My Radical Take Is That I Don't Trust You If You're Pro Natalist Or If You Have Kids. I Seriously Can't

i know we cannot recount all the ways women have been feminists throughout history much less backtrack through centuries of badly recorded history to find when feminism "started" but i still was put off by this article putting a name and date to who "started feminism"

South Korean radical feminist poster 6B4T movement, 2020

fuck world peace what i want is to magically instill every woman and girl on earth with the primary directive of "fight for yourself and your wellbeing & happiness as hard as you possibly can and never stop until you have peace within yourself"

the greatest skill a woman can learn for herself is self reliance

I wish the women jumping on the 4B bandwagon would understand these points: 

https://www.tumblr.com/femtoscooter/766688743202684928?source=share

https://youtu.be/b3KswFqFwt8?si=bidXJHUHJ32v5YcH

Anon, you are the one with a fundamental misunderstanding of 4B.

The post and video you sent me both cover the same topics, so I'll simply address them as one.

First, the author of that post is genderkoolaid. This is the same individual who posted a factually incorrect, misrepresentation of abuse statistics, in opposition to women's separatism. After my thorough explanation of how and why they were wrong, they chose to block me rather than admit to their misrepresentation.

All of this is to say, I am entirely unsurprised at their misrepresentation of another female separatist movement.

Sex strikes and 4B

Both posters erroneously compare the 4B movement to a sex strike. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the movement. A sex strike is a transient protest meant to induce political or social change. For example, women may organize a sex strike to be concluded only once particular abortion protections are passed. (Like all protests, historical sex strikes have had mixed success.)

The 4B movement is not transient. Women who commit to 4B do not stop and later return to men. It is also not designed to directly induce a specific political or social change. The 4B movement was fundamentally a reaction to the intensely patriarchal culture in South Korea. The women who joined this movement did so because they believed that a life without men would be better than a life with men. They are not "withholding sex" until South Korean men stop being misogynistic; they have taken stock of their reality and decided that completely separating themselves from men is the only feasible reaction to their circumstances.

Yes, this focus on women's lives and circumstances, and the mass social rejection of the status quo, is likely intended to bring about social change (i.e., make men stop acting as they do), but this is a byproduct of the movement, not the origin.

All of this is to say: the 4B movement is not a means to an end, it is both the means and the ends.

But American women aren't doing it this way

Some are, some aren't. I'm entirely unsurprised that in a culture steeped in postmodernist theory, some women are attempting to distort the meaning of the movement. While I do not read Korean, I imagine this is frustrating to the woman who created and committed to 4B.

The continuation of this postmodernist pattern is unfortunate, and I truly wish the women who meant "sex strike" said so, rather than co-opting another movement. That being said, the mainstreamed discussion of female separatism is still positive as it brings women's attention to the possibility of alternate choices. (And having men's typical, misogynistic, violent reactions on display to the mere suggestion of such an action have been, as always, enlightening.)

Comparison with political lesbianism

Again, this is a misunderstanding of both the 4B movement and political lesbianism.

Political lesbianism is a practice where heterosexual or bisexual women falsely claim to be homosexual.

This is not the same as bisexual women practicing female separatism (i.e., only forming relationships or having sex with other women) while still indicating they are bisexual. It is also not the same thing as heterosexual women choosing to forgo all romantic and sexual relationships (e.g., major parts of the 4B movement).

The issue with political lesbianism is the homophobia inherent in intentionally claiming you are homosexual when you are not and the associated sentiments (e.g., claiming you can "choose" your sexuality).

The "male" loneliness crisis

The video repeats the misinformation concerning the "male" loneliness crisis/suggests men are uniquely affected by social isolation. Again, this is patently false. There is a general loneliness epidemic – one that affects women and men equally – not a male-specific crisis.

General rejection of female separatism

The rest of their commentary is the standard rejections of female separatism (sprinkled with pseudo-liberal buzzwords).

I'm not going to re-hash every defense and benefit of separatism here, but here are a few highlights:

The same post from above using data to show how female separatism would result in an unprecedented reduction in violence against women

Someone else's post about the difference in segregation and separation

Someone else's post about the framing of separatism as an option

My post about how many men are misogynistic

My post about the fatal effects of misogyny

Actually just the entirety of my #male violence tag and #patriarchal culture tag

In any case, the 4B movement is a form of female separatism. (And notably, not a conservative movement. It is specifically designed to disrupt the current status quo and prioritize women who are marginalized under conservative ideology.)

Conclusion

So, no, women do not need to "understand these points", because "these points" are either factually inaccurate, a misunderstanding of the terms and movements involved, or a simple rejection of feminist principles with a pseudo-liberal veneer.

References below the cut:

The history of sex strikes. (2019, May 16). BBC Three. https://www.bbc.com/bbcthree/article/1fc04f3e-3128-4be7-a78a-28ea31db4101

057. Lysistratic nonaction. (n.d.). Global Nonviolent Action Database; Global Nonviolent Action Database. https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/category/gene-sharps-198/057-lysistratic-nonaction

Palmer, O. (2022, January 31). Political lesbianism remains a contentious debate in lesbian feminist circles—Is there a generational divide? Feminist Current. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2022/01/30/political-lesbianism-remains-a-contentious-debate-in-lesbian-feminist-circles-is-there-a-generational-divide/

Kuk, J., Park, H., & Norma, C. (2018, November 8). Radical feminism paves the way for a resurgent South Korean women’s movement. Feminist Current. https://www.feministcurrent.com/2018/11/07/radical-feminism-paves-way-resurgent-south-korean-womens-movement/

Lee, J., & Jeong, E. (2021). The 4B movement: envisioning a feminist future with/in a non-reproductive future in Korea. Journal of Gender Studies, 30(5), 633-644.

for the anon with heavy periods, here are some changes you can make to manage it

increase your intake of these nutrients:

iron: obviously necessary to replenish blood loss, but if you’re anemic before your period, your flow will be heavier as well. sources: red meats, chicken, oysters, beans, dark leafy greens, tofu, pumpkin seeds, an iron fish.

vitamin C: for absorption of iron and to strengthen capillaries, reducing bleeding. sources: rosehips (you can buy a bag of organic dried rosehips to put in tea, it’s florally and kinda fruity,) yellow bell peppers, cantaloupe, citrus, strawberries, and dark leafy greens

vitamin K: when it comes to blood clotting, vitamin k is essential. supplementing it has been shown to reduce heavy menstrual bleeding in women who otherwise have no known blood clotting disorders sources: spinach, kale, collard/mustard greens, broccoli

omega 3s: anti-inflammatory and helps produce prostaglandins that regulate the menstrual cycle and flow. sources: mackerel, salmon, sardines, oysters, brussel sprouts, tofu, navy beans, and fish oil supplements

vitamin B6: b6 helps regulate production of serotonin and dopamine and regulates production of PgE1, a prostaglandin that’s been proven to affect menstrual cycle regularity and flow. sources: avocado, spinach, banana, sunflower seeds. this is one i recommend supplementing (along with b12) if your general health is poor.

other stuff:

blood clotting medications: tranexamic acid is the most common one, also called Lysteda, and it isn’t as scary as it sounds. it’s a blood clotting medication for adults only, used after childbirth frequently, and they even give it to people with chronic nosebleeds. there’s also Desmopressin nasal spray which has a different mechanism but the same effect. talk with your dr about side effects, but please do your own research! physicians unfortunately rarely have our best interest at heart and will often fail to inform you of side effects or drug interactions.

ginger: an anti-inflammatory, can ease pain. inhibits the enzymes prostaglandin synthetase and cyclooxygenase, both of which can create a prostaglandin imbalance that causes heavy menstrual bleeding and irregularity

raspberry leaf tea: contains fragarine, an alkaloid thought to help pelvic floor muscle cramps, reduce pain, and shorten period length. don’t drink more than 2 servings if you’re extremely sensitive to estrogen. some women swear this is their holy grail for PMS

cruciferous veggies like broccoli and brussel sprouts help your body eliminate extra estrogen which can reduce bleeding and shorten period length.

i’ll include more about all of the above stuff and other helpful nutrients for PMS like potassium, magnesium, etc in my next post about diet based on your cycle, this was just a quick post for supplements specifically to reduce a heavy flow.

lastly, stay hydrated and rest as much as possible during your period, easier said than done

menorrhagia is defined as abnormal blood loss during menstruation. this means heavy flow lasting for over a week and/or totaling greater than 80 ml (~1/4 cup) per month. if your symptoms are having an impact on your quality of life, consider seeing your gyno to find an underlying cause.

(disclaimer: i’m a dropout whose only medical training is as a lab tech and phlebotomist. i am in no way a health professional. none of this should be taken as expert medical advice)

me af

american women your objective for the next four years is to make men miserable. exacerbate that male lonliness epidemic as much as you possibly can.

Reducing women to objects in pornography is a precondition to make the violence they endure look acceptable. When women stop being people, acts of violence against them stop being harmful, as objects cannot be harmed. The legitimation of VAW in pornography is also supported by two latent assumptions. First is the idea that pornography is a “distortion, reflection, projection, expression, fantasy, representation or symbol” (MacKinnon, 1984, p. 326) of reality and, therefore, not real. Yet, “fantasy expresses ideology” (MacKinnon, 1984, p. 327); it expresses the reality of the subordination of women entrenched in the way we understand sex, in and out of pornography. In fact, the second assumption that legitimizes VAW in pornography– that is, that “women enjoy sexual mistreatment” (Dines, 2010, p. 64), consent to their own humiliation, and never say “no” to degrading acts– shows how eroticization and women’s subordination are strictly connected, with the latter becoming “socially real” through its enactment in pornography (MacKinnon, 1984, p. 327). The illusion of consent covers the sexist nature of these acts and allows the refusal of sex not only to become indistinguishable from the desire of sex, but also normalized and eroticized. In pornography, even women’s “no” is part of the fantasy, and force is no longer seen as force “because it is inflicted on women and called sex” (MacKinnon, 1984, pp. 340–343). Under this pretense, almost everything becomes justifiable, including degrading and violent acts such as shoving a woman’s head down the toilet, gagging her, or making her ingest her own vomit. While women become powerless in pornography—as willing actors who ask to be acted upon—men become powerful and always obtain as much sex as they want, how they want it. For a short time, men “get to see what life would look like if only women unquestionably consented to men’s sexual demands” (Dines, 2010, p. 63).

— “I Don’t Hate All Women, Just Those Stuck-Up Bitches”: How Incels and Mainstream Pornography Speak the Same Extreme Language of Misogyny (Alessia Tranchese and Lisa Sugiura)