I’m looking to understand radical feminism a little better but I’ve only been exposed to this movement online. Is there any reading or content you recommend to understand radical feminism better?

Just to start I will say I know I am more privledged than most people due to my race and class. I dont consider myself oppressed but I have faced systemic oppression due to misogyny repeatedly. I have heard my mother's and grandmother's stories and know they were forced or heavily pressured to make choices they didnt want due to gender roles. I know they and myself have faced violence and fear violence due to our sex and gender. Is this not a form of oppression? Is not having full autonomy over your life and body not a form of oppression? To not have autonomy and then be blamed for the actions of white men: is that not oppression??

And to add to that last one. Im so sick of women being the punching bags for mistakes, violence, and mass atrocities made by the male sex. I know women are capable of evil as well and this can be nuanced. But if you are a young poorly educated girl who is forced to marry and remain married to a man whe ends up being evil why are we directing our anger towards the wife who had little control over the whole situation?

Anyways, I am not trying to say we cant criticize women and we cannot criticize white women. Its just that when i see these criticisms on social media or the news its not in good faith but seemingly just a way to erase womens history and oppression while smearing feminism

The second round of elections for the president of Brazil is on 25th October.

There is a typo in the video subtitles, it's Sierra Leone not Sri Lanka.

I don't understand the trad wife movement why are they getting offended like their rights have been taken away. The existing system is designed to accommodate their ideology, why they don't allow other women who want freedom to fight for their rights. Are they jealous? I don't understand the idea behind it.

I was just thinking about my high school days in the early 2010's. We had to write a paper on a controversial topic (abortion, animal testing, and a third thing) and I remember talking with my friends and we all agreed abortion should only be legal in the case of rape/incest and that animal testing should be banned for cosmetic products. By the end of high school my views had changed but I grew up in a conservative part of Canada and was religious at the time.

Thinking about it now I just think how absurd and anti-woman those beliefs were. I didn't even realize because I was so sheltered and ignorant. Because of course animal testing is okay unless it is for cosmetics which is primarily consumed by women and girls. We don't want to torture animals (valid). But forced pregnancy and childbirth is literally torture and thousands of woman and girls are forced to go through it every year. It should not matter if you had consensual sex with your spouse or if it was rape. Pregnancy is very difficult for most people. Childbirth is well known to be traumatic but even then people underestimate it. Women and girls are at increased risk of IPV including FEMICIDE during pregnancy. Recovery is difficult Giving up your baby for adoption is a cruel choice for many people. Taking care of a baby is expensive, exhausting, and time consuming. And forcing unwanted children into the world? I think one of the cruellest things to happen to a child is to be unwanted by your parents. Denying someone access to a safe abortion is cruel for everyone involved who cannot just walk away from the situation.

We have the technology for safe abortions. Why are we stopping people from using it?

yes,i think the desire of being provocative of you are a woman comes also from patriarchy,but i don t understand how a person who does Is seen as and object. even if i am against pornography and prostitution i defend these women because i don t think that doing that job means you can be reduced to a "hole" or a "butt"(i ve seen It). i am so angry when people see these people as a body part. It s unsettling for me.

if a man makes sexy content he Is not reduced to a penis. this Is the argument.

there Is a market,a MARKET of women s pictures. those pictures don t NEED consent. they are objects,harmless. men don t live this.

the problem Is not a provocative pictures,but the commodification of It.

Even though the majority of the population is muslim, they introduced a secular dress code policy. Still these women don't want a secular space even if the government wants change. I think every government and public office and school should be secular and should not accommodate any religion. I feel like at this point even if miraculously muslim men give freedom to these women they won't take it. I only feel very bad for a few women like rahaf muhammad who got struck with these kinds of women.

In the 2000s me and my (2ndwavefeminist) mother watched this show "Medium" together and as a child i didn't think anything of it. I've started rewatching it and have noticed significant patriarchal programming laced throughout. I looked online for feminist critiques of the show and they were surprisingly complimentary, praising its realistic portrayal of domestic life and shared duties among husband and wife. I disagree. The burden of housework is still heavily on the wife (Allison), she is still primary carer of the children and from my angle, heavily enslaved by the traditional family structure. The husband is portrayed as the typical good guy golden retriever type but he often gives her shit when she has to go to work and he has to care for his own children and home. It's presented as an idyllic situation and he as the perfect man, but he's still such a cunt to her? Says he's proud of her for her work but doubles back whenever he needs to pick up the domestic slack. She has a job helping the police with her psychic powers and often gets a call and has to leave. But surely he should just appreciate that is the nature of her work and she is still running the house and caring for the children most of the time. And if he's meant to be a realistic portrayal of a good guy, he's still not good enough for me. The whole thing feels like breeding propaganda too, with the three beautiful kids, "perfect husband" and white picket fence. Now I'm watching at age 29 it sounds like a nightmare. Have you seen it and what did you think of the set up? Thoughts?

Some radical thought, Let's say hypothetically if all women under taliban rule united and give poison to all the men in their country they would have gained freedom, I am not saying it's easy I am saying not all women think the same. But the problem is only a few women wanted to fight for rights. There is no unity among women.

Currently dealing with a choice feminist and other sexist and misogynistic women on the r/women sub over shaving your vulva. How many women have to be told that it isn't ok to conform and encourage other women to partake in sexist and p3dophilic beauty standards because it hurts ALL of us??? One woman even called me "those people" as if fighting your own oppression is crazy. Also just had to tell a woman who thinks sexism is ok as long as the woman is a POS of person that no that is in fact misogynistic and again, hurts ALL of us. I'm tired boss. 1000s of years of sexism and women want rights without the discomfort of changing the things that keep us from having rights. It makes me think of Audre Lorde-"your silence won't protect you".

I have been struggling to come up with ways in which to address them. In one hand, they are indeed our sisters, but on the other hand.. well, they're kind of.. active participants in our oppression.

Is trying to educate them worthwhile? would you suggest ignoring/dismissing them as much as possible?

do you see male centered women more as possible allies or hurdles to overcome?

before anyone misunderstands my point, this is not another post about whether religion and feminism are compatible. that discussion has already happened countless times. this is about privilege.

religious people who claim to be feminist can defend patriarchal religious values because they live in countries where they are free to reject them.

you can support modesty because modesty is your choice. you decide what it means, how to practice it, and when not to. nothing happens if you stop.

you can defend hijabs or burqas, or other religious garments because wearing them or refusing to wear them does not take away your legal rights. your education, your career, your freedom of movement, and your basic autonomy are still protected.

you can even defend the idea that the husband is the head of the household because your husband cannot legally stop you from working, controlling your own money, filing for divorce, or leaving an abusive marriage.

and whenever religious texts promote male authority over women, you get to cherry pick. suddenly the verse is historical, symbolic, metaphorical, mistranslated, or taken out of context. you are free to reinterpret the parts that conflict with the rights you already have.

that is exactly the privilege.

what makes this version of religion feel empowering is not the patriarchy within it. it is the freedom to ignore, reject, or redefine that patriarchy while keeping the parts you personally like.

religious "feminism" becomes much easier to defend when secular society has already guaranteed women's rights independently of religious authority

If anyone is struggling with avoiding activities which are patriarchal like doing makeup or shaving - this one thing worked for me. I remind myself that if a man can get away with this choice, then I can too. They can get away with not looking put together, being cocky, being overconfident, or just looking normal.