subbed count back then), and I started thinking the same. It made me feel brave.
I looked for a GC feminist group in my city and found one (the only one back then, with women fighting tooth and nail to keep it women only). Today, just one year later, there are at least 3 that I know of, all firmly radfem and proud. At a personal level, in the past year I've peak transed several friends and use my social media to make the rest of my circle face what's going on. If you'd told me this last year, I wouldn't have thought it possible to be 'out' there in the open.
What I'm trying to say is, r/GenderCritical has made history. It has impacted so many women and pushed us towards taking actual political, organized action. It has been instrumental in consciousness-raising of an exponential number of people, because just one subbed woman (like me) that is pushed towards organizing and speaking out will get the word out to so many people, who will discuss it with others in turn.
I left r/GenderCritical after summer last year as I got more and more involved in activism in my real life. In Spain we are fighting our so-called progressive Government right now. Their intention is to pass the self-ID law this summer, right in the middle of the pandemic, in the dirtiest move possible. We will try not to let it happen. I'm glad to say important Spanish feminist intellectuals and also many activists have now taken a stance (as well as a couple well-known female writers, Laura Freixas and Lucía Etxebarría, "our JK Rowlings" ;).
Anyway. Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to say THANK YOU GenderCritical from the bottom of my heart. And make no mistake, we will win this one. In sisterhood.
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