Separatist feminism

Separatist feminism or feminist separatism maintains that the separation of men in certain areas must occur, so that women can have safe spaces. Due to While much of its theorizing is based on lesbian feminism, feminist separatism is often considered simply lesbian separatism, but many aspects of the feminist movement draw on and have been influenced by general feminist separatism. Separatist feminists believe that women have the right to spaces segregated by sex (in shelters, shelters, bathrooms). These safe spaces do not refer exclusively to men, since the impact of the inclusion of trans women in Women-only spaces generate discomfort and fear in many women, including the fear of being sexually abused.

Author Marilyn Frye describes feminist separatism as the "separation of various types or modes of men and from the institutions, relationships, roles, and activities defined by men, dominated by men, and operating for the benefit of men." and the maintenance of male privilege. This separation is initiated or maintained by women.

Background

Cultural critic Alice Echols describes the emergence of a lesbian separatist movement as a response to homophobic sentiments expressed by feminist organizations such as the National Organization for Women. Echols argues that "...the introduction of (homosexual) sex "It upset many heterosexual feminists who had found in the women's movement a welcome respite from sexuality." Echols considered separatism as a lesbian strategy to disassociate lesbianism from sex so that heterosexual women in the feminist movement would feel more comfortable.

One of the first examples of feminist separatism was Cell 16, a group founded in 1968 by Roxanne Dunbar. Echols credits Cell 16 with helping to "establish the theoretical basis for lesbian separatism." Echols cites Cell 16 as an example of heterosexual feminist separatism, as the group never advocated lesbianism as a political strategy.

In No More Fun and Games, Cell 16's newspaper, Roxanne Dunbar and Lisa Leghorn advised women to "separate themselves from men who do not consciously work for women's liberation." Instead, they advised periods of celibacy rather than lesbian relationships, which they considered "nothing more than a personal solution."

Currents within feminist separatism

General feminist separatism

In a treatise on socialist feminism published in 1972, the Hyde Park Chapter of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union differentiated between separatism as an "ideological position" and as a "tactical position." In the same document, They also distinguished between separatism as a "personal practice" and as a "political position."

In the essay Notes on Separatism and Power by lesbian feminist Marilyn Frye (1978), the writer posits female separatism as a strategy practiced by all women. women, at some point, and present in many feminist projects (one could mention women's shelters, electoral quotas or Women's Studies programs). Frye argues that it is only when women practice it, consciously as separation from men, that it is treated with controversy (or as she suggests: hysteria, on the part of conservatives). On the other hand, male separatism (is could cite gentlemen's clubs, unions, sports teams, militaries and, more debatably, decision-making positions in general) is considered a fairly normal, even convenient phenomenon.

According to Sarah Hoagland, some separatist feminists believe that men cannot make positive contributions to the feminist movement and that even well-intentioned men replicate patriarchal dynamics.

Lesbian separatism

Charlotte Bunch, an early member of The Furies Collective, viewed separatism as a strategy, a "first step," or a temporary withdrawal from mainstream activism to achieve specific goals or enhance personal growth.

In the United States, the movement began in 1970, when seven women (including lesbian activist Dorothy Louise Taliaferro "Del" Martin) confronted the Northern Conference of Homophile Organizations about the relevance of the gay movement. gay rights for women within it. Delegates passed a resolution in favor of women's liberation, but Del Martin felt they had not done enough and wrote If That All All There Is, an influential 1970 essay in which he denounced gay rights organizations as sexist. The Furies Collective, a radical feminist organization, formed a commune in 1971 open only to lesbians, where they published monthly in favor of lesbian feminist separatism. The Furies Collective consisted of twelve women, ages eighteen to twenty-eight, all feminists, all lesbians, all white, with three children between them. These activities continued into the early 1970s. Other well-known lesbian separatist groups include The Gutter Dykes, The Gorgons, and The Radicalesbians. .

In French-speaking countries. Inspired by the writings of philosopher Monique Wittig, radical lesbian feminism originated in France in the early 1980s, spreading shortly thereafter to the Canadian province of Quebec. Wittig, referencing the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir, challenges concepts of biological determinism, arguing that those in power construct sex difference and race difference for the purpose of masking conflicts of interest and maintaining domination. She and her followers saw heterosociality and heterosexuality as aspects of the " heteropower", heavily censored.

In the United States, the female communities called "womyn lands" are part of a female separatist movement in favor of homosexual women, focused on issues of ecofeminism. According to McGarry & Wasserman, lesbian separatism provided opportunities to "live their lives apart from...dominant society", and in the 1970s "a significant number of lesbian feminists moved to rural communities."

Reception

On numerous occasions, representatives of black feminism such as Beverly Smith and Barbara Smith showed their disagreement with feminist separatism, stating that this destroys the alliance with men of the same racial condition to fight against discrimination, at the same time, according to them, the white women of feminist separatism have racist positions against the same black women.

In 1983, the post-left anarchist Bob Black expressed his opinion on feminism, questioning the separatist practice in social relations between the sexes.

While arguing for a broadly separatist politics, feminist Sonia Johnson points out that separatist feminism risks becoming defined by what is separated, namely men.

Lesbian poet Jewelle Gomez addresses her intertwined history with straight black men and straight women in her essay Out of the Past explaining that “to separate from those who have been part of our survival is a leap that many women of color could never do.

The masculine movement of Men Going Their Own Way (MGTOW) is often seen as the sexual analogue to feminist separatism.

Radical trans exclusionary feminism is a branch of lesbian separatist feminism that has an unfavorable position towards trans women and in general towards the postulates of queer theory.

In popular culture

Writings

During the second wave of feminism, activists created a network of publications, presses, magazines and periodicals, known as the women in print movement. Some designated their periodicals and books "for women only" or "only for lesbians".

A historical example is Charlotte Perkins Gilman's feminist science fiction novel Herland (1915). Contemporary examples include Joanna Russ with The Female Man (1975).) and Nicola Griffith with Ammonite (1993).

The Wanderground, a 1979 novel, which represents a separatist world between men and women from a lesbian perspective. The wanderground: stories of the hill women, a documentary from 2018 written by Dianna Hunter, where the author recounts her experience in a lesbian separatist collective.

Lesbian Nation: The Feminist Solution, a 1973 novel, is a collection of essays written by Jill Johnston, originally printed in The Village Voice, where Johnston analyzes the elements of the breakup of institutions dominated by men.

For Lesbians Only: A Separatist Anthology, a 1988 study, edited by Julia Penélope and Sarah Lucia Hoagland, is a collection of writings on lesbian separatism.

Periodic publications

Notable lesbian separatist newspapers in the United States include Common Lives/Lesbian Lives (Iowa, 1980–1996), Lesbian Connection (Michigan, 1974– present), Sinister Wisdom (California, 1976–present), Lesbian Tide (California, 1971–1980), WomanSpirit (Oregon, 1974–1984) Conditions (New York, 1976–1990), and Azalea: A Magazine by Third World Lesbians (New York, 1971–1980).

Other examples are the English lesbian magazine Gossip: A Journal of Lesbian Feminist Ethics, Lesbian Feminist Circle, a lesbian-only newspaper collectively produced in Wellington, New Zealand, the Australian newspaper Sage: The Separatist Age, the Canadian Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui, produced for a lesbian audience in Montreal, Quebec, and Killer Dyke, a magazine of the "Flippies" (Intergalactic Lesbian Feminist Party), based in Chicago. The Furies was an American newspaper of The Furies Collective that intended to give voice to lesbian separatism, and It operated from January 1972 to mid-1973.

Music

The 1970s were an active period of so-called "women's music", a genre mainly originated and supported by lesbian separatists. The singers Maxine Feldman and Alix Dobkin were the pioneers of this musical genre.

In Michigan, a festival exclusively for women was held to get away from the male environment.

Olivia Records was a Los Angeles record company that sponsored feminist separatist singers, selling nearly 2 million copies of albums featuring female performers. The company subsequently left the music business and moved into to tourism by becoming a travel agency only for lesbians.