#it’s not saying this is the definite definition of womanhood

[bikini-kill-pilled]

im really interested in the revival of riot grrrl; i think its absolutely possible for it to make a comeback, and i could even argue that it never actually went away...i mean, its definitely lost a bit of its edge, but their are bands coming out in its genre and they keep the spirit alive. anyway, the essential thing for the revival is that riot grrrl fixes its previous mistakes. i hate when people try to trivialize its importance because i do think it made a difference in the small span of time that it was really popular, but the main issues were how whitewashed it was, how it mostly focused on middle/upper suburban women, and how it (in my opinion mostly) centered a lot around reclaiming femininity, thereby neglecting gnc women who don't WANT to reclaim it. i found a cool article on black women in the feminist punk movement--specifically how they made their own movement, sista grrrl riot--and these quotes stood out to me. this ones by musician tamar kali brown:

"Being in this urban jungle, I was a different type of girl. I was hearing what they were saying, but I was living in an environment where people were getting stabbed. Riot Grrrl felt like a bubblegum expression. I was bald, and I would get a lot of negative attention that bordered on violence, so I wasn't in the world of [baby voice] 'You just think I can't play because I'm a girl!'

and this one by laronda davis:

"I never looked at a magazine and thought that that was what I was supposed to look like. On one hand, it's actually kind of liberating to not be what this standard of womanhood is. That standard put a lot of women in boxes, and they spend their li[ves] trying to get out of the box. Black women were never allowed in the box. I wasn't looking at TV saying, 'Oh, that represents me.' I wasn't listening to music telling about my experience. I had experiences that told me I wasn't concerned with these things that the happy songs were about."

(article here)

all in all i think what riot grrrl needs to change is its idea of a universal female childhood in their songs that we can all relate to. it kind of sucks to say but really all women do have in common are the stereotypes we're given, and when punk women criticized and defied those stereotypes they really shone; i was reading that people called kathleen hanna writing "slut" on her stomach white feminism and i was like....err. sexualization is something all women are subjected to. i've just been in a bit of a rabbit hole which started when i researched the history of trans people in riot grrrl, then to modern times when i found a claim that kathleen hanna had stopped using the line "all girls to the front" and edited her riot grrrl manifesto, and finally ended here with me thinking "man, riot grrrl's spirit is needed now more than ever, but like we need to make it WAAAAYYY better so it actually works out". the good news is, like i said, it hasn't actually faded out of mainstream consciousness.

i might add on to this in later posts. sorry if it's messy.

#talking and thinking #riot grrrl #radblr #radical feminism #radical feminist safe #radical feminist #radical feminists do interact #gender critical #radical feminist community #female separatism

[welleducatedinfant]

DAYS OF GIRLHOOD IS CUTE AND FUN AND A MORE NUANCED TAKE ON GENDER THAN THE BARBIE MOVIE AND I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL

#you guys are DUMB #I’m not doing an essay in these notes because I’m putting it in the newspaper this week and will be reposting it here 😌 #but the fact that none of you can see that the fact that dylan is a trans woman IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE LYRICS #it’s not saying this is the definite definition of womanhood #and btw if you weren’t mad about girl math and bows on vapes and girlypop etc but you are about this song you’re just transphobic. #but I digress #it’s a song about girlhood FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A WOMAN TRANSITIONING WELL INTO ADULTHOOD #ugh I’ll say more later but the people on tiktok shitting oh this song are just FUCKING STUPID #anyway. #infant speaks #gender theory #dylan mulvaney #days of girlhood #also it’s a bop okay I love dylan’s voice and I wish she wasn’t as autotuned but that is the only note #it’s a banger!!!!!!!!

[uncanny-tranny]

There truly isn't a universal answer to what a man and woman "is" and that's where the whole "well, tell me what a man is if you say you are one" spiel falls apart for me. In trying to answer it, you fail to see that gender is not something to be understood empirically - it isnt something you can analyze like you might a hard scientific phenomenon, but gender something that is a tool. Gender is (one) of the languages we use to communicate to others, so like language, there is nuance.

My version of manhood* is one which differs from another man's. We use similar language to describe our malehood, perhaps, but much like language, we will have different dialects which we use. If I were to try to answer what a man "is," I will be informed by my own manhood* and the manhood my culture deems desirable. This is inherently exclusionary because it relies on myself and my culture to be the only "right" ones. I refuse to play this social game because it relies on this exclusionary mindset. Gender is what we humans make of it, and there simply cannot be an "answer" to the question as to what men and women "are." It varies culture to culture, by religion, by race, by a history of colonialism, even, and all of this is ignored, downplayed, and erased, essentially, when one acts like there is a universally-applicable answer to what a gender "is".

#trans #transgender #lgbt #lgbtq #ftm #mtf #nonbinary #this feels like gender 101 but it seems like some people are stuck trying to rationalize what 'is' and 'is not' a gender... #...which is pretty devastating to trans *and* cis people. eventually somebody is barred from simply being a man/woman/person... #...for instance drawing the line of 'womanhood' at 'is feminine' excludes butch and gnc trans and cis people intersex people... #...because the definition of feminine has to be exstablished and people *usually* have a definition in mind for what 'is' feminine... #...trans people are correct in saying what their gender is in *part* because there IS no correct answer to being a man/woman/person/ect... #...if there is to be no correct answer how then can you be wrong in saying what your gender is? #this is why trans inclusion is so threatening because there is recognition that people should be allowed to just *be*... #...and to *be* without constraints without expectations without conforming without conventionality or assimilation #so yes i am a man*. but i will not answer what makes me one. the premise itself is faulty #and you don't have to answer what makes you a man or woman or person or whatever else to anybody too #(and anyway when people ask that question it's always soooo fruedian. it's always been a source of discomfort) #(like in movies with a ~scary transsexual~ where a psychiatrist will come on screen/stage to explain transsexuality. very odd indeed) #(99% of the time in my experience all this is done in worse-than-bad faith and as a 'gatcha') #(as though a cis person would give a 'legit' answer to what makes them a man/woman. a legit answer doesn't exist really) #oh and this is also why xenogender and 'genderweirdos'/'genderfreaks' are completely understandable *and* valid :) #i say genderweirdos and genderfreaks with complete love and sincerity but i have seen people reclaim those narratives for themselves #ig i'm a genderfreak. i'm a gender weirdo. what the genderhell am i doing here? (radiohead if creep was more trans) #if anybody reads all these tags you deserve a medal

[radsplain]

being a younger lesbian in your 20s and 30s is actually insane rn because not only is our dating pool small enough as it is (especially for lesbians who only want to date other lesbians) but then we’re also having to contend with the fact that half of the lesbians around our age are going by they/them or they/he pronouns and like kudos to y’all who can maintain relationships (hell, even friendships) with people who require you to deny base reality every time you’re around them or even reference to them when they’re not even in the room but like. i can’t pretend to indulge in it, like not even for a little bit. and i really do feel like this is actually a real issue and has so many implications for the lesbian community as a whole and how it really is disappearing right before our eyes, all in just a matter of a few years etc but all that is to say! we need to free young lesbians from the shackles that is gender now before i go completely insane and end up single forever

#like I’m so tired #and it’s not just that I want a girlfriend lolol that was just a joke (kind of) but like!!! #I swear it seems like EVERY single lesbian I come across is engulfed in this gender stuff #so when older lesbians are saying the lesbian community is dying out this is part of what they mean #like there is barely any solidarity amongst younger lesbians and it’s sad #not only are we letting men infiltrate our safe spaces #but we’re also not standing up to things like the definition of lesbian being changed to ‘non man loving non man’ or whatever the fuck #like soooo many lesbians are ACTIVELY feeding into that rhetoric and it’s driving me insane and making me want to scream & pull my hair out #and like actually I’m not willing to be with a woman who doesn’t even acknowledge her womanhood #idk it just feels like an act of disrespect to not only them but all women #anyways no one asked for this lil take or my rant in the notes but LMAO it’s on my mind #lesbian #radsplain.txt

[neptunesenceladus]

thinking about Themes and Motifs and how Tone can be conveyed through the layout of the page

#in other words: #thinking about dress rehearsals by Madison Godfrey #i want to say it’s really post modernist #in how it explores the self and how it conveys that with more than just prose #brilliant book if you ever feel like some poetry and prose that will rip you apart #i feel like rus and rowan would both enjoy it #many of the pieces are written in fractured lines which perfectly show in a visual way the feelings #photography teacher had us do an essay on wether art is defined by the artist or the audience #and i feel like godfrey does a really good job of telling you what they feel and mean by it #and then letting you decide what it makes you feel and means to you #so you get two definitions #the artists and the audiences #and each audience would have a different definition of it cause the stories it tell won’t apply to anyone #because of the theme of performing womanhood and sense of self #so some people will be looking through a window while reading it #while others are inside the room #which them makes me think of a room of one’s own essay/speech #which i need to reread #sorry for the essay in the notes #it’s cause i’m not confident about my own words to write and actual essay #en thinks thoughts #also this was supposed to be about how the work is typeset but i got so sidetracked #this is why my literature essays were never an a grade #i get too sidetracked

[bmpmp3]

another old oc, she's a tooth fairy!!

#art #traditional art #watercolour #oc art #ocs #oc group: unsorted #oc: unnamed #i know ive definitely posted her a bunch before but that was a hot minute ago #gonna say something that sounds absolutely insane but hear me out: so ive been on a women drawing kick recently #hjlkfdjkfds LISTEN this is SO dumb but my oc situation has been kind of a sausage party in general recently because like #i wanted to make more women and this is gonna sound more insane but i think. i subconciously scared myself off from it because #i guess i felt like since im pretty alienated from a lot of common experiences of 'womanhood' that it would be like. disrespectful? #of me if i tried to write what i didnt know. which is an absolutely absurd thing to worry about because FIRST OF ALL #these are funy little ocs its not that serious AND SECOND OF ALL if i can write about robots and fairies and shit then i can definitely #make a cartoon character who struggles with the expectations and barriers placed upon women in our society and THIRD OF ALL #people who are further away from these experiences than even me will write whatever why cant i. plus at least i care to learn secondhand #anyway i noticed that weird ass subconcious restriction i put on myself for now reason and tossed it away LOL #get ready for all my strange women ocs...... get ready

[aeide-thea]

'yeah i'm totally trans-inclusive, as long as you don't expect me to remember that womanhood doesn't map tidily onto the ability to get pregnant [some women are postmenopausal! some women are infertile! some women don't have uteruses, and not even all of those women are trans!], or to ever frame anything in a way that isn't Men Vs Women As Antagonistic Binary! unbelievably insulting of you to suggest otherwise!'

#like was the OP of that post overtly T*RF-y when i clicked thru? no. #did their blog remotely suggest they cared at all abt trans ppl? also no. #did like half their posts talk abt Men as though there was no possible overlap ever between Men and Women? uh‚ yup! #like. this will be the last post abt this unless something else happens—i turned off anon asks finally bc fuck that—but it's just like #this isn't even abt 'careless wording' it's abt wording that's entirely consistent with the way the last many posts in yr blog frame things #and it isn't abt splitting hairs‚ it's abt having an accurate understanding of who these things affect #and not deciding that other ppl constitute sufficiently small fractions of the picture that you can just generalize them out of it entirely #which is a key piece of the master's toolset and will not dismantle the master's house! #like. to reiterate something i said privately earlier: swallowing the normative definition of Womanhood wholesale #is a terrible starting point from which to challenge the normative treatment of women #i'm a feminist and feminism is clearly still necessary but like #if you're going to slice off all the bits that don't fit neatly into the glass slipper... that's not any kind of feminism i want #or indeed recognize as feminism #like. sorry. if the 'language that's most convenient and accessible to you' is harmfully inaccurate… #*you're* the one who needs to work on your framing #it isn't fucking semantics. it's revealing real things abt yr worldview that harm and erase real women. #also like. if you're more insulted by the idea that a stranger didn't fully investigate you to find out whether the whiff of T*RF was Real #than by the reality that you're peddling rhetoric T*RFs use *all the time* to support their bigotry—you might in fact be exactly the bigot #you protest being labeled as! bigotry is worse than having someone say 'maybe a bigot‚ kinda smells like one' about you in passing! #truly too many tags i'm just mad. #(and unlike the blogger in question and their buds will not be venting by sending Nasty Ad Hominem Anons) #(so it's all just going right here.) #in conclusion no‚ i don't trust you to use cisnormative language bc you're 'TOTALLY going to come back and collect the rest of us later!' #you absolutely will not! #ugh. okay. enough.

[gnometa233]

Nonbinary people: men and women are such *narrow* definitions

Nonbinary people: i get to carve out and make my own gender!!

nonbinary people: i choose to be this way because I don't fit into the strict mold of being a man or a woman

Me, who doesn't fit into being nonbinary/agender but also doesn't fit into the traditional cis woman mold: guess i'll die then :,)

#for the record i have nothing against nonbinary people #very happy they do whatever they want with their gender #just maybe #think about your words for a minute #most cis people don't actually fit into the norms of what makes a 'man' a 'man' #and a 'woman' a 'woman' #in a society full of anglocentric beauty standards #and norms that adhere to cisgender and heterosexual ideals #i don't want to cast aside womanhood to find happiness in my gender #i want to expand the definition #and it hurts to see people who are in my community fight back and say #if you're outside these two labels you should just pick something else #instead of challenging these norms #god i think my second wave feminist professor is rubbing off on me #what makes a woman a woman isn't defined by societal or biological standards #women are created and mold themselves into what they want to be. And yes that includes trans women #nonbinary #queer #lgbt #lgbt+ #gender feels #ramblings

[justmelookingbackatme]

I'm male and female but the female part is not female like a cis woman. I'm female as in a woman who loves women, female as in a dyke, female as in a butch who thought it through and found her home in queer womanhood. I'm female as in this part of my gender is not simple just because it aligns with my AGAB. I'm female as in I have wrestled with this just as much as with any other aspect of my gender. I'm female as in if you equate this aspect of my gender to half cis and the other part to half trans I'll bit your face off. The female part of me is still genderqueer.

#gender shit #i'm a woman but i'm definitely not a cis woman #not even cis verified not really #cause the aspects of my gender are so tied up that it's impossible to say 'this is the cis part this is the trans part' #my womanhood is much more complicated than half cis

[flipocrite]

what is the true essence of womanhood?

Thinking to oneself “I am a woman” or “I am a girl” (which generally means “young woman”). You can’t always know what other people think, so you ask, and they will tell you.

It’s a simple yet reliable test, doesn’t involve looking at people’s junk, and won’t get you weird looks for asking about people’s junk. A lot of people seem to think it’s socially acceptable to ask strangers about their junk, but I don’t think anyone should be required under any circumstances to disclose the anatomy of their junk (c.f. “hi you don’t know me but how big are your labia”, “your job interview is going great so far, are you cut or uncut”, “we need to check your hymen before soccer tryouts”). I don’t think people should be treated differently based on what their junk looks like. I believe that deliberate misgendering is a juvenile form of bullying more often seen on the playground, for nonathletic boys or girls with unibrows. I don’t think of myself as a bully, so I’m not going to do that. I address people with their choice of title, name, and gender because that’s the polite thing to do and everyone is happier that way. Also, it doesn’t involve looking at people’s junk.

#it’s a dangerous path to celebrate a group defined more by its out-groups than by its in-groups #that’s where we get ‘white pride’ #a celebration of a group of people that have no real unifying trait* or history #*skin tone is not a unifying trait because at certain points throughout history it failed to account for the irish italian or latinos #the kind of mentality that says ​‘it’s easier to exclude people than to send out invitations’ #and if a group celebrates being defined by who they’re NOT… they probably don’t have a lot to say about themselves #trans women are women #because they say so #if you say you’re a woman #then you’re a woman #because you say so #not because I checked your genitals first #also I think you’ll find it much more meaningful to have a functional definition to ‘womanhood’ rather than a structural/physical one #c.f. the ‘is it a chair’/‘is it a sandwich’ debate #if the ‘essence’ isn’t their gender identity then tell me about who they are as a person #there will be a lot more meaning worth celebrating in what they do and how they dress and how they act #than ‘they popped out of a vagina with another one’ #seems kinda sad to reduce womanhood to a piece of flesh #that’s something misogynistic incels do

[lilgynt]

also killing murdering blowing up my brothers for becoming typical hispanic men when push comes to shove like sure you can talk theory but you’re not gonna help me wash the dishes or care for our parents

#personal #this is a gross simplification but also it’s not #and you know what intersecting identities are such a bitch cause like #i’m trans masc and identify more as a male thing #but i’m operating and moving through society as women #and then within that im working as a women of color and all the downsides that come with that #i’m too tired to write the rest but i’m annoyed that i feel more connected to womanhood through shared oppression and experiences #especially women of color and especially discussing how men of color will treat you worse to benefit themselves #i forgot what else i’m saying but i’m very upset about that #and it’s not like i don’t want any connection to womanhood! i don’t think i’m a man but i’m definitely not a woman #but i still get the appeal and then even if i was a man and fully transitioned i’d probably still be gnc and enjoy feminine things #and would still feel soemthing to womanhood #but instead my main connection is under oppression. and it blows

[surrender-souls]

transer i get the more difficult it gets for me to describe lesbianism, like yeah basic definition is a woman who loves women exclusively. but like, i don’t see myself as only a girl, i’m a man as well, i’m both at the same time and more but i’m still a lesbian. it’s difficult because that basic definition doesn’t include all lesbians, but really no definition can. no definition can take into account every lesbian and the genders they have and don’t have and the expression of those, but not everything has to be described, not everything can. it’s impossible for me to describe lesbianism because the entirety of it is indescribable.

#being trans and lesbian is. well i dont know except im very happy that its me #im not trying to say anything here really its just an observation #ive seen people talk about lesbians with pronouns other than she saying its about a womans relationship to womanhood #and i cannot stand that definition. my pronouns have nothing to do with that! #i dont even describe my femininity as woman. i much prefer girl for that #my pronouns are they because its what is natural to me. really nothing to do with woman things #just as they dont have to do with man things #while yes that definition is true for some dont say it as if its true for us all #i also see people say that lesbian is their gender cant say thats how i would describe my personal lesbian gender intersection #i just leave my genderfluidity and lesbianism to do as they please and consider them true #i speak

[virtual-idoll]

saw barbie today

#it was good. there are ideas ect you can criticize but it was a good movie #things like the narrow definition of the womanhood explored/the portrayal of mattel/the way they wrapped things up with ken #but the movie was fun and not boring. and there were some good jokes and a few good things to say (that I hope movie goers picked up on...)

[shyshitter]

morons are complaining about all the reinforced gender norms and terf mentality in barbie (2023) when she literally said “actually there is no such thing as a definition for womanhood or manhood because the notion of both of those is literally turning us against each other so we are all better off without them.” and they’ll blink and say “but it was so glittery and pink and hated men!” i am literally. spraying you with a pressure washer.

#sorry i keep looking at opinions from ppl not on tumblr and getting upset ab it #barbie #barbie movie #ava rambles

[paper-mario-wiki]

If it’s any consolation, cis women also often feel that ‘transitory’ process as well, wherein they find it hard to connect with the label/identity of “woman” through the disconnect they feel with the actual parameters society had placed on the definition of “woman”. Some also feel that same need to ‘experience’ womanhood as defined by general culture before feeling comfortable actually adopting that label(though, of course, these experiences may differ).

I guess what I mean to say is that the experience of trying to ‘become’ a woman is not separate from actual womanhood, regardless of who you are. You are just as valid a woman as I am, as my mother is, as your mother is, as anyone is. Today absolutely belongs to you, it’s yours as much as it is anyone’s so long as you want it ❤️❤️

first time in years an anon has made me cry. thank you.

#anon

[aeide-thea]

the irony of t*rf shit is like. there’s probably even a world where i could stop kicking so hard and just circle back to a very unkempt apathetic sort of girlwomanadjacentness, which is nominally what they want me to do, right, except that for that to happen i’d have to actually feel free to alight next to it, quietly, like a wild skittish creature, and sniff at it a little, very dubiously, and not be trapped and forced into it as the, like, unavoidable nature/destiny of my reductively binaristically categorized body, which just makes me want to run away as far and as fast as i can and never get within a mile of the seeping poisonous gas that will suffocate me if i let it…

#not totally sure how this turned into ‘T*RFs’ Definition of Womanhood Is Actually Centralia‚ PA‚ Somehow’! #but on the whole i stand by it. #like bodies could maybe just be bodies IF ppl knew how to be fucking polite #of course the minute you think abt medical transition that breaks down #and also a lot of other complicating factors #so like. not ultimately a real possibility. #but it does just make me laugh—if they weren’t so fucking determined to crush ppl’s self-determination they might actually get more wins! #but like. this is why t*rfism and white supr*macy/fascism go together #bc they’re SO desperate to control ppl #that it alienates many of us even harder than we might otherwise have been #anyway this is a little different than what i said the other day and it’s very likely different from what i’ll say tomorrow #i contain multitudes