Posted by A Twitter thread by @WTFoucault
One reason many younger women don’t understand gender critical feminism is that women often only come up against the biological basis of our oppression when we have children. Before that point – if you’re middle class – it’s easy to believe that battle is won.
Not the only reason – of course not. But I think it explains why *so many* younger feminists buy into the idea that women’s oppression springs from their gender/socialised role- rather than from the simple fact that they belong to the sex class that has vagina/can give birth.
Of course it’s not necessary to be a mother to come to this realisation. But motherhood IS a significant turning point for many women – the point at which they first experience the *structural* nature of the oppression of their biological sex.
And yes, many young women come to this understanding much sooner – by becoming aware, or victims, of rape, prostitution, pornography.
Worth noting – I don’t assert that younger women aren’t aware of misogyny or don’t consider themselves feminists, but that they do not yet see that all of it – ALL of it – originates in their biology. Or that this is why sex (a fact), not gender (a feeling), matters.