We shall begin this carnival with a reminder what radical feminism is, generally speaking, just in case we have newcomers viewing:
Radical feminism is a philosophy emphasizing the patriarchal roots of inequality between men and women, or, more specifically, social dominance of women by men. Radical feminism views patriarchy as dividing rights, privileges and power primarily by gender, and as a result oppressing women and privileging men.
Radical feminists tend to be more militant in their approach (radical as “getting to the root”). Radical feminism opposes existing political and social organization in general because it is inherently tied to patriarchy. Thus, radical feminists tend to be skeptical of political action within the current system, and instead support cultural change that undermines patriarchy and associated hierarchical structures.
Radical feminism opposes patriarchy, not men. To equate radical feminism to man-hating is to assume that patriarchy and men are inseparable, philosophically and politically.
Women born women are under attack. Many people wish for us to think this assertion is not true. However, the reality is, women are being raped, murdered, silenced, and conditioned. When we dissent we are told that we are crazy, we do not feel what we feel or have the right to define our reality. All in order for the status quo, men in power to remain intact. The driving forces maintaining the status quo are rape, pornography, and prostitution. The trio makes up the patriarchy’s bread and butter. Pornography attempts to define rape and to push what men desire as being what women need, thus desired. Through pornography, the patriarchy seeks to normalize the subordination of women.
Fortunately, radical feminists are dissenting, protesting, and working to subvert patriarchy’s assault on women. The following are a few but great samples of voices advocating for change.
Heart at Womensspace diligently moves our reality to the forefront with spectacular posts. In a recent entry, Little girls as prey and the murder of zina-linnik , the victims are remembered and their reality not stifled.
Making discussions of the brutal rapes and murders of little girls all about how the murderer or rapist should have been deported devalues and diminishes the lives of little girls and women everywhere, throughout theworld. [...] this country, where it is war on little girls, where they are relentlessly objectified, sexualized and fetishized, where violent rapists walk free and unhindered among them, photographing them, creating websites catering to pedophiles, all completely legal, and where, when little girls fight back, they are the ones to go to prison, sometimes up to 11 years.
Ann Bartow at Feminist Law Professors essay, “Analytic Gap in U.S. Department of State’s Human Trafficking Reports: Condoleeza Rice Doesn’t Seem to Care About Adults Forced Into Pornography” uncovers what is really being ignored in a state department’s human trafficking report.
The Report references child pornography 29 times, but the forced participation of women in pornography not at all. There is plenty of evidence that women who are “prostituted” (to use the terminology of the report) are also force filmed, so that videos of their rapes can be distributed commercially (see e.g. this, and this, cf this HHS report, and see generally).
Also at Feminist Law Professors, Bridget Crawford’s essay, “The Limits of Applied third-Wave Feminism: The Case of Prostitution” discusses how prostitution is represented through privilege lens instead of by other less fortunate determining factors.
