6b4t - Tumblr Posts
something i keep seeing among all the celibacy discussions is this argument that we shouldn't restrict women from trying to find "love". but what does love mean? love is as much defined by our social realities as everything else involving sex & sexuality. love, romance & partnership are not neutral concepts. heterosexist patriarchy wields the ideal of love against women and our class interests, to instill in us that love is the only thing we should aspire for. that love is marriage, children, self-sacrifice, & submission to a man. fantasies of love are one part of female socialisation into femininity & heterosexuality. given men are socialised not for the capacity of love in its purest sense but for dominance and ownership, how is it you are hoping to find love with them? can you find love and partnership that is truly free of the inequalities of capitalism & patriarchy? just as we interrogate sex we should interrogate love.
i am at the point where i no longer entertain delusions of romantic love with a man. i am not happy to settle for "what i can get" from a man, which honestly i don't think would ever be very much. watching and learning from the older women in my family it seems like the "love" of men is not worth having. what i am searching for instead is community and love among women. romantic or sexual love from men is not love's only form, love's only source. but that is what they would like you to believe.
All I have to say about this pride month's discourse is I'm about to start unfollowing people if I keep having to see the same women who were happily reblogging 4B movement posts suddenly wringing hands crying heterophobia over anyone wishing we could have that level of female class consciousness and solidarity here too. Lesbians are not out here trying to press you into service picking vegetables on the lesbian commune, you're embarrassing yourselves.
—— 01.
preface: I shall start by saying 6B4T is a lifestyle choice. no one, no lesbian especially, has the power required to separate you from your males, we do not have the power to ban, or restrict, or kill you for continuing to date, idolize, and birth males while having no female solidarity and prioritizing no women. the most "backlash" you shall receive is online words on a screen. compared to real life as women are raped, beaten, assaulted by men repeatedly over and over; we are not wrong to demand feminist action and hold women up to a certain standard.
6B4T: a South Korean & Chinese feminist movements that calls for radical action & provides the most practical and sensible way of ending the patriarchy. the tenets are:
"radical feminism"; there is a disconnect here, but not by much. western radical feminism is the one that originated during the 3rd wave feminist movement. the meaning of it was to 'get to the root' of the problem and dismantle the patriarchy. the word radical here also applies in a literal sense, meaning radical action. then there is the South Korean / Chinese radical feminism or the 6B4T group which is essentially the same, but with clear cut goals and lifestyle. a direct approach on how to best, and swiftly end patriarchal oppression; at the root. while they both refer to different sects, the end solution is always the same: separatism. which is why it is important that online radfems learn the difference between the radical feminist label, and gender critical. not centering & catering to males is an essential necessity of the movement. you cannot pick and choose when to call yourself a radical feminist while actively contradicting the fundamentals of the movement itself simply because you do not want to take radical action, in a radical feminist movement.
Separatism: I outright refuse to believe separatism constitutes as a 'radical' action, rather it should be considered the most natural solution. the obvious choice. the only power we have is to not serve men. let's break this down; for the sake of convenience let's just ignore male family members at this point, despite the fact that they're the ones who are most likely to benefit out of your subjugation. for now let's focus on romantic male partners.
to start, I've heard many say that I, as a lesbian, have no right to give my input on this topic, and during my earlier r*dblr days I'll admit I thought that too as I was being silenced by every osa woman around me. still, that did not stop me from thinking and forming opinions; seeing things clearly. some lesphobic way's I've been shut down includes saying things like "lesbians just don't get osa oppression, t's easy for you to advocate for celibacy when you aren't the one being involved with or being affected by men", or "you get to say that & date, yet we cannot find love? how unfair is that"
—— to a degree this is correct, I'll never understand what you as a osa go through, but that does not mean we do not face misogyny. we are women, and we are traumatized constantly by being forced to be in the presence of males, usually brought around by osa women. the axis of homophobia and misogyny here overlap. that aside 6B4T radical feminist movement isn't made solely by lesbians. it's a movement started by women of all sexuality in South Korean & china. many women abstain from sex & marriage whether for religious reasons, or protest; it is not a new concept.
—— sorry but you won't receive any sympathy from me on the second point; lesbians are well resigned to the fact that we will never date, never find loved and will likely be sold or raped by our family members. and guess what? that isolation is unique to us, but it is also our norm. in every single tv show, play, books, media, conversation, history; every part of creation on the planet has been saturated in your favor; you were promised love from the start, you were given it in tv shows, in books, in historical stories, in songs, in poems — the world is made for you. everywhere you go. we never had that, we still don't. to me this sounds like the cries of the privileged. so sorry if I do not care much about how being celibate is a very difficult choice for you. I'm devoid of compassion here. I'm sure it's hard, but you will find someone else to hold your hand instead; the entire world always gives you what you want, so please bear my lack of sympathy.
moving on, I don't think I need to expressly say it, but I will anyway: dating men is self harm. it's foolish; you endanger yourself and everyone around you. no, I am not infantilizing you when I say this. it is just a fact. I know it, and you know it, must I really pull out the beautiful words and string it all together lyrically? we both know the end result and the truth is this; men don't respect you, they do not care for you, and they do not love you beyond how one love's it's property. although I am well aware that when faced with uncomfortable facts women tend to double down often on their beliefs. it's a defense mechanism, so I have nothing to say to that. shut your ears, avert your eyes & scream about how wrong I am, I shall continue to speak to the ones who will listen then.
I think the reason women on radblr find it so hard to be anti male centric is because of western privilege. due to the fact that the patriarchy you reside in is comfortable enough for you, you lack the empathy required to use your privilege to take radical feminist action & make a solid stance. western countries like America, Uk, etc have a lot of influence, the effects of colonization still ripple across many different countries; it is why popular fads like gender identity and pro-sexual abuse movements blaze through other countries. alternatively we can use this tide in the favor of all women; if western women take up such a bold feminist stance they shall cause a ripple effect and their actions will reflect the struggles of all women.
However they refuse to do so because they are lazy and lack empathy for women in other countries because they aren't the ones being beaten, raped and sold by their family members into sexual slavery, because they aren't the ones being payed by governments to birth babies like cattle, because they aren't the ones who's parents kill them upon being born, because they aren't child brides (or at least pretend that it's not an issue in their countries), because they are not pawns; they have rights. and they lack empathy for us outside of reblogging posts to reaffirm their beliefs "oh look at those poor dirty countries, how those women suffer" while still being extremely individualistic and male centric.
women do not need sex, to argue that having PIV / het sex is essential to your life as a woman is not only misogynistic, but homophobic as well. you are a multifaceted individual, your entire being is not tied to sexual acts you commit with men; it is not a need to have sex, you will not die if you do not have sex with men, insinuating so is very incel-like behavior. pleasing men sexually will not grant you liberation, no matter what gratification you claim to get out of it.
centering males is unfeminist. reproducing, marrying and birthing males is an unfeminist action. no amount of revolutionary online 'think' posts will aid in women's liberation unless you, yourself, take action. which brings me to the next point; some reasons & arguments that anti-separatists give:
—— "it's too extreme": misogyny is extreme. feminism is extreme. you will not be liberated nor contribute to the liberation of anyone else as you drag your feet & hold any entire movement back by co-opting the 'radfem' label as a gender identity while taking no action. then calling everyone who rightfully follows and advocates for the principles of radical feminist 'deranged' and harassing them out of the spaces where they rightfully belong; lesbians & woc especially are a victim to such overwhelming target of harassment by bi/het privileged women as they continue to repeatedly prioritize men and themselves over marginalized minority women.
—— "how dare you say I don't deserve love" love has nothing to do with being deserving or worthy; I think you're too emotionally involved at this point where you cannot give up the privileges you acquire from bedding men, so instead you think yourself a victim of online hate crime. please go back to the preface at the start of this post, I don't want to retype it.
—— "if we stop reproducing with males, they will rape us". is that not more reason to separate from males? distance yourself so that they may never reach you again. being pressured to sleep with males; saying 'no' and getting raped: that is the true face of all males, these creatures will not 'love' you, no matter how much you try to romanticize it. for every 'good' male there is a girl he's harassed, a rapist friend he's defended, a porn watcher he's ignored, a woman he didn't help out, a comment he liked about misogyny. prioritize other women first, not males.
—— "osa women are the majority, they will never stop partnering with males, it's unrealistic to demand so & exclude them from feminism" you see.. here's the thing; separatists, lesbians, actual radfems: we have no systematic power to exclude or oppress osa's from feminism. there is no way to stop these women from benefiting of the labour of lesbians / woc radfems. however they, being part of the oppressor class, largely do have the power to come into radical feminist spaces and co-opt it, dismantle it and reconstruct it to 'function' within the frame work of their comfort (dating men, wearing makeup, watching porn, being hateful to lesbians and woc all the while simply being anti sex slavery and gender critical is enough for them to garner all the attention and positive reaffirmation they require about their male reformist feminism).
—— as for the first point; women in china, south korea, women in conservative households or even nuns; these are real women who practice celibacy, they are doing it as we speak, it is possible. have some courage. this is not a new concept and you are certainly not alone in this.
—— lastly, separatism not only helps you, but lesbians as well. continuing to force lesbians to be near, and interact with males means continuing a society where we are preyed on by men. I bring this up not because I expect anything of any of you, but rather because you are so quick to bring up words like "solidarity" & "sisterhood" in regards to male reformist osa women. well. I am throwing this back there; solidarity and sisterhood means taking actions that save lesbians from a lesphobic society. (don't worry, I know none of you take lesphobia seriously, this was more a comment on principle than expecting genuine results)
Criticism of radical feminism: lesphobia; as I was alluding to in my fourth point, osa women have a lot of structural power, especially when it comes to oppressing lesbians. and the entirety of radical feminist movement has been infested with political lesbianism; women who believe lesbianism is a choice, that simply not dating males makes you a lesbian, that exclusive same sex attraction is not real — all of this lesphobia has been prevalent since the start of radical feminism. lesbians were a big help to the advancement of women in terms of feminism, yet we were abused for it repeatedly. our voices were silence, we were stripped of our labels as a woman, and as a actual lesbian. even still, to this day so many lesbians continue to be brave and fight for the rights of all women, all we have been given in return is repeated abuse; we are treated like how male-lites and predators and that is proven time and time again on 'r*dblr'. if you are going to start having solidarity with all women ('the majority of the women are osa's') how about prioritizing vulnerable groups? lesbians and women of colour. groups who's labour you've continued to reap from.
hypocrisy of Tumblr radfems: my last critique is the hypocrisy of self-proclaimed Tumblr radfems; spineless. half of you are far too spineless due to your own comfort and privilege; (you excuse imperialism, racist jokes, birthing children and bedding males, why? because these issues don't affect you. did you know there are countries where women are paid to give birth to a minimum of 2-3 children? did you know that child brides, & arrange marriages are still a thing? do you even care? I think not, because you have the choice to not care and only focus on male reformation or defending your favorite r*dblr idols), you have a disgusting clique mentality and shy away from holding people accountable for their actions, you are focused too much on trans issues and expend so very little energy or time to actually helping all women, you do not prioritize girls but instead groom and encourage them to sleep with men and be abused, you enable the worst inaction between each other all the while deluding yourself that you're achieving something big. you extend your compassion to worst people alive; anyone but a lesbian. women who are racist, women who are lesphobic, who bed men, women who birth men's children, women who cheat, women who sabotage — all of them are given 10000 excuses by self proclaimed radfems, they are never held accountable because perhaps it's your favorite popular blogger, or your mutual, or your friend — radical feminism is a feminist movement, do not derail it by letting your judgement be clouded. focus on what the objective is.
(and because I know I will be told 'it's just tumblr', the original 6B4T movement was one that was started online too. you have no excuse). I have witnessed countless lesbians be run off radblr because simply asking certain women to be held accountable is apparently "drama/infighting/causing division" & oh — isn't it painfully, laughably funny? that only lesbians, women of colour and separatists are ever accused of 'causing a rift in feminism', isn't it funny that asking you to hold racists and lesphobes accountable is what gets us harassed and chased off a movement of our own creation? isn't it funny how you have more solidarity with osa white women then you will ever have with us? and isn't it funny that only we are told to "let go of a mistake / choice from x & y years ago, don't be mad over it anymore" by people who have no right to give any input? it's hilarious.
I am tired of lesbians and women of color making posts about how they are leaving because r*dblr collectively decided to side with class traitors. I am so very tired.
The 4B Movement: How South Korean women are leaving the patriarchy behind
(Getty Images)
In 2016, a 34-year-old man named Kim Sung-min waited inside a unisex restroom outside exit 10 of Gangnam Station, Seoul South Korea. Six different men came and exited through the restroom over the span of an hour, until a 23-year-old woman entered, and Kim proceeded to stab and kill her with a 12-inch-long sushi knife. In court, Kim stated, “I did it because women have always ignored me.” Kim’s actions and thoughts are not out of the ordinary amongst Korean men—violence against women is extremely common in South Korea.
(BBC)
South Korea has a long record of female subjugation. Between 1953 and 2021, abortion was illegal in almost all circumstances, and current law allows a woman to get an abortion only if she has consent from a male relative or her boyfriend/husband/partner. A 2015 South Korean government survey revealed that almost 80% of women had been sexually harassed at work. A survey released by The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family found that 57.8 percent of women felt vulnerable to misogynistic violence. Digital crime and sexual harassment are extremely common— “molka”, up-skirt photos, and secret cameras hidden in restrooms are rampant, so much so that any cellphone purchased in South Korea has a mandatory chime when photos are taken. The World Economic Forum’s 2022 Global Gender Gap Index ranks South Korea at number 99 out of 146 countries for gender equality. Legislation actively works against women trying to report sexual assault. Men accused of stalking or harassment can “ask” their victims to drop charges, and in 2022 a man murdered his former colleague after she refused to drop charges against him for stalking her since 2019. South Korea has the highest gender pay gap of all the OECD countries—the top wealthiest 37 countries, globally, with women earning on average a third less than men. These alarming statistics have come years after the “Gangnam Station” murder, and South Korean women continue to be targeted for their gender.
(Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images)
Despite Kim’s own testimony, government authorities explicitly denied the misogynistic motive, and the prosecution announced that the case was not being investigated as a hate crime. Kim was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison. In response to the murder, women took to the streets outside Gangnam station and the surrounding areas in protest. The women, many of whom had never considered themselves feminists or activists, but the nature of the crime and the misogynistic motivation, as well as the court's refusal to acknowledge it, outranged them. The murder incited intense debates about misogyny within the country, and the gender inequities women faced both socially and economically. Five months after the murder, Cho Nam-Joo’s novel Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 was published. The book devastatingly details an everyday woman’s daily experiences of nonstop sexism, inequality, and misogyny in contemporary South Korea, and served as another enraging eye-opener that would develop into what would become known as the 4B Movement.
The four B’s (or “Four No’s”) of the movement represent the four major components that women of the movement are rejecting; Bisekseu (sex), Bichulsan (child-bearing), Biyeonae, (dating) and Bihon (marriage). South Korean feminists define the 4B movement not as a fight against the patriarchy, but a complete step away from it— leaving it behind. In 2017, the Escape the Corset campaign swept across the country. The word “corset” is used by Korean feminists as a metaphor for the societal mechanisms that control and repress women, for example, the extreme and toxic beauty standards. Both 4B and Escape the Corset condemn and reject the influence that beauty holds within every aspect of South Korean life. Pioneers such as feminist author Cho Nam-Joo, and photographer Jeon Bo-ra, who photographed women who shaved their heads in rebellion. Social media has played a large role in the 4B movement, with bloggers and beauty influencers like Lina Bae speaking up against unattainable beauty standards and societal pressures, and Summer Lee who was inspired to cut her hair, throw away her hyperfeminine clothes, and post pictures of herself without makeup.
(Jean Chung/Getty Images)
Despite increasing conversation on women’s rights, feminism is still considered a taboo, contentious, or even “dirty” word for many South Koreans. It is often associated with “man-hating” and perceived as overly aggressive. The country's current president Yoon Suk-yeol has promised to close down the South Korean Ministry of Gender Equility and Family, and any other organizations that fund or support women and victims of sexual violence, claiming they “treat men like potential sex criminals”. A January 2023 article in the South Korean newspaper The Sisa Times reported that 65% of women in the country do not want children, 42% do not want to get married, and over 80% of those cite domestic violence as their key reason. As a result, concerns regarding the rising average population age and declining birth rate in South Korea have increased greatly. The country's birth rate is less than one per woman as of 2021, and the country saw less than 200,000 marriages. In recent years, the South Korean government has commissioned a number of soap operas and reality TV shows to promote an idyllic view of romantic heterosexual love, and to encourage marriage and reproduction.
(Yonhap)
The 4B movement and Escape the Corset campaign have had a tremendous impact on the way young South Korean women view the countries cultural grip on women’s appearances and lives. Between 2015-2016 and 2017-2018, Korean women spent over 5 billion Korean Won less on beauty products and cosmetic surgeries, instead investing their money in cars and choosing independence over objectification. The movement is calling for boycotts of any business that uses sexist advertising, and encouraging women to eat at women-owned restaurants, drink in women-owned bars, and shop at women-owned stores—women’s money goes into the pockets of other women. Women’s universities have also been on the rise in South Korea, with most cities housing one or several women-only institutions. Similarly, women’s only spaces have begun to expand, women’s parking spots closer to entrances and exits in parking garages, women’s only hotel floors and common rooms, and women’s only subway cars. These spaces allow feminism to spread and flourish, and give Korean women the ability to find community with other women without the interference of men.
(Ian Baldessari/CityLab)
Since 2016, Exit 10 of Gangnam Station has become a symbolic site for South Korean feminism. The South Korean feminist movement developed out of particularly misogynist conditions within their country. The 4B movement represents a radical way that women have sought to create an online and offline world devoid of men—rather than engaging in arguments and altercations, they simply refuse to interact with men in every aspect of their lives. These actions have had a profound impact on the functionality of South Korean society and have opened an uncloseable door too the discussion of women’s rights.
McCurry, Justin. “Calls for Stalking Law Overhaul in South Korea as Woman’s Murder Shocks Nation.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Sept. 2022, www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/23/calls-for-stalking-law-overhaul-in-south-korea-as-womans-shocks-nation.
Teehan, Katie. “What Is the 4B Movement?” Service95, 16 Apr. 2024, www.service95.com/4b-movement-explainer/.
Izaakson , Jen, and Tae Kyung Kim. “The South Korean Women’s Movement: ‘We Are Not Flowers, We Are a Fire.’” Feminist Current, 16 June 2020, www.feministcurrent.com/2020/06/15/the-south-korean-womens-movement-we-are-not-flowers-we-are-a-fire/.
Lee, Min Joo. “Why so Many South Korean Women Are Refusing to Date, Marry or Have Kids.” Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 15 May 2023, news.yahoo.com/why-many-south-korean-women-123250959.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAHmBVorK4v6bdzwcJMRyRdXkKtzUlpQYWn5Ot-BPzs-YRNNZFW5JBwC65OTaPrRImn3F3G56r0gfNydadUzlQtPS61hOi6uggk_OkwZqqvLvS-YN4HbPrpwKvK9_7g0e9yqu9fiRRvOVJkGRv__L7AZGoYtfHVxjKLLPDi9DI2fu.
Park, Seohoi Stephanie. “Murder at Gangnam Station: A Year Later.” KOREA EXPOSÉ, 2 Mar. 2023, koreaexpose.com/murder-gangnam-station-year-later/.
Dockeray, Hannah. “Why Some South Korean Women Are Rejecting Beauty.” Sky News, 14 July 2021, news.sky.com/story/plastic-surgery-south-korea-faces-beauty-backlash-11871654.
The rise in attention to the South Korean 4B movement these last couple days is so thrilling. I see so many women talking about it on tiktok, entire comment sections flooding with “4B movement now” whenever a woman complains about her shitty moid of a partner, coupled with detailed chroniclings of the ever-decaying state of the male loneliness epidemic.
—— 01.
preface: I shall start by saying 6B4T is a lifestyle choice. no one, no lesbian especially, has the power required to separate you from your males, we do not have the power to ban, or restrict, or kill you for continuing to date, idolize, and birth males while having no female solidarity and prioritizing no women. the most "backlash" you shall receive is online words on a screen. compared to real life as women are raped, beaten, assaulted by men repeatedly over and over; we are not wrong to demand feminist action and hold women up to a certain standard.
6B4T: a South Korean & Chinese feminist movements that calls for radical action & provides the most practical and sensible way of ending the patriarchy. the tenets are:
"radical feminism"; there is a disconnect here, but not by much. western radical feminism is the one that originated during the 3rd wave feminist movement. the meaning of it was to 'get to the root' of the problem and dismantle the patriarchy. the word radical here also applies in a literal sense, meaning radical action. then there is the South Korean / Chinese radical feminism or the 6B4T group which is essentially the same, but with clear cut goals and lifestyle. a direct approach on how to best, and swiftly end patriarchal oppression; at the root. while they both refer to different sects, the end solution is always the same: separatism. which is why it is important that online radfems learn the difference between the radical feminist label, and gender critical. not centering & catering to males is an essential necessity of the movement. you cannot pick and choose when to call yourself a radical feminist while actively contradicting the fundamentals of the movement itself simply because you do not want to take radical action, in a radical feminist movement.
Separatism: I outright refuse to believe separatism constitutes as a 'radical' action, rather it should be considered the most natural solution. the obvious choice. the only power we have is to not serve men. let's break this down; for the sake of convenience let's just ignore male family members at this point, despite the fact that they're the ones who are most likely to benefit out of your subjugation. for now let's focus on romantic male partners.
to start, I've heard many say that I, as a lesbian, have no right to give my input on this topic, and during my earlier r*dblr days I'll admit I thought that too as I was being silenced by every osa woman around me. still, that did not stop me from thinking and forming opinions; seeing things clearly. some lesphobic way's I've been shut down includes saying things like "lesbians just don't get osa oppression, t's easy for you to advocate for celibacy when you aren't the one being involved with or being affected by men", or "you get to say that & date, yet we cannot find love? how unfair is that"
—— to a degree this is correct, I'll never understand what you as a osa go through, but that does not mean we do not face misogyny. we are women, and we are traumatized constantly by being forced to be in the presence of males, usually brought around by osa women. the axis of homophobia and misogyny here overlap. that aside 6B4T radical feminist movement isn't made solely by lesbians. it's a movement started by women of all sexuality in South Korean & china. many women abstain from sex & marriage whether for religious reasons, or protest; it is not a new concept.
—— sorry but you won't receive any sympathy from me on the second point; lesbians are well resigned to the fact that we will never date, never find loved and will likely be sold or raped by our family members. and guess what? that isolation is unique to us, but it is also our norm. in every single tv show, play, books, media, conversation, history; every part of creation on the planet has been saturated in your favor; you were promised love from the start, you were given it in tv shows, in books, in historical stories, in songs, in poems — the world is made for you. everywhere you go. we never had that, we still don't. to me this sounds like the cries of the privileged. so sorry if I do not care much about how being celibate is a very difficult choice for you. I'm devoid of compassion here. I'm sure it's hard, but you will find someone else to hold your hand instead; the entire world always gives you what you want, so please bear my lack of sympathy.
moving on, I don't think I need to expressly say it, but I will anyway: dating men is self harm. it's foolish; you endanger yourself and everyone around you. no, I am not infantilizing you when I say this. it is just a fact. I know it, and you know it, must I really pull out the beautiful words and string it all together lyrically? we both know the end result and the truth is this; men don't respect you, they do not care for you, and they do not love you beyond how one love's it's property. although I am well aware that when faced with uncomfortable facts women tend to double down often on their beliefs. it's a defense mechanism, so I have nothing to say to that. shut your ears, avert your eyes & scream about how wrong I am, I shall continue to speak to the ones who will listen then.
I think the reason women on radblr find it so hard to be anti male centric is because of western privilege. due to the fact that the patriarchy you reside in is comfortable enough for you, you lack the empathy required to use your privilege to take radical feminist action & make a solid stance. western countries like America, Uk, etc have a lot of influence, the effects of colonization still ripple across many different countries; it is why popular fads like gender identity and pro-sexual abuse movements blaze through other countries. alternatively we can use this tide in the favor of all women; if western women take up such a bold feminist stance they shall cause a ripple effect and their actions will reflect the struggles of all women.
However they refuse to do so because they are lazy and lack empathy for women in other countries because they aren't the ones being beaten, raped and sold by their family members into sexual slavery, because they aren't the ones being payed by governments to birth babies like cattle, because they aren't the ones who's parents kill them upon being born, because they aren't child brides (or at least pretend that it's not an issue in their countries), because they are not pawns; they have rights. and they lack empathy for us outside of reblogging posts to reaffirm their beliefs "oh look at those poor dirty countries, how those women suffer" while still being extremely individualistic and male centric.
women do not need sex, to argue that having PIV / het sex is essential to your life as a woman is not only misogynistic, but homophobic as well. you are a multifaceted individual, your entire being is not tied to sexual acts you commit with men; it is not a need to have sex, you will not die if you do not have sex with men, insinuating so is very incel-like behavior. pleasing men sexually will not grant you liberation, no matter what gratification you claim to get out of it.
centering males is unfeminist. reproducing, marrying and birthing males is an unfeminist action. no amount of revolutionary online 'think' posts will aid in women's liberation unless you, yourself, take action. which brings me to the next point; some reasons & arguments that anti-separatists give:
—— "it's too extreme": misogyny is extreme. feminism is extreme. you will not be liberated nor contribute to the liberation of anyone else as you drag your feet & hold any entire movement back by co-opting the 'radfem' label as a gender identity while taking no action. then calling everyone who rightfully follows and advocates for the principles of radical feminist 'deranged' and harassing them out of the spaces where they rightfully belong; lesbians & woc especially are a victim to such overwhelming target of harassment by bi/het privileged women as they continue to repeatedly prioritize men and themselves over marginalized minority women.
—— "how dare you say I don't deserve love" love has nothing to do with being deserving or worthy; I think you're too emotionally involved at this point where you cannot give up the privileges you acquire from bedding men, so instead you think yourself a victim of online hate crime. please go back to the preface at the start of this post, I don't want to retype it.
—— "if we stop reproducing with males, they will rape us". is that not more reason to separate from males? distance yourself so that they may never reach you again. being pressured to sleep with males; saying 'no' and getting raped: that is the true face of all males, these creatures will not 'love' you, no matter how much you try to romanticize it. for every 'good' male there is a girl he's harassed, a rapist friend he's defended, a porn watcher he's ignored, a woman he didn't help out, a comment he liked about misogyny. prioritize other women first, not males.
—— "osa women are the majority, they will never stop partnering with males, it's unrealistic to demand so & exclude them from feminism" you see.. here's the thing; separatists, lesbians, actual radfems: we have no systematic power to exclude or oppress osa's from feminism. there is no way to stop these women from benefiting of the labour of lesbians / woc radfems. however they, being part of the oppressor class, largely do have the power to come into radical feminist spaces and co-opt it, dismantle it and reconstruct it to 'function' within the frame work of their comfort (dating men, wearing makeup, watching porn, being hateful to lesbians and woc all the while simply being anti sex slavery and gender critical is enough for them to garner all the attention and positive reaffirmation they require about their male reformist feminism).
—— as for the first point; women in china, south korea, women in conservative households or even nuns; these are real women who practice celibacy, they are doing it as we speak, it is possible. have some courage. this is not a new concept and you are certainly not alone in this.
—— lastly, separatism not only helps you, but lesbians as well. continuing to force lesbians to be near, and interact with males means continuing a society where we are preyed on by men. I bring this up not because I expect anything of any of you, but rather because you are so quick to bring up words like "solidarity" & "sisterhood" in regards to male reformist osa women. well. I am throwing this back there; solidarity and sisterhood means taking actions that save lesbians from a lesphobic society. (don't worry, I know none of you take lesphobia seriously, this was more a comment on principle than expecting genuine results)
Criticism of radical feminism: lesphobia; as I was alluding to in my fourth point, osa women have a lot of structural power, especially when it comes to oppressing lesbians. and the entirety of radical feminist movement has been infested with political lesbianism; women who believe lesbianism is a choice, that simply not dating males makes you a lesbian, that exclusive same sex attraction is not real — all of this lesphobia has been prevalent since the start of radical feminism. lesbians were a big help to the advancement of women in terms of feminism, yet we were abused for it repeatedly. our voices were silence, we were stripped of our labels as a woman, and as a actual lesbian. even still, to this day so many lesbians continue to be brave and fight for the rights of all women, all we have been given in return is repeated abuse; we are treated like how male-lites and predators and that is proven time and time again on 'r*dblr'. if you are going to start having solidarity with all women ('the majority of the women are osa's') how about prioritizing vulnerable groups? lesbians and women of colour. groups who's labour you've continued to reap from.
hypocrisy of Tumblr radfems: my last critique is the hypocrisy of self-proclaimed Tumblr radfems; spineless. half of you are far too spineless due to your own comfort and privilege; (you excuse imperialism, racist jokes, birthing children and bedding males, why? because these issues don't affect you. did you know there are countries where women are paid to give birth to a minimum of 2-3 children? did you know that child brides, & arrange marriages are still a thing? do you even care? I think not, because you have the choice to not care and only focus on male reformation or defending your favorite r*dblr idols), you have a disgusting clique mentality and shy away from holding people accountable for their actions, you are focused too much on trans issues and expend so very little energy or time to actually helping all women, you do not prioritize girls but instead groom and encourage them to sleep with men and be abused, you enable the worst inaction between each other all the while deluding yourself that you're achieving something big. you extend your compassion to worst people alive; anyone but a lesbian. women who are racist, women who are lesphobic, who bed men, women who birth men's children, women who cheat, women who sabotage — all of them are given 10000 excuses by self proclaimed radfems, they are never held accountable because perhaps it's your favorite popular blogger, or your mutual, or your friend — radical feminism is a feminist movement, do not derail it by letting your judgement be clouded. focus on what the objective is.
(and because I know I will be told 'it's just tumblr', the original 6B4T movement was one that was started online too. you have no excuse). I have witnessed countless lesbians be run off radblr because simply asking certain women to be held accountable is apparently "drama/infighting/causing division" & oh — isn't it painfully, laughably funny? that only lesbians, women of colour and separatists are ever accused of 'causing a rift in feminism', isn't it funny that asking you to hold racists and lesphobes accountable is what gets us harassed and chased off a movement of our own creation? isn't it funny how you have more solidarity with osa white women then you will ever have with us? and isn't it funny that only we are told to "let go of a mistake / choice from x & y years ago, don't be mad over it anymore" by people who have no right to give any input? it's hilarious.
I am tired of lesbians and women of color making posts about how they are leaving because r*dblr collectively decided to side with class traitors. I am so very tired.