Feminists

In the context these two were using it, it was the equivalent of womyn-born-womyn badge that has been used to denigrate and exclude trans women. And the reason I recognized it was because the first time I encountered womyn-born-womyn I considered myself straight, it wasn't clear what it meant - and I thought it might have been directed at me. And no one would give me a straight answer (much like the dance the one of the pair who was posting was doing).

But - doesn't the "man hater" canard being thrown at feminists feel very much like some of the hatred directed at the more flamboyant members of the gay community? You know, the ones those of us who pass more easily sometimes cringe at, and try to distance ourselves from, in the gay parades? You know - the same ones we owe some of our biggest progress to?

I see the two as being very parallel. Both the Stonewall drag queens and the lesbian separatists sometimes make us uncomfortable (then and now), and both made significant contributions to our movements. I don't hate men - my life is very much an equal mixture of close friends and family who are men, and I have never had any trouble fitting in in the straight world. But here's the part I don't like admitting about myself. There are times I would like to distance myself from both groups - sometimes they make me uncomfortable in public too.

But they are part of my feminist and LGBT communities - and of our collective history - and however uncomfortable that makes me, we would not be where we are today but for their contributions.