[ SECRET POST #2725 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2725 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 018 secrets from Secret Submission Post #389.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

What does it mean to be feminist, if the category of "woman" doesn't actually correspond to reality? Why should we be advocating on the behalf of women if everything that makes a woman is socially constructed?

[(Anonymous)]

idk read some books

[(Anonymous)]

social constructs are a form of reality, though. people don't stop being affected by gender because someone noticed it wasn't an immutable law of the universe.

[(Anonymous)]

Acknowledging that a category is socially constructed doesn't mean the category ceases to exist; it means acknowledging that it is not fixed or absolute but negotiable and changing in time and acknowledging that broad generalizations within the category are less significant than the lived experience of the individual.

So in this specific case, for instance, feminism is important because while the category of 'woman' is socially constructed, it's still one of the categories by which we understand and care out our lives; in other words, it's socially constructed but still really existing and it still affects our life. So in that regard, a movement that's founded on it has quite a lot of things to do as far as basic justice towards people in that category is concerned. In other words, overwriting the concept of woman is a separate issue to addressing actually-existing problems of women living in the world where we do think of things in those terms.

In addition, in this specific instance, there's a clear biological component - 'female' is one of the biological sexes of the species. While I don't want to be a gender essentialist here, and of course the ways in which gender expression and identity relate to that basic biological function are complicated and nuanced and negotiated, there is a fundamental sense in which 'woman' is different from 'man'. And it's difficult to foresee that going away.

[nyxelestia]

Seconding this, and adding that a lot of feminism is not about "women" but about "females", which is a clear biological distinction that is at least partially independent of gender. Whether you express your social identity as a man or a woman or something else entirely, female reproductive systems come with certain vulnerabilities that males do not have to deal with, and reproductive rights are a huge component of feminism. i.e. if someone is raped, there is the psychological damage and the potential for STDs for everyone regardless of gender, but only females - not women, females - have to also face the risk of unwanted pregnancy.

Besides which, advocating for women and advocating for a less restrictive construction of what it means to be a woman are not mutually exclusive. Gender essentialism is a big part of both transphobia and sexism. By advocating for women to be able to break free of their "inherent" subordination to men, you chip away at a lot of ideas about womanhood that 'naturally' lead to that subordination, and in doing so leave more room for people who don't fit so easily into one gender identity or another. From the other direction, fighting for trans and genderqueer rights usually involves deconstructing and chipping away a lot of concepts and restrictions attached to gender - so by getting rid of those, you get rid of other tools which often serve to oppress women.

[(Anonymous)]

This.

Just because something only exists in people's minds, doesn't make it "not real". People believe in the thing, they invest energy and time into the thing, they judge people based on the thing. It may not be "real" but it has CONSEQUENCES in the real world. Same goes for race.

Never underestimate the power of human beliefs and perceptions.

[(Anonymous)]

Why should we be advocating on the behalf of women if everything that makes a woman is socially constructed?

The poster above explained it better in full, but I wanted to summarise:

'Socially constructed' = something constructed by society e.g. the idea that women are less capable in the workforce than men or that women who dress in tight, revealing clothing are asking for sexual harassment i.e. ideas that actually affect women's real, physical lives.

Counter question: do you think we shouldn't be advocating against false or unfair ideas that affect people's lives?

[(Anonymous)]

What does it mean to be feminist if the category of "man" doesn't actually correspond to reality? What are we fighting if everything that defines patriarchy, and misogyny, even men, are all socially constructed?

[(Anonymous)]

This is like asking why aren't we all tabula rasa, with zero impact and influence on each other and world around us. Because humans are social animals, we are designed to work within a social environment. That the environment allows for the regular and normalized debasement of at least half of its populace is abhorrent, and ultimately damaging to the system itself.