Feminism’s civil war
Feminism looks like it might be in crisis. The discussion about whether trans women should be included in single-sex spaces has been growing more toxic by the day. What started off as rows about access to Hampstead Ponds or changing rooms in high-street stores seems to have grown into an unreachable dividing line between different feminist camps.
But all is not fair in love and war. Those who consider themselves ‘gender critical’ feminists, who argue that male bodies should not be allowed in women-only spaces, are often labelled ‘terfs’ and ‘bigots’ and even ‘cancelled’. Joan Smith, who sat as the co-chair of London’s violence against women and girls (VAWG) board for eight years, was allegedly sacked for voicing her concerns about trans women being allowed into rape-crisis centres and women’s refuges. The feminist Maya Forstater had to mount a legal challenge against a former employer who claimed she had used ‘offensive and exclusionary’ language when she tweeted that ‘men cannot change into women’. What used to be a central tenet of feminism – that women’s lived experience informs the basis of feminist politics – is suddenly an ‘exclusionary’ and sackable offence.
Modern gender wars are not the only issue threatening to fracture contemporary feminism. In the wake of #MeToo, a generational divide opened up between a younger cohort of feminists who argued that protective measures were necessary to shield women from sexist behaviour and an older generation who argued that crackdowns on flirting were encouraging a moral panic about women’s safety. After the tragic murder of Sarah Everard, further divisions were revealed between feminists who called for curfews and greater legal restrictions on men, and those arguing for a less protective, passive approach to women’s liberation, invoking the ‘take back the night’ protests of the 1970s to defend women’s freedom on the streets.
Who, then, does contemporary feminism speak for? While everyone from politicians to film stars claims to be a feminist these days, few women call themselves a ‘feminist’. Some argue that Western women’s lives have never been better, and that feminism’s claims of patriarchy and misogyny don’t ring true any longer. But from poor quality childcare to restrictive abortion law, others point out that the current divides in contemporary feminism represent little more than Twitter spats, ignoring the real issues still blocking women’s freedom. And while intersectional feminists argue that the movement is too white or too heteronormative, others argue that contemporary feminism is too middle-class, concerned with FTSE100 figures or trans celebrities instead of ordinary women’s daily lives.
Does feminism know what it stands for anymore? Are the current divides reflective of a sea-change for feminism, or does the current infighting stem from its roots in identity politics? Can feminism survive its current civil war, or is it time for a new women’s liberation movement?
