Feminism and Homosexuality

Question

This is a SERIOUS question.

My aunt is a L*****n and feminist, and many of her L*****n friends are also feminist.

Are many if not most women in the feminist movement homosexual?

I have nothing against either Feminism or Homosexuality, I'm just wondering.

Answer 1

Andy C - there is a few men feminist on here, some posing as men

why not ask him if he thinks he is a lesa'

Answer 2

Most lesbians may be feminists, but that doesn't mean most feminists are lesbians.

Answer 3

Objectively speaking, for those who have had little exposure to lesbians in a relationship, they often take on a masculine or feminie role within the relationship or ongoing.  So, it would be generalizing to assume that all or even most lesbians are feminists.  

Certainly the same can be said for bi-sexuals, heterosexuals, male homosexuals or whatever generalized category you wish to scrutinize.

Just as in most groups, feminists no doubt come in different colors, sexual orientations, sexes, sizes, etc. and do not all believe exactly the same about every issue.

Answer 4

NOW's Obsession with L*****n Rights

by Allison Kasic

August 7, 2006

Human Events

Eighty-six years after winning the right to vote, thirty-eight years after ending s*x-segregated job advertisements, and forty years after the founding of the National Organization for Women (NOW), the organized feminist movement is running out of battles to fight. As a result, the feminist agenda has veered off course.

Last weekend I attended the 40th anniversary conference of the National Organization for Women in Albany, New York. I figured by spending three days in the belly of the beast of the feminism movement I would see what they are up to, what the future of feminism has in store for the world. Instead, I learned about L*****n rights and the importance of trans-inclusive language.

The first workshop I attended addressed a simple, yet crucial question: what is feminism? Conference attendees debated the definition is feminism about equal rights or equality, equal opportunity or equality of results? A young woman stood up in the back row. "I just want to remind everyone that we need to use trans-inclusive language when we talk about this definition," she said. Huh? The discussion continued: Why is there a stigma around the word "feminism"? The answer: Homophobia. "People are either homophobic or unwilling to take on that fight," a participant explained. Everyone nodded. I stayed silent, still confused over the trans-inclusive language comment�what did this have to do with feminism?

In a subsequent workshop, someone asked how NOW could attract more male members. The trans-inclusive language police would have none of it: "When we talk about gender, we can't forget there are more than two genders. We don't want to exclude transgender people."

A male presenter admitted to applying to law school as "a radical L*****n feminist trapped in a man's body," whatever that is supposed to mean. Luckily, the law school had enough sense to reject his application. All this at a workshop, let alone a conference, designed to talk about feminism. This obsession with everything LGBT (L*****n, g*y, Bisexual, Transgender and however many more adjectives you want to lump on) would permeate the entire weekend, largely without purpose.

At least the equal marriage wedding reception and equal marriage "procession" to the New York state House had a point: to call for the legalization of same-s*x marriage. Agree or disagree with NOW's agenda, at least it was clear. Much of the LGBT talk simply left me shaking my head in disbelief.

I lost track of how many comments or questions began with, "As a d**e, I just want to say (insert inane comment here)." One particularly memorable rant began, "I like to go to d**e bars," then proceeded to comment about a host of things from the meaning of feminism to high heel shoes, none of which had any connection to dykes or d**e bars. I felt like standing up to shout, "As a non-d**e, I just wanted to say that I expected your comments to have some relevance to your sexuality, since you felt the need to mention it."

Concern with lesbians, transgenders, etc. found its way into every nook and cranny of the NOW conference. The last day of the conference was dedicated to passing resolutions statements to guide NOW's agenda for the coming year. Each resolution was painstakingly debated to make sure the language of the "In-Store Access to Birth Control" or the "Call for Fair Immigration Reform Legislation" resolutions were inclusive of the LGBT crowd. Even a resolution calling for an independent investigation of the 9/11 terrorist attacks brought about a LGBT debate. NOW president Kim Gandy said NOW would look to join a coalition with other organizations on the matter, but would make sure those organizations were good on issues like L*****n rights.

The LGBT obsession is a huge paradigm shift from the early women's rights movement. And while NOW has been involved in promoting L*****n rights since the early seventies, at least they had, at some point, other, more mainstream priorities.

Many of the NOW founders who are still alive addressed the conference, telling stories from the early days of modern feminism. They spoke of discrimination against stewardesses, who were fired for getting married or reaching the age of 32. They spoke of "help wanted male" and "help wanted female" advertisements in papers. In short, they spoke of largely legitimate issues. Now they are obsessed with trans-inclusive language.

Maybe the shift signals a victory for feminism that the big battles have already been fought and for the movement to continue they must pick obscure issues. But maybe the shift indicates something more grave for the ladies of NOW that they have lost the heart and soul of feminism.

Allison Kasic is director of campus programs at the Independent Women's Forum.

Answer 5

I think is probably some g*y persons could be feminist, either women or men, I think theyhaver suffered more than anyone else, the pression over geder roles.

Answer 6

Uh, although it's probably true that most lesbians agree that women are human beings (which is what feminism is), it's not true that all or most people who understand that women are human beings are L*****n.

Most people I know (g*y and straight, male and female) are feminists. I tend not to deal much with people who refuse to consider me a human being -- kinda touchy that way.

Answer 7

Far from all feminists are lesbians. But lesbians get most of the drawbacks of being a woman in our society and few of the bonuses, so they're probably more likely to be feminists than other women are.

Answer 8

I have no problem with lesbians, but its obvious that as women with least to gain from the traditional family life (husband, babies) they have most to gain from being free to go to the workplace. Sure some lesbians want children, but many are far less committed to this.

Many of the feminist leaders were lesbians e.g. Andrea Dworkin, and lesbianism has been a powerful influence in some of the directions the movement has taken e.g. all-female communities.

Edit

“As L*****n separatists we believe… the first step [for our safety from men’s violence] is to… separate from men”. In the 1994 issue of The Journal of Women in Culture  http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0097-97...

Answer 9

Not all lesbians or bisexuals are feminists-just like not all heterosexual men and women are feminists. But like others have said-lesbians would be more likely to deal with the double bind of being a woman and a L*****n-so that might make them more aware of discrimination-but it doesn't always. I know of g*y men who are anti-feminist and anti-women-they don't see any purpose for women as they have no use for them. Most of the feminists I met in NOW were heterosexual and married and had kids.

When I hung out with lesbians I met a fair share that were apolitical and could care less about feminism. You may not be familiar with these L*****n "groups" but I met quite a few bar dykes and softball dykes who were not necessarily fans of feminism. I met my share of lesbians who despised me for being "out" and "political" and endangering their world of closeted lesbianism where they thought no one "knew" they were a L*****n.    

Answer 10

as another person said, most lesbians are feminists, but most feminists are not lesbians.  Feminism is also very popular among g*y men.  As my g*y friend put it, he knows what it is like to be oppressed and have limited rights, which is something that he shares with women.

Answer 11

No. Why shouldn't a L*****n, or anybody else believe in equal rights?  Rio said it best.

Answer 12

Guess there are some men that are feminists - maybe they think of themselves as lesbians.