"WOMEN ARE AN OPPRESSED CLASS.OUR OPPRESSION IS TOTAL,AFFECTING EVERY FACET OF OUR LIVES." -REDSTOCKINGS
THE WoMENOF VIETNAM AREOUR SISTERS
FEMINISM
Thiszinecontainsavarietyofstancesonradicalfeministtheoryandleadsoneto discoverthemovement'sstrength.Thistheoryimmediatelystuckouttoeach memberofthezine,duetoitsdeterminedandintensenature.Eachpieceof writingembeddedinthiszineismeanttodisplaythefierceandpassionateforce thatradicalfeminismprovides.Manyfolksmayinterpretradicalfeminismasan extremewayofthinking,butwhenexamined,itisarevolutionthatgenuinely strivesforwomentohaveequality,safety,andfreedom.Thepathtoachieving thisisingrainedthroughoutthezine.Eachpieceemphasizestheimportanceof overthrowingthepatriarchyandthesystemsthatsupportitsdomination.We usedifferentwritingstylesfromspeeches,essays,andpoetrytoillustratethe idealsofthemovementanditsimportanceinthewomen'ssuffragemovementas awhole.Topicsincludedinthiszineconsistofacalltothepublictostopthe attackonabortionandhaltgenderviolence,equalrightsforwomenaren't "opinions",theyaresomethingthatcansignificantlyimpactsomeone'slife,an alternateperspectiveastowhythefeministmovementshouldn'texclude transgenderwomen,howradicalfeminismexhibitsloveforwomenandit'sthe waytoreclaimtherevolution,alookonconservativeandChristianviewsthat holdwomendowninsocietyasapatriarchalweight,andaperspectiveofa lesbianwomanurgingwomentonotrelyonmen,asourreliancekeepsthemin power.Everypiececontainsvibrantartistrytocapturethestrongpresencethat radicalfeminismholds.Weurgeyoutofullyimmerseyourselfineachpieceof writingtofeeleveryperspective,cryforhelp,andcallforchange.Thereisa plethoraofusefulresourcesattheendofthezinetolearnmoreaboutthe importanceandbeautyofthistheory.Sitback,relax,andenjoythedeepdiveinto
The "Right"Wayof PromotingSex
Irecentlysawaclipofapodcastwhereamanclaimedallformsofsexforpleasurewas "gaysex"andimmoral.ThepodcastwaspostedontoYouTubeon�ovember17th,2024 byLukeBeasley,whereheinterviewedaself-proclaimedChristianMAGAcoupleJosiah andIsabellaMoody.Josiah,themanwhomadetheclaim,believedthathavingsexfor non-re11roductivereasonswaseffectively"gay",asheputit,sinceLGBT+people generallydidnothavesexwiththegoalofreproduction.Josiahalsorevealedthathe hadhiswilestopusingbirthcontrolpillswhenhemarriedIsabella,andalludedthatall formsofcontraceptiveswerewrongbecausetheyputthefocusonpleastffablesex, despitetheiradvancementsinsafesex.
Althoughtheargumentsthecouplepresentedmayseemabsurdanddonotrepresent whatpeoplebelieveinisolation,theirsentimentshavebeensharedbyasignificant portionoftheUnitedStatespopulationsincetheCovid-19pandemic.Peopleinthe "manosphere"likeAndrewTateandfreshandfitheavilyfosteredtheideathatwomen wereessentiallypropertytomenandwerelesserpeople.JoeRoganhasbeencriticaland hasspreadhatefulmessagingtowardstransgenderpeople,especiallyinsports.Donald TrumpandJDVancehavemadenumerousclaimstorestrictabortionandcontraceptive accessibility,withthegoalto"protect"women"whetherthewomenlikeitornot",as Trumpsaidina2024rally.
Contraceptives,abortionaccessibility,andsexualfreedomshavebeenaloddswith Christianandconservativeidealssincetheirinception.SaintAugustine,aheavily significant4th-5thcenturyChristiantheologian,pavedthewayforpeoplelikeJosiah Moodytobelievesexforpleasurewassin.Augustine,amongotherreligious scholars,referenceGenesis38,whereamannamedOnanejaculatedonthefloorto preventhiswifefromhavingachild.Soonafter,OnanwassmiledbyGodhimselffor avoidinghismaledulyofin1pregnatinghiswife.TheBil1leisfilledwithotherverses pertaininglotherighteouswaysofhowsexshouldbeenactedupon.Genesis1:28 tellspeopletobe"fruitfulandincreaseinnumber",whichhasbeenusedto emphasizesexasatoolforprocreation;Leviticus18:22and20:13isoftencitedlo prohibithomosexualrelationships.1Corinthians7:8-9addsnuancetopleasureby slatingilisgoodforwidowslOremainunmarriedandceleboul,butsaysthatilis hellerloremarrythanlo"burnwithpassion".Althoughsexualpleasureinitself isn'tentirelysinfulwithinthecontextoftheBible,ithasconsistentlybeen representedinmarriagewiththepurposeofprocreation.
ConservatismhashistoricallyadoptedChristianbeliefsystems,whichhasledtothe legislationloprohibitcontraceptives.The1873ComstockActprohibitedthe distributionof"obscene"materials,includingcontraceptivesandinformationabout familyplanning.DuringthesuburbianbabyboomfollowingM,VII,theAmerican nuclearfamilyandgenderroleswereestablished.AdvocatessuchasMargaret Sangerreceivedheavybacklashduringthislimeforfightingforwomen'saccesslo contraception,therebyallowingwomenlochoosebetweenhavingkidsandhavinga career.In1981,theAdolescentfamilyActwaspassedbyCongress,whichfederally fundededucationprogramsthatpromotedabstinenceandstigmatized contraception.
ChristianandConservativeidealsareessentialtothecontinuationofoppressionby genderandsexroles.Manyoftheirbeliefsregardingsinandspiritualrighteousness aredeeplyrootedintotheiridentity.\Vhentheirbeliefsarechallenged,ilistheir moralduly lOprotectthemalallcosts.Mostradicalformsoffeminism,activism,and liberationcam1olsimplycoexistwithChristianityandConservatism.forpermanent liberationtobemade,thesesystemsandestablishmentsmustbeabolished.
RADICAL FEMINISM: RECLAIMING THE REVOLUTION
In a world where the fight for gender equality often feels like a treadmill of incremental progress, radical feminism invites usto step off the machine and imagine something entirely new. It challenges notjust the structures of patriarchy, but the very systems that uphold and normalize gender oppression in the first place. Radical feminism isn't about small fixes. It's about dismantling the world aswe know it and rebuilding a society rooted in equality, freedom, andjustice.
But what does it mean to be radical? To be radical is to address the root causes of inequality rather than simply managing its symptoms. Radical feminism asks usto question the institutions that perpetuate violence against women, from the family to the state to the economy. It insists that the personal is political, which means that our most intimate experiences-our relationships, our bodies, our identities-are inseparable from the larger structures of power and oppression that shape our lives.
At its core, radical feminism is about transformation. It's about looking at a society built on patriarchy and saying: "This is not the way it has to be." It demands that we refuse to accept gendered violence, economic exploitation, and reproductive oppression as the status quo. Radical feminists understand that real change is not a matter of integration or inclusion; it's about creating a completely different vision of society. One where power is not based on domination, where women are not treated as subservient, and where all people have the freedom to live without fear of discrimination or violence.
Yet, radical feminism is often misunderstood. In popular culture, it's been painted as extreme or evenhostile. But at its heart, radicalfeminismis aboutlove. Love for ourselves as women, love for each other, and love for the planetwe all share. It's a love that demands radical care: care for our communities, care for our bodies, and care for the world around us.
Radical feminists like Audre Larde, bell hooks, and Andrea Dworkin have shown us that to be radical is to resist complacency. It's to envision a world beyond the confinesof patriarchy, racism, and capitalism. This visionisn'tjustaboutwomen;it's about all marginalized groups who are oppressed under the same systems. Radical feminism is intersectional-it recognizes that our struggles are intertwined and that our liberation is bound up in one another's.
I remember reading The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and feeling a sense of frustration.While Friedan's critique of therolesimposed onwomen in the 1950swas groundbreaking, it still operated within the framework of the American middle class. Radical feminism, by contrast, refuses to limit itself. It fights for women across all races, I classes, and sexualities. It doesn'tjust advocate for women's right to be housewives or to achieve career success-it advocatesfor women to be free in every sense of the word: free from violence, free from poverty, free from oppression. \ It's easy to be discouraged by the state of the world, especially when so much progress feels fragile or fleeting. But radical feminism shows us that true liberation is not a / temporary fix-it's a process, a movement, a constant struggle. It asks usto challenge everything we think we know about gender, power, andjustice, and to imagine a new world where freedom, equality, and love are notjustideals, but realities for everyone.
Dear Diary: entries of a young lesbian woman
A fictional diary inspired by Charlotte Bunch's "Lesbians In Revolt" July 27th, 1972
I despise all of my friends. No I don't, I have resentment towards them. I resent their heterosexuality. I resent their boyfriends. We are all women who want to escape oppression and sexism, but I'm the only one who is a woman-identified woman-a lesbian. I put women first in my life, but they will never be able to do so. They don't see a problem with being tied down to a man. They don't see the oppression they are placing directly on themselves while claiming they want women's liberation. In exchange for my friend's freedom, they gain the heterosexual status of being with a high-status man. They gain protection, economically, emotionally, and physically. Protection I will never receive. I am shunned for being a lesbian by most folk. I don't accept men having domination over me and my life, meaning I am seen as devious, evil, and going against society's standards. Lesbians are the ones who are pushing this feminist movement. Nothing will be done until we take away the power men hold over us. They control us politically. To me, being a lesbian isn't just a sexuality, it's a political stance. I reject the power men want to hold over me, in addition to sex, they have nothing to do with my life. It tears me up that my closest friends cannot see how their compliance with oppression affects the entire feminist movement, especially the lesbian movement. We cannot move forward if the patriarchal system is never dismantled, since sexism is the root cause of all oppressions. We must to come together as women in a unified way to abolish male superiority over us. If all women lived as lesbians and feminists, there would be absolutely zero power held over us by men. We would be free of all oppression. Lesbians wouldn't be shunned for their political stance, since heterosexual women wouldn't be conforming to the oppression of a man ruling their lives and gaining the "benefits" from it. I know, I know, all women will never be lesbians, but if I could have one wish, it would be that. We could single-handedly overturn patriarchy and male supremacy if we collectively halted our reliance on them. God, why can't all women be lesbians?
Worst Nightmare
August 9th, 1972
Men detest me. Society hates me. Women, my sisters. My sfsters don't even accept me.
I'm not theirs. I'm not a man's anything. I'm a lesbian, their worst nightmare.�•
I love.myself.'
I love women, I am for women, I live for women.
Not for men. r
I place my ene�gies on her emotionally, physically, economically, and politically. There is no sense of domination over me by a higher power, we work with each other.
Not .for men.
I remove myself from a patriarchal system that wants to place me under men. I do it for my sexual, desires, yes, but for my free·dom as a woman.
Not for men.
/\
I need my sisters to stand with me: .we- need our sisters to come together and reject men's dominating power. Lesbianism would flip sexism on its head, -leaving men with just the distant memory of their
I ri�ed my sisters' to consider lesbianism as a politi�al stance against t_he root of all superiority over us. oppression.
Lesbians will unite to form a movement and fight the heavily ingrained p&triarchal p�wer. We can be their woEst nightmare.
Resources
What is Radical Feminism?
• https://www.tutor2u.net/sociology/topics/radical-feminism
• https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-radical-feminism-3528997
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69DlAHulet8
Radicalesbians
Defining Groups
• https://epgn.com/2023/10/18/radicalesbians-the-first-lesbian-rights-group-poststonewall/
• "The Woman Identified Woman (1970)"
Redstockings
• https://www.redstockings.org/index.php/about-redstockings
• "Redstockings Manifesto" (1969)
1969:RedstockingsSpeak-OutonAbortion
• https://www.thoughtco.com/abortion-speak-out-3528238
1970: Women'sStrikeforEquality
• https://time.com/4008060/women-strike-equality-1970/
Some Important Events
1971:RadicalesbiansattheSecondCongressto Unite Women
• https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/site/lavender-menace-action-at-second-congress-to-unitewomen/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CLavender%20Menace%E2%80%9D%20was%20an%20action, second%2Dwave%20women's%20liberation%20movement.
1971:Anti-RapeMovement
• https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/anti-rape-movement-past-andpresent-rape-and-sexual-assault-p-113#:~:text=ln%201971%2C%20the%20New%20York,rape%20crisis%20centers%20were%20 organized.
