Violet

im honestly not even sure if its a “cis” feminist problem; though as a trans femme i obviously relate to your sentiment. even more radical communist feminists ive met are sometimes hesitant to acknowledge that patriarchy exists beyond minor inconvenience to white middle class women. which obviously is important framing for patriarchy in order for its main oppressed class to avoid awakening class consciousness. .70 cents for every dollar is a common, and real tbc, material class problem women face, but i hardly see reference to it as a core issue anymore. but nobody adresses how this number drops dramatically to i think .60-.40 cents if youre an indigenous women, ive also never seen it brought up in queer circles how hyper femme lesbians and POC are a historical act of rebellion against patriarchy within working class women, because to put time into your appearance meant you werent spending every hour working and denying capitalist labour profit. instead hyper femininity is often critiqued as an identity of opulence amongst normative communist feminists.

some of it is fighting necessary battlegrounds the right has pushed us into, but ive never equally seen discussion about radical feminist history and strategy beyond critiques of the stuff that became the bedrock for reactionary thought like terfs. i cant remember the last time an anarchist and feminist quoted emma goldman, but i can remember the last time one quoted malatesta to me. even the idea of showing breasts in public as a display of defiance feels like its been dismissed as “not intersectional” because intersectionality has just become a way to not actually discuss women and femme’s issues, yknow? feminist thought all over is scared of acknowledging the beast, and therefore focus on an individualization of looking upon the violence women face as if gazing the beast’s claw will stop its arm from advancing.

like trans women do this too, we constantly talk about the statistics of violence against us, in part to recognize there is a problem, but just as equally we’re hesitant to even acknowledge that transmisogyny has a root in the colonial policing of gender expression or that therefore passing and stealthing is a precarious position with deadly consequences. instead we talk amongst ourselves about “passing privilege.”