GC Participants: Do you consider yourself a radfem?

submitted by usehername from self.GenderCritical

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[–]purrfect 9 insightful - 2 fun9 insightful - 1 fun10 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

No, I don't consider myself a radfem. I'm more second wave aligned than anything. For a long time I tried to get more into radical feminism, but in the end it hasn't worked. Sometimes I'm skeptical of the use of "The Patriarchy" as blanket term for all that is wrong between the sexes, at least in the westernized world. It feels more like a boogeyman to complain about, than an actual issue to be solved. I prefer it, when it's explained, how it manifests in certain situations (prostitution, porn,...), because then one can think of possible solutions and their pros and cons.

Also, I have a problem with the whole "abolishing gender" thing. I'm GC and I don't believe for a second women and men should conform to sex stereotypes (I certainly don't) and I think gender non-conforming people should never be punished for expressing themselves differently and should be able to participate in society fully, but what does "abolishing gender" mean? What does it imply?

I'd rather examine different claims separately. I'm not a good consumer of entire ideologies.

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

I think gender non-conforming people should never be punished for expressing themselves differently and should be able to participate in society fully, but what does "abolishing gender" mean?

But wouldn't abolishing gender be the best way for helping GNC people participate in society? In a society that concept of gender exist, some things are considered manly, others are girly/ladylike. there are certain standards for how man and women should act/dress/etc. And there's a pressure to conform and being GNC basically means going against social norm. If gender is abolished. Gendered hobbies, clothes, behaviors wouldn't exist. There wouldn't be any gendered ideals to conform to. Which anyone can dress how they want without any pressure to change themselves or be a certain way.

[–]purrfect 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Is that what "abolish gender" means? The prohibition of the concept? How does one go about it? Should parents be punished for buying pink dresses for their daughters? Shouldn't science study this issue seriously first? Does "gender" emerge naturally and then it's reinforced socially or is it a purely a social construct? Does it make sense to punish a majority, instead of making discrimination against GNC unlawful? There will always be ideals to conform to, whenever there is a behavior practiced by a majority.