US conservative women are out fighting for women's rights, why aren't we?

submitted by BEB from self.GenderCritical

Ladies, I am frustrated. The conservative women's groups in the states I live in are taking action against TiMs in girls' sports, against TiMs in women's spaces, etc.

What are we doing?

Sure, we have the incredibly brave women of WoLF, Women's Human Rights Campaign, Feminists in Struggle, out there trying their hardest. But it's a few hundred women doing all the heavy lifting.

If the Equality Act passes every single American women loses a shit ton of rights in addition to being erased. We lose our safety, our privacy, our dignity, our sports.

Why are we not storming the barricades like conservative, non-feminist women are?

Even on Ovarit, the post about the Equality Act gets barely any traffic.

In the meantime, conservative group Mass Resistance is out there flooding the school board meetings of schools pushing gender ideology.

We are supposed to be the feminists. We are supposed to be the fighters. And yet we are limp noodles, while women who believe women should be wives and mother only are out there fighting for all of our rights.

What is wrong with this picture? What is wrong with us?

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[–]Finnegan7921 23 insightful - 5 fun23 insightful - 4 fun24 insightful - 5 fun -  (7 children)

b/c Orange Man bad, anyone who voted for Orange Man bad, anything Orange Man advocated bad, and finally, Orange Man bad. 4 years of that is why. Anything non woke is treated as if you threw on a uniform with a red armband and saluted the swastika.

[–]BEB[S] 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I know and it's frustrating (and I fucking loathed Trump).

But each of us who does know what's going on need to also try to effect change - call five politicians today, talk to five friends, today, tell them to talk to five friends today.

Show them pictures - sports pictures of TiMs against girls work really well on Americans.

But we have to DO SOMETHING. In a few days, the US House will pass a bill that will undo the work of women far braver than us and plunge women's lives into fear and darkness.

WE HAVE TO FIGHT.

[–]Finnegan7921 15 insightful - 1 fun15 insightful - 0 fun16 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

It may die in the Senate if they don't eliminate the filibuster. If it gets thru, 2022 is going to see some serious culture war shit in election season. This is an issue that could see the voters who actually won the election for Biden, i.e., suburban whites who left Trump, swing right back b/c their main reason for voting blue was that they didn't like Trump. Bills like this are why we need to stop 1000 page legislation. It is like the 2000 dollar checks. The shit they were putting into the funding bill was crazy. 10 million for gender studies in Pakistan ?! Really ?! 700 million for Sudan, all sorts of other stuff totally unrelated to covid.

[–]BEB[S] 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I hope the Equality Act dies in the Senate. Obviously.

Democrats will definitely see some serious drop-off if they pass the Equality Act, among Independent women voters especially, because by the 2022 elections more Americans will know what's in it.

But that's where we come in - we have to let Americans know what's in the Equality Act now. We have to head this bill off in the Senate and not count on the filibuster.

I don't know how to get across to my fellow American women how serious of a threat the Equality Act is - overnight, our lives will change horribly. We will lose our safety, our privacy, our dignity, our sports, our rights.

We have to make people aware, and we have to flood Congress with calls. The House vote is NEXT WEEK!

[–]our_team_is_winning 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Media is totally ignoring this. They want to sneak things through. We need to sneak through TERM LIMITS, retroactive.

[–]our_team_is_winning 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

House Democrats are now screeching about where Orange Man can and can't be buried. These people are mentally ill. They're about to vote women out of legal existence, and they seriously have their panties in a twist that a president might be buried in Arlington. There MUST have been mass voter fraud because who would be fool enough to vote for such loons?

Women are about to be legally erased here! It's a BIG DEAL. Is anyone in DC speaking up for women???? Politicians are scum.

[–]Rationalmind 4 insightful - 2 fun4 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Agree, many House Democrats have a serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. I hope this syndrome gets properly recognized and added to the DSM.

[–]TheBeefBenson 18 insightful - 1 fun18 insightful - 0 fun19 insightful - 1 fun -  (15 children)

"while women who believe women should be wives and mother only are out there fighting for all of our rights."

This a gross mischaracterisation of the modern day conservative position for most parts of the western world.

My mother was a conservative Christian women who set up our town's first and for many years the only abortion and pregnancy counselling service. Free to use for anyone. As it was UK law that all women who sought an abortion must be referred for counselling before and after the procedure, my mother dealt with all the abortions in a town of 300,000 people and the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in the country. I don't think you could even imagine the number of women she helped. It was so many that she provided counselling for a number of my female friends.

My mother dedicated her life to giving women sexual health advice and support if they wanted an abortion. Although abortion was not something she felt was always the best option, and she dearly prayed to live in a world where it wasn't required, she felt it was her duty as a conservative and Christian to educate young people on how to have safe sex and to support women during pregnancy and abortion.

And you go and say she only believed women for good for being wives and mothers?

I'm so angry I'm not going to comment how I feel about your bigoted statements any further.

I suggest you take a look at some other points of view. Try listening to see conservative female youtubers like Lauren Chen. These women identify as conservative and they wouldn't agree with your statement at all.

[–]BEB[S] 11 insightful - 2 fun11 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

I'm the OP and I'm in the US - please see my title, which has "US" as its first word, and references to America throughout my original post.

I'm sorry that you thought I was referring to the UK. I did mention WoLF and Feminists In Struggle too, both American feminist groups.

As I said in another post, we in the US have a very different situation from the one in the UK. Here, many conservative women vehemently oppose abortion. Many Christian women do too. If I remember correctly, which I might not, I think the majority of American women oppose abortion. So again, the US and UK have totally different situations.

But I wasn't talking about abortion in any case. My post was about the Equality Act.

And again, this post was meant for Americans, and if you look at my posting history you can see that I am all for working with ALL women to save women's rights/sports/privacy, dignity and safety.

In fact, what inspired my original post was that I had just talked to a conservative women's group about holding an across-the-political-spectrum-women's- protest against the Equality Act.

I had a great chat with a woman whose views on just about everything else I probably would have disagreed with, but she and her conservative organization were all for a protest with whoever on "the Left" I could round up. She had a very, "Let's do it" attitude.

So I don't know how you got "bigoted" out of that, nor how you saw it an attack on your mother in the UK. I didn't know you existed, much less your mother, much less that she was an abortion activist, which again has nothing to do with the topic of this thread, so how am I "bigoted"?

But I would ask that we not launch ad hominem attacks on each other. We get enough of those from gender activists. Thanks!

[–]TheBeefBenson 8 insightful - 2 fun8 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 2 fun -  (1 child)

No. You need to stop making gross caricatures because I sincerely doubt that these conservative women in the US actually prescribe to the belief of women only being of value as wives and mothers that you claim they do. Furthermore, it's clear that you see these beliefs as evidently and undoubtedly inherent to the conservative world view and that such fundamental tenants would apply to either side of the anglo-sphere.

Bigoted is an accurate remark to describe those who engage in rank political tribalism and are totally incapable of being able to fairly discuss the opinions of others without being disingenuous.

For all your talk of wanting to work with these women you seem to be pretty quick in referring to them as nothing more than deluded pond scum behind their backs.

The sheer snobbery and contempt you have have shown for these women is understanably enraging and you need to develop a more mature way of engaging with women as a group rather than taking any opportunity to slander and misrepresent them to make yourself feel superior.

Good day, Mam!

[–]BEB[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

OP again here:

Seriously, I said no such thing as "deluded pond scum," (anyone interested can read this thread and my posting history for my actual words) nor implied that I had anything less than admiration for the enthusiasm and hard work of conservative AMERICAN women fighting the US Equality Act. I have partnered with conservatives in the past, and am partnering with them now.

Nor did I make a "gross caricature" or anything close. I said one sentence that is quite true of some of the conservative American women fighting the Equality Act, the US Equality Act, not the UK Equality Act: some of the AMERICAN women fighting it think that women should be wives and mothers.

I had just got off the phone with one when I typed the OP.

And in my posting history, you can see that I have called out the Democrats over and over and over and over.

But I won't waste my time, because, like every other AMERICAN woman, I could be about to lose my rights via the US Equality Act, so I need to focus on stopping it.

I would just ask that you refrain from ad hominem attacks, which we've successfully kept off this board. Thanks.

[–]BEB[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Sorry, TheBeefBenson - I didn't realize that you were a man.

I just looked at your posting history because I was baffled as to why you completely misrepresented what I said (I'm the OP), but now I understand that you are coming at feminism, and at women's relations with each other, from a male perspective.

Anyway, this is a forum for women. I myself don't mind men on it, but some women do - so perhaps you should identify yourself as male before posting? I think that would be very helpful.

I still have no idea how you got 9 up votes, because nothing I said in the OP, which was about the US Equality Act and how conservative AMERICAN women were out there effectively fighting it, had pretty much anything to do with your reply, which was about your Christian mother abortion activist in the UK.

Oh well. But I think many of us would appreciate it if males identified themselves, because that way we would know that the comment was from a man's perspective.

And also, this forum has been really good about no personal attacks (thanks, Mods!) so please respect that, especially as a male guest. Attack the argument please, not the poster. Thanks!!

[–]devushka 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think people on the Left don't want to be seen as intolerant, which I would normally say is a good thing, but in this case, it's holding people back. I feel like a conservative woman wouldn't be as likely to be ostracized by her friends' group for saying transwomen aren't women, whereas a more liberal woman might face more backlash for speaking out, so the liberal woman might be more likely to stay quiet.

Also, just because a woman just wants to be a wife and mother doesn't mean she can't be a fighter too.

[–]BEB[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

One of the paradoxes of conservative AMERICAN (I'm talking about the US here!) women who are fighters is that they can be the fiercest women out there yet claim that they believe their first roles are wives and mothers.

From the time of 2nd Wave feminism on, I've seen this incredible courage, brilliance and tenacity that some conservative women activists have, including the ones who fought against feminism, yet were actually very feminist.

Just one of the many contradictions of AMERICAN life.

[–]linda_senora 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (7 children)

I think conservative groups will have a better reach because they are religious.

If they can let other religious groups see what is going on, they can garner more support than radical feminists can. I know that there have been a few GCs who have approached more conservative people, but other GCs are against working too closely with groups like The Heritage Foundation.

Conservatives don't care what TRAs and trans people think, they don't have to walk on egg shells. IDK.

[–]BEB[S] 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I have worked on antiwar issues with groups across the political spectrum, including conservatives. We stuck to the issue, were successful, and became friends.

Even though I admire them tremendously, I don't care what some British feminists say about US feminists working with conservatives. The British have a whole different situation going on. We, here in the US, have to work with conservatives because "Progressives" including the "Progressive" media, are actively working against us.

And conservatives are getting things done. They are saving women and parents' rights and women's sports and children's mental and physical health by getting legislation into state legislatures and getting it passed.

We cannot let what other people think of us stop us. Our ability to function in the world is at stake, and in a few days - next week - the Democrats could vote to erase women, our sex-based rights, our sports, our dignity, our privacy our safety.

If we need to join hands with other women who don't share all of our beliefs, we do it.

[–]linda_senora 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I think it is perfectly valid (how I have come to hate that word) that some GCs decide to work with conservatives.

The issue is that many GCs think conservatives are also after women's rights.

For instance, I just recently learned of the existence of a man called Matt Walsh. I agree with what he has to say about the gender war, but everything else he has to say about women's rights is questionable. However, I see the need for people like him and for other men to speak up.

I also see why some GCs don't want anything to do with people like him because it might give credence to TRAs who claim radical feminists are far right.

I guess it is a matter of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' type of scenario. Too much is at stake.

[–]BEB[S] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Trans Demands Activists are a bunch of loons whose more and more outrageous claims are (thankfully) turning the general public against them. I don't pay them any mind.

Feminists are allying with conservatives for just a few strategic reasons, to stop the Equality Act and similar legislation, would be the immediate goal, but also to protect children, free speech, parents' rights - after that we can go back to opposing whatever we disagree on.

Believe it or not, American politicians used to work across the aisle. I think it's time to bring those days back.

[–]linda_senora 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

TRAs are loons, I fully agree with that statement.

I do think it necessary to work with the other side (conservatives) in order to hinder the assault carried out by the Trans lobby. TRAs and handmaidens are too dangerous.

[–]MarkTwainiac 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I think conservative groups will have a better reach because they are religious.

Also, places of worship - plus the custom of attending church services at least once a week, and going to church during the week for other reasons too (such as child care, choir practice, prayer, Bible study groups, religious education, social groups...) - make them ideal places for political organizing.

It's no accident that the US civil rights movement was organized mostly in/through black churches, and that so many of its leaders past and present have been ministers like ML King, Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton.

[–]linda_senora 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I hadn't thought of that.

It makes perfect sense.

[–]MarkTwainiac 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Yes, it doe make perfect sense. And the organizing methods as well as the strategies and tactics used by the black US civil rights movement - and other successful movements - are well worth studying and "taking a a page from."

[–]Rationalmind 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Are you talking about gcwomen? I think it's hard because there are so few of us and we also have responsibilities in our lives. There should be a lot more women on the left pushing back against this ideology, but I have no idea how to even start to unbrainwash the women on the left. The women on the left legitimately do not see the trans problem because they are largely wealthy and elitist, and so do not identify or see the threat of a battered woman in a womens shelter being housed with TiMs. The majority of young women have not participated in a sport that involved a transwoman and they've been brainwashed by the school system to believe this is a civil rights issue. I wish we could wake the left, but I don't see how. I've been working on people in my life very slowly and it's a lot of planting seeds.

[–]aloris342 10 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 0 fun11 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I think the media warping of the issue has made a big impact. How often have we heard the perspective of women forced to give up their privacy in a prison for the comfort of men, or women in a shelter forced to do the same, or of the girls who lost sports scholarships to boys? The language used to present the issue is very biased towards the transgender person's perspective, and as presenting the girls' perspective as mistaken or selfish or bigoted (or just not presenting it at all). It would be interesting to see a formal analysis of the language used in media articles on this topic.

[–]Rationalmind 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Never because the media is agenda-driven propaganda. If the story doesn't fit the approved narrative, it doesn't get airtime. It's not news when it has an ideological agenda it needs to play.

[–]BEB[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Absolutely. Big Gender has Big Dollars and has bought the media. I am not making this up- follow the money.

The11thHourBlog.com is a good place to start as the author has been tracking the money behind Big Gender.

[–]BEB[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The media and Hollywood has absolutely and for years been indoctrinating us into gender ideology. As has academia.

[–]BEB[S] 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My frustration is more that when a post comes on here or on Ovarit about the Equality Act (and again I am talking about the AMERICAN Equality Act) they get very little traction.

Other posts, about things much less important, get tons of comments, but there's about 10 women total, it seems, between both boards, who are willing to do something to stop the Equality Act.

And yet soon many of the rights that AMERICAN women fought for could be thrown into limbo, and our safety, our privacy, our dignity and our sports could be gone.

That is my frustration - that I call up conservative women's orgs and they're all, "yeah, let's get a protest on" whereas on these feminist boards it's crickets.

[–]JustWhy 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

Because all of you voted for Biden. Maybe try not to belittle women who are out there fighting for your rights as believing that "women should only be wives".

[–]BEB[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

OP here:

I don't get how anyone could see my words as belittling women who chose to be wives and mothers. What I said was almost the opposite: that feminists seemed to be missing in action while women who think that women should be wives and mothers were out there fighting for all of us.

How is that belittling? I didn't say that ALL conservative women wanted to be wives and mothers. And I didn't say that I thought that women who wanted to be wives and mothers were lesser women.

The conservative women's organization I HAD JUST SPOKEN WITH BEFORE WRITING THE OP, which is fighting the Equality Act, doesn't think that women should work outside the home, and yet there they were, out organizing rallies and writing Op Eds and enthusiastic about partnering with "Progressive" women to achieve our goal -to stop the Equality Act.

BTW: I didn't vote for Biden, nor did I vote for any Democrat this election because of the Equality Act. In fact, I am not a Democrat. I hate both parties and will call them out for any BS. I am in a white rage at the Democrats at the moment, only partially because of the Equality Act. But I hate the GOP too, so...

[–]JustWhy 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Fair enough, my bad OP. I'm so used to GC people voting against their own interests. I wouldn't call myself a conservative but I can't stand by the liberals anymore either.

I think it's as someone else said, women on the left are terrified of speaking up because they need to be seen as accepting and everything they have will be taken away. They will be shunned by everyone they know. Meanwhile the women who were already shunned by these people can fight freely without worrying about the approval of lefties.

Also I think if they really are a group of women who don't work, they are not in danger of losing their jobs. That possibly plays a big role in this fight. Look at the left's reaction about Gina Carano being fired. Most women I know are cheering for it. At least celebrities get a cushion while us normals would be left in complete poverty.

I know a few people who currently work for woke companies. They can't stand the brainwashing but have to stay quiet to keep a living in this pandemic. We are being censored in more ways than one.

[–]BEB[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I agree with everything you wrote - well said! The only thing I disagree with slightly was that I think that US GC women concerned about the AMERICAN Equality Act didn't vote so much FOR Biden, in terms of they were endorsing the Equality Act by voting for him, but against Trump.

I also think that many people didn't think that the Democrats would win the Senate, so thought that the Equality Act would languish in the House and so wouldn't be an issue. Whoops.

I have to say that I am so incredibly angry at Biden and the Democrats for the Equality Act but also for prioritizing it.

[–]JustWhy 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I think that's where the Dems bamboozled you because Trump was not horrible to women's actual rights, and honestly to most people. I used to hate him for the first three years but last year I finally broke through the echo chamber and really tried to evaluate his actions on their own. I applauded his stance against China and favoring our own economy. Mind you I'm an immigrant but I believe that putting americans and american jobs and welfare first should be the goal. I appreciated him not using military funds for free transition. I saw him try to close us off to China before the virus got bad while liberal governors and mayors (including my state) left travel wide open and still do today as they destroy the livelihood of their citizens. They allow international travel into the heart of our state while punishing the people staying put as if it's OUR fault the virus is spreading. I saw Democrats utilize Covid as a political weapon.

I don't understand how someone could vote against Trump "because he's Trump" straight into this horrible mess.

[–]BEB[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

OP here:

Perhaps we all need to read carefully before getting angry, and not assume the worst of our fellow posters? We are all in this together, with a common goal. I hope that we try to work as a team, like I'm trying to do with conservative women in my area to stop the AMERICAN Equality Act.

I try to not take quick offensive, instead I try to understand that we are all from very different backgrounds and live in very different situations. As I've mentioned, I've traveled relatively a lot for an American, and it was brought home to me that people in other countries, even within regions of other countries, lead very different lives. I think we need to try to remember that and attempt to understand each other rather than attack each other.

The mods have done a really good job of keeping personal attacks off this board; I hope that we help them and stick to attacking the argument and not the person.