A quote from the essay: "This is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, during the heyday of Left activism in the 1960’s, many of the men who ran the movement maintained blatantly misogynist postures and mistreated women."
I saw some of this in real time when I was in college in the late 60's & early 70's. I was the manager of a bar that was popular with grad students and leftists. People from SDS, women's liberation, gay activists, and other liberal causes often came to have a few beers and talk after their constant meetings. A prominent member of the SDS was married and he often came to the bar with his wife where his girlfriend was waiting at the big table they always formed in the middle of the room. I remember how sad the man's wife seemed to be sitting at that table. He was not the only leftwing male activist who used women in this way. One who cooked and did the chores and a side piece or two to make life more interesting - for him.
> When feminist goals come into conflict with other parts of the Left coalition, it’s always the feminists who get the shaft.
You've made a strong case, but I don't think "always" is accurate, and it may even be the case that they win and lose precisely proportional to their size in the coalition. The key is clearly distinguishing "Feminists" from "women", further delineating various feminist positions from one another, and finally, thinking about the sociology of feminism on the left.
Maybe that's all too abstract. I'm really just saying that the examples you listed are extremely varied; different levels of salience, impact, popularity among feminists, *and* popularity on the left. For example, the conflict between trans activists and feminists is really a conflict with a _subset_ of feminists. You might argue that "gender critical" feminists are the real feminists, and I'd be inclined to agree, but it does mean that we're talking about a smaller number of coalition members than the broadest construction of "feminist" implies. More importantly, the conflict isn't settled! I strongly suspect most leftists would prefer that trans activists moderated their rhetoric and demands.
Alternately, take the pornography question. Whatever you think about pornography, Dworkin and McKinnon are marginal figures with very little influence on the left in 2024. Meghan Murphy notwithstanding, they have very few visible champions today, much less influential ones.
Do feminists ever win? All of my quibbles are irrelevant if feminists never win intra-coalitional conflicts. But feminists have a cluster of decisive wins where they are most numerous and strongest: in universities and professional-managerial environments, particularly relating to procedures related to sexual harassment and abuse. This is not to say that feminists have gotten everything)they want or that their victories have even made their lives better, just that those cases frequently create intra-coalitional crises - and feminists prevail more often than not. Even when they don't lose in the specific instance, their principles carry the day.
A quote from the essay: "This is not a new phenomenon. Indeed, during the heyday of Left activism in the 1960’s, many of the men who ran the movement maintained blatantly misogynist postures and mistreated women."
I saw some of this in real time when I was in college in the late 60's & early 70's. I was the manager of a bar that was popular with grad students and leftists. People from SDS, women's liberation, gay activists, and other liberal causes often came to have a few beers and talk after their constant meetings. A prominent member of the SDS was married and he often came to the bar with his wife where his girlfriend was waiting at the big table they always formed in the middle of the room. I remember how sad the man's wife seemed to be sitting at that table. He was not the only leftwing male activist who used women in this way. One who cooked and did the chores and a side piece or two to make life more interesting - for him.
Really interesting!
> When feminist goals come into conflict with other parts of the Left coalition, it’s always the feminists who get the shaft.
You've made a strong case, but I don't think "always" is accurate, and it may even be the case that they win and lose precisely proportional to their size in the coalition. The key is clearly distinguishing "Feminists" from "women", further delineating various feminist positions from one another, and finally, thinking about the sociology of feminism on the left.
Maybe that's all too abstract. I'm really just saying that the examples you listed are extremely varied; different levels of salience, impact, popularity among feminists, *and* popularity on the left. For example, the conflict between trans activists and feminists is really a conflict with a _subset_ of feminists. You might argue that "gender critical" feminists are the real feminists, and I'd be inclined to agree, but it does mean that we're talking about a smaller number of coalition members than the broadest construction of "feminist" implies. More importantly, the conflict isn't settled! I strongly suspect most leftists would prefer that trans activists moderated their rhetoric and demands.
Alternately, take the pornography question. Whatever you think about pornography, Dworkin and McKinnon are marginal figures with very little influence on the left in 2024. Meghan Murphy notwithstanding, they have very few visible champions today, much less influential ones.
Do feminists ever win? All of my quibbles are irrelevant if feminists never win intra-coalitional conflicts. But feminists have a cluster of decisive wins where they are most numerous and strongest: in universities and professional-managerial environments, particularly relating to procedures related to sexual harassment and abuse. This is not to say that feminists have gotten everything)they want or that their victories have even made their lives better, just that those cases frequently create intra-coalitional crises - and feminists prevail more often than not. Even when they don't lose in the specific instance, their principles carry the day.
How would you think about #metoo in this framework, seems to fall more on the feminists winning side?
There was, for a while, a very real danger that consenting adults would be in charge of their own sexualities.
Fortunately, we have innovated new ways to control others' sexualities while still remaining, ourselves, good people. But it was a close call!
Feminists got Abortion and...well that's it. Granted Feminism is not a monolith.