The intent behind it is usually pretty obvious.

I have the same reaction to both terms. It's used to make us sound "hysterical" and used to call us anti male. Fuck them. I'm sick of it.

but slinging it around as an insult? As a way of singling out 'bad feminists'?

Oh, hell no. I'm done tolerating that shit.

I also think social justice liberal is being used as a slur on occasion.

And yes, 'social justice warrior' too, very much so.

Hell yes I am a radfem and hell yes I am a social justice liberal and FUCK anybody who has a problem with that.

Those are labels I wear WITH PRIDE.

The response needs to be:

"Hell yes, I'm a radical feminist, and damned proud of it."
"Hell yes, I'm a liberal, and damned proud of it."
"Hell yes, I'm a Democrat, and damned proud of it."
"Hell yes, I'm a union member, and damned proud of it."
"Hell yes, I'm for civil rights, and damned proud of it."

Take the language back, and make it ours again.

No one will ever make me feel bad for saying and doing what is right.

I don't think it's always been that way but as it's tossed around now there are definitely negative connotations.

so in that respect it's different from feminazi, which has only one meaning and usage.

But when it is used as an insult I think the intent and effect are identical.

Or some crappy MRA site.

So yeah, another little clue there.

back when I first joined. He accused me of talking from the "radfem playbook," and pointed to some website I supposedly got my ideas from. I hadn't heard of it. Mind you this was because I objected to bikini babe photos plastered all over DU. Cause that is soooooo radical.

Yeah. Of course it is.

It shows a certain ignorant mentality. I never see it used by actual feminists and their allies.

"Feminists scare me and this equality thing for women? I'm pretty sure it's a bad and radical idea. Let's just let the Supreme Court do its work."

Can someone one explain it to me? Please? Just what are we supposed to be doing wrong?

explain a lot of why they are so frightened of us.

(Quinnox being one of them!) Let us know what they say.

Being pissed about the attacks on reproductive freedom.

Related: I'm so glad one of the worst offenders is gone. Sadly, he has a lot of support here.

who evidently tell lies all the time only to besmirch the name of perfectly upstanding trolls.

at least that is interesting...

able to summon "swarms" through radfem sonar and remotely control other members to post attacks at our command.

Hook a sister up, will ya?

I wanna tap into that radfem swarm sonar superpower too!

As soon as the repairs to my studio are complete, I'll definitely work on coming up with something for that new superheroine, RADFEM!!!

Get used to it.

Without even bothering to request links, while the banned troll is the good guy?

With out evolved resilient females NONE OF US would be here. That is what they fear.They NEED us. We hold life...in our hands and our Lady parts.
Omgawd. I'm sounding like a radfem.

I lured you in. You can't help yourself.

for a month of Sundays...

(At least since the "gender wars," a patronizing meme he helped perpetuate and about which he liked to whinge.)

We have a member sitting in the corner in time out right now - who uses that an awful lot.

And I tell you what - that member knows precisely what it means.

who aren't nice to him.

Forgive me for my lack of empathy.

Everything is illuminated now.

Put that one in your journal for further use.

but I could find it.

SERIOUSLY F N Suspicious! No doubt.

SO MUCH!


I would have used the :radfem: but she's engaging in a PM chat with :feminazi:
Pictures at eleven.

Love, Peace and Shelter. littlemissmartypants

and I know that it is meant to demean women who speak out. And anyone who used either term knows it too.

I cringe every time I hear with one of the terms, and I don't see myself as radical at all...but I do stand up for women's issues and believe that there is a problem in our society regarding the treatment of women.

I'm coming at it with fresh eyes as I haven't seen it before. I ask myself, if a female rocker, like the awesome Julie Ruin, were to describe herself as having been part of a "radfem" movement*, I wouldn't blink an eye. Or if the awesome Lori Petty described her Tank Girl character as "radfem", I'd just nod my head.

*Riot grrrl, actually

The poster using "radfem" as a pejorative is likely the same poster that would use the term "feminazi" if they thought they could get away with it.

Of course the sole purpose of using the term as a pejorative is to demonize feminists ... and to clearly show disrespect to the women of DU

Par for the course

When I see the term, I immediately picture the writer as a Limbaugh clone.

Anything that isn't far-right is branded radical these days.

I was a "liberal" feminist.

And I sure as hell wasn't the one who moved the goal posts. When I see it used as pejorative, I think "RW troll" or "dumbshit".

It's also a deceitful way of attempting to 'soften' feminism, isolating and demonizing radical feminists, promoting 'comfortable' feminisms. I always see articles on how it's ok not to be a "good feminist" what the fuck ever. I don't even know what that is supposed mean.

I don't mind discussing different ideologies, waves, ideas or perspectives. Radical Feminists include some of the best feminist philosophies, as well as Its most coherent explanations. My first hide ever was posting a great article from IBTP. (one I had posted twice before onDU2) The second one was on purpose-- I was testing what would happen if I incorporated some of the same stuff. Social experiment.

Not every feminist is a radical, but with the constant assault on body autonomy--sexuality, reproduction, the pay gap, being threatened on-line for having an opinion, etc--maybe we all should be.

wind up using portmanteaus like "radfem" is a retrograde nitwit

Then again any term can be made derogatory depending on context.

We just have to own the term more than they do.

unless it's used by DUers who self-identify as radical feminists.

I've noticed it for quite some time.

...and the attempts to compare radfems to MRAs is laughable, yet it happens. Quelle surprise.

Last edited Sat Jul 12, 2014, 03:46 AM - Edit history (1)

He's sweet on me too.

because being treated with dignity and respect is such a radical idea ... ?

and the Nazi thing is beyond disgusting.

Even if it were used positively ("Look, Redqueen, You aren't one of those radfems so I know you can be resonable&quot it's still basically saying "These are the boundaries of discussion - you can go this far, but no further."

Can't see much use to the term, unless your goal is to denigrate and dismiss ideas you don't agree with.

Bryant

Rad as in cool! As if there's anything wrong with being radical or seeking radical change.

It's fine to take ownership of some words and wear it like a badge of honor. No matter what someone else's intent may be, it doesn't have to be taken as an insult.

You're the one who told me that radical feminists believe in seeking an end to the patriarchal system and do away with gender expectations. That is radical, and its not a bad thing to believe.

is what scares the men so.

hence, the disdain, scorn, hate when they use the word. meh.

....not changed one little bit

Until they get a well deserved face full of ballet flat

I have known a number of proud radicals and I have known several women who would wear the term "radfem" with pride, but I have never known a woman who would approve of being called a Feminazi.

That being said, I also realize that the term radfem is often applied to women who do not associate with that term and in that case it is a very demeaning term.

If a woman does wear the term radfem with pride then there is nothing wrong with using that term to describe her, but most women do not want that term applied to them and to apply such a term to them without their consent could be considered just as offensive as calling them a Feminazi.

because I identify myself as a radical.
lol
a proud identification
as is a radical feminist.

We should all be at least a little bit radical as PROGRESSIVES.

which btw, I am an anarchist. But radical means "going to the root", and I like the term radical or progressive, to distinguish myself from liberal.

"Now watch what you say or they'll be calling you a radical, Liberal, fanatical, criminal." Supertramp had a point

associated with radical feminism for this misconception.

High profile hate born of ignorance draws the negative attention of the literate progressive community, as evidenced by the controversies surrounding Hobby Lobby, Barilla, Chik-fil-A, RadFem 2012, etc.

Radical Feminism is a constructive agenda for ending patriarchy; TERF is clearly destructive to the goal of ending patriarchy.

Unfortunately, it may now be impossible to separate Radical Feminism from TERF in the general public consciousness; the moniker radfem may now be an indelible scarlet letter on the forehead of feminism.

Maybe changing the name Radical Feminism to something somewhat equivalent, and never, ever inviting conservative authoritarian extremist bigots to the party again, can eventually stop the use of "radfem" (or its future equivalents) as an anti-feminist/misogynist slur at some point. Unfortunately, Radical Feminism and Sheila Jeffreys are now eternally joined at the hip in the minds of a large number of relatively socially conscious but inadequately informed people.

And, of course, excluding all of the above, "boys will be boys".

Asking people nicely to stop using misogynistic slurs doesn't seem to work anymore, as witnessed by the adamant, juvenile refusal of many self-described progressives here at DU to stop using the "b" word.

Thank you for initiating this long overdue discussion, redqueen.

Last edited Tue Jul 15, 2014, 09:29 AM - Edit history (1)

i feel the majority do not know the definition of radfem, adn that is the only issue. i feel once they hear the definition, then they say, well fuck.... i am rad fem too.

i think they use it on du cause they will get a hide with feminazi. and people think radfem is an issue. they are so uniformed or uneducated in feminism that not only do they not know about the terf issue, they do not know radfem is not an insult.

i think they are probably thinking of women who do not shave their legs and hate men.

and generally when one of the posters are screaming radfem at us, they have also tied in man hating.

"generally when one of the posters are screaming radfem at us, they have also tied in man hating."

intended to demonize radical feminism, but I won't be drawn into catering to their anti-feminist bullshit.

People who see 'radfem' used as a slur should get a clue. Those people are NOT allies.

that it impedes the process of eliminating patriarchy by alienating a substantial number of probably uninformed but well meaning progressives from Radical Feminism.

I've seen this firsthand, as a feminist LGBT activist. You can dismiss members of the progressive community who have been alienated from Radical Feminism by TERF as stupid, uninformed, and even malicious, and believe that they need to get a clue, but this won't change the fact that some progressives have been unnecessarily alienated by TERF, and have unjustifiably grown contemptuous of Radical Feminism based on a false assumption that Radical Feminism and TERF are basically inseparable from one another.

The only thing I want to sell is the quickest end to patriarchy, no money down, and no payments ever.

Again, I'm not referring to juvenile misogynists who use radfem as a slur, although MRA types do use the transphobia expressed by TERF, (and they really don't give a shit about transphobia), as free bonus ammunition to be used against feminists and feminism.

It is nothing but a very flimsy excuse for demonizing feminists.

I don't accept that bullshit any more than I accept "well some (members of x group) do (x)" as an excuse to demonize all the members of ANY group.

It is disgusting and frankly I would expect progressives to see right through such slimy tactics and excuses.

Originality score: 0

Like I said you must be bored