Sometimes I Feel Like Aggressively Propagating Naturalness.

Remember that “I think everyone should have the freedom and autonomy to make decisions regarding their own personal life” will never mean “all decisions and outcomes are equally good”.

Conversely, the statement “some decisions are better than others” does not imply the statement “decisions should be compelled.”

Freedom of choice liberalism has turned into a lazy ambivalence about how the choices we make either positively negatively impact ourselves and the people around us.

A critique of someone’s choices has been too often mistaken as an attack on their right to make that choice. For example, if I say that the glorification of tradwifery on TikTok will lead to bad outcomes for young girls, the statement “tradwives should not be allowed to post on TikTok” is nowhere near implied. If I say that wearing makeup encourages compliance by other women and perpetuates a patriarchal erasure of the image of women, I am not saying that I have any desire to make makeup illegal.

Those are certainly statements that feminists could make, but only assume that’s what someone means if they actually say it.

Opposing choice feminism does not an authoritarian make.

(of course this doesn’t apply to choices which directly aid or perpetrate sexual or physical violence)

Some devastating facts about abortion rights in Europe:

Polish abortion laws lay out that the rights of a foetus are more important than those of pregnant persons.

In Malta, women are sent to prison if they get an abortion.

In Austria, abortion is written into criminal code - this means it is considered a crime if it is not carried out as by the law. Doctors in Austria use papayas to learn how to perform an abortion.

Women in Hungary are forced by the law to listen to “the foetal heartbeat” before they can have an abortion.

The current law governing abortions in Germany was accepted during the Nazi regime. It is still referred to as “the Nazi law” by some movements.

In Italy, 80% of doctors refuse to perform an abortion. Plus, the government is financing movements that enter abortion clinics and harrass women who want to get an abortion.

Abortion rights in Europe are fragile. Sign our initiative to make abortion safe and accessible to everyone in the EU.

hey so it’s march now aka the beginning of endometriosis awareness month and i feel obligated to remind you that debilitatingly painful periods are not normal. if you or someone you know is ending up sick or bedridden every month, you are not crazy and deserve medical attention from someone who will take you seriously

“Let me describe to you what kind of world gender abolitionists actually dream about: When a child would be born it’s biological sex, being an actual physical reality, would be noticed but not a single assumption regarding the child’s personality would be made based on it. Growing up, children would be free to chose what toys and clothes they prefer. If they want to play with toy trucks or dolls, it would be fine either way. If they want to dress comfortably or in frilly colorful dresses, it would be fine. Regardless of the child’s biological sex. Certain personality traits would not be encouraged in members of one sex and discouraged in the other. Females would be free to be strong, brave and assertive and males would not be shamed for being shy and soft spoken. No female child would be called a tomboy and no male child would be called a sissy. No kid would ever be bullied for what we in our gendered world call “gender expression”. When children would reach puberty they would still be free to dress how they want. Females would not be pressured to wear clothes that reveal their bodies and males would not be shamed if they chose to. Everybody would have a free choice of accessories, which would not be categorized as “men’s” or “women’s” but people could should whichever they liked. Or chose to not wear accessories at all if that’s what they are more comfortable with. Females would not be pressured to keep their bodies slim, soft and hairless. Males would not be pressured to be athletic and muscular. Expectations of femininity and masculinity upon the body would not exist and affect negatively people’s relationship with their own body. Everyone could choose a career without fearing stigmatization within that particular field because of their biological sex. The most important thing would be competence and not what someone has between their legs. Domestic work would not be considered “women’s work” and would be shared equally between the sexes. Biological sex would only be thought about when relevant. Like for example in regards to issues surrounding sexual activity, reproduction or treatment of medical conditions related to a person’s biological sex. And everyone would be free to be themselves without ever having to worry about gender expectations. Nobody would feel the need to repress certain parts of their personality and exaggerate others in order to fit into some gender role that is being forced on them. Gender abolitionism is not about restricting people’s choices but about giving them greater freedom.”

—

http://burningax.wordpress.com/2014/10/06/a-gender-free-world-boring/ (via genderheretic)

-Sofia

(via askaradfem)

White supremacy and colonization really forced that male/female binary forced onto so many communities, lands, and cultures, huh?

“Female-assigned intersex kids’ vaginal canal size is also assessed by doctors, to ensure that it’s long enough to fit a penis inside of it. Doctors might surgically construct or re-construct vaginas, which can result in a host of health problems and necessitate multiple, multiple surgeries. This is especially the case since most intersex kids have these surgeries very young, and when their bodies grow into their adult forms, more surgeries are necessary to keep their vagina size in proportion. Non-surgical methods are also used to increase or maintain vaginal length by regularly using medical dildos to stretch the vagina over months and years. (It’s kind of like braces for your vagina, but much, much worse.) Just like there are no standards for how long a clitoris “can” be before it’s classified as a penis, there aren’t absolute standards as to how long a vagina is for it to be of “normal” length. I had a dilation procedure performed for almost every exam I had with intersex doctors from the time I was 8 until I was 16, so that they could check how long my vagina was as I grew. I absolutely hated these procedures. I mean, imagine a man as old as your father or your grandfather, who you don’t know, inserting a medical dildo into you each time you saw him, knowing that you can’t question the doctor’s orders and just accept that you have to undergo these uncomfortable procedures for your health. Imagine a decade or so later, realizing that these procedures did nothing to track your health, and had everything to do with grown men feeling good about the fact that you could fuck some dude someday like a “normal girl”. That all those traumatizing procedures weren’t actually medically relevant at all, and it actually was within my right to refuse those examinations. I didn’t know any of that at the time. I also had no idea that I wouldn’t want to ultimately have the kind of sex they assumed I’d be having, adding yet another layer of this-was-totally-unnecessary/messed-up to my history. Other kids shouldn’t have to go through this. Other adults shouldn’t have revelations some day far into the future that what was happening to them WASN’T okay, and their traumatic feelings ARE valid, and the whole system of how intersex people are conceptualized and “treated” IS entirely fucked. And it’s gotta change. We’ve gotta change it.”

—

—-Claudia at Autostraddle

I just read this article and was reminded once again how invisible the intersex community often is… we need to signal boost this shit to let people know that this kind of “medical treatment” is NOT okay.

(via bossybussy)

Felt straight-up ill reading this. This is the institutionalized rape of children. It’s beyond unconscionable that procedures like this are normalized and considered “treatment”.

(via thaxted)

jfc

(via stammsternenstaub)

Revolting and repugnant.

See why intersex folk don’t like their medical issues being used as a rhetorical gotcha?

(via appropriately-inappropriate)

Heart attacks symptoms are different for women. I recently learned this. 

feminist silkscreen posters from See Red Women’s Workshop (1974-1990)

the word cunty set feminism back 200 years