Holy Shit Even Fem-anarchists have to put up with sexist shits

[ismnotwasm]

Found this little rant about an experience at an Anachafem conference in Australasia

“Your culture,” he spat, “has invaded my culture for the last 800 years!” I must admit, I was a little confused by this. I might be British by birth but it certainly wasn’t my choice and my ancestors are traditionally those who have been raped and pillaged by imperialists so I couldn’t get my head around what he meant. “You’re a British imperialist!” He said this a few times but it didn’t make a difference in my comprehension. Here was this white man with an Australian accent and hefty mousey dreadlocks accusing me of racially controlling him and I wasn’t happy. This is where I got a bit sweary. I asked him what he meant by that as I made a point of looking at my skin and he replied “well, your accent is really English.” This person clearly hasn’t spent any time in this country or spoken to any people of colour living in Western societies otherwise he’d know that accents have very fucking little to do with a person’s roots. That and he’s a big fat racist. We called him that and we called him a rape apologist. A couple of his supporters really didn’t like that. One man, with his fuzzy mullet and flat cap brought his camcorder right into my face, his lips shaking, trying to intimidate me into silence. ANY anarchist worth their fucking politics knows you do not film comrades so with this in mind, we assumed he was a copper and called it as such. He didn’t like that. Dread man called us ‘hysterical’ and we all whooped. There were calls for making the most of it with a game of manarchist bingo as things went from ridiculous to brain numbingly tedious. He randomly accused two of our group of killing 11 people in Northern Ireland, accusing one of them of being Northern Irish.

The crowd around us got bigger, comrades very much on our side and the others, men who seemed utterly heartbroken (pissed off) that we were chanting “kill all men”. One well-meaning chap explained how his mum was a feminist and how he had support for women but he felt alienated by phrases such as the one we were using. Assuming he was an anarchist, I asked him if he’d ever said ‘ACAB’ or ‘eat the rich’ and then whether he said these in the absolute belief that there wasn’t a single good cop in the world or that he might actually munch on the upper classes because if he was saying it, then he obviously he meant it. There was a slight pause before he understood what I was saying but he persisted in advising that we were pushing the average man away.

Here’s the thing: we don’t give a shit about the average man. We’re not teachers, we’re not leaders, we’re not going to break it down for you in a language you understand. We are expressing ourselves, nothing more, nothing less. We say these extreme things because, powerless as we are, sometimes it is the only thing in our arsenal. Words are powerful, yes, and for those fleeting few seconds, we are in control and you can’t hurt us.

As the crowd dissipated we made our way to the foyer for the AnarchaFem conference but on the way in, we were confronted by fuzzy mullet man. His face started twitching again, he must have really been resisting the impulse to physically attack me, his whole demeanour was triggering of the men who have attacked me in the past. I felt eerily calm, pushing his finger down when he pointed it in my face and moving into his space to see how he liked it. “Do you believe in free speech?” He repeated this over and over. Comrades shouted “rape apologist cop!” at him but this didn’t change his stance. It was only when a male comrade physically put his body between us that this manz sloped off, the bulk of my male friend clearly too much of a challenge.

http://samambreen.wordpress.com

[MuseRider]

1. Wow, this is interesting

just considering.

"Here’s the thing: we don’t give a shit about the average man. We’re not teachers, we’re not leaders, we’re not going to break it down for you in a language you understand. We are expressing ourselves, nothing more, nothing less. We say these extreme things because, powerless as we are, sometimes it is the only thing in our arsenal. Words are powerful, yes, and for those fleeting few seconds, we are in control and you can’t hurt us."

To me, that very paragraph grabbed me. So much of what we do is tedious repeating of things to people who will not and do not want to hear us because somehow us being humans with equality will take their power away and apparently that power is important to them, wish they would use it constructively. <---the very same basic problem for all minorities.

So where is the solution? Educating is threatening to those who would hold us down so they deny that we are held down. Protecting ourselves is so tiresome and it makes us angry so we express ourselves in the only way left us (I admit that I think "kill all men" is way way way farther than I would ever go but I do understand the anger behind those words) but our expressing that anger makes them angry and no explanation or education will be heard.

Where do you go from here? I tire of it all. Where is a solution when you speak and are not heard then when you yell you are told you need to speak?

[redqueen]

3. We talk to each other, and support each other.

Mentor each other, comfort each other...

The oppressed are oppressed only with their consent. Men can't hold a gun on every individual woman to ensure she does not throw off the chains of patriarchy. They don't have to. Because those chains are in our heads. We are raised to believe in the patriarchy's values and to teach them to our kids. By raising awareness of the ways that we are encouraged to stay in our role - we can help each other to be free. It will take generations but it must continue.

[MuseRider]

4. Thanks.

I do get that part. I have been oppressed but have never felt oppressed. I guess I was really thinking of control, those who would control our bodies and our lives without our consent. I see what you mean. I am not good at differentiating sometimes and I appreciate what you said.

[redqueen]

5. Oh, sorry...

So you meant more like legislative issues? Like reducing access to healthcare and locking women up for the duration of their pregnancy, or for falling down stairs while pregnant... that kind of thing?

[MuseRider]

6. LOL, no problem

there is enough oppression to go around!

I don't really know what I meant, part of it was in a personal sense I guess.

My mind and spirit cannot be oppressed but my life sure as hell can.

I just really liked the part I quoted because it just seems to hit the issue square in the jaw for me.

I am worn down. I don't know how you all carry on in the face of it all. I find it far easier to work on issues for other people, my LGBT work, than to work on issues directly effecting my personal life. Of course they are all related but it is still far easier for me. Not certain why.

EDIT just for clarification When I said I find it far easier what I meant was that personally I can control my mind and emotions enough to be clear about what I am saying. When doing women's issues I can't. I get reactionary and mean and it never works well. The LGBT issues are not easier issues, they are much the same but they are easier for me to remain rational and effective.

[Shivering Jemmy]

2. Don't be surprised

Anarchism is riven with all these little rivalries, beefs and arguments. If there is a problem afflicting society as a whole it is there in the anarchist community too, and chances are it is worse.

[ismnotwasm]

7. Yeah it's a smaller community

Which works as a magnifying glass. I used to be a little bit anarchist