As an autistic woman, who experienced SA herself and as an intersectional feminist, I reject the trope that most men are monsters, that men are inherently bad and women inherently good. This approach is the opposite of helpful, it’s highly problematic for all genders and leads to the terf, fascist, religious extremism pipeline.
It’s not the gender, that corrupts people, it’s power.
For that reason, Feminism and Anarchism are strongly intertwined. Because we are not talking about physical power here. If you can train a huge dog, that could kill you with a bite, not to touch his food until you allow him to do so, we as a society can teach men not to rape a woman during her sleep.
The problem is, that we don’t do that. Living in patriarchy means, that a poor black girl has to take more responsibility and is held more accountable than a rich white man.
Patriarchy limits men’s possibilities for personal growth, it makes most of them become weak cowards, who exploit women and are easy to control. That is why oppressors created this system in the first place. This is what intersectional feminists mean, when they say, that men suffer under patriarchy too.
It also means, that not all women are safe for other women. As a marginalized, autistic woman, I might feel safer with an autistic man, than with an allistic woman. Not only because internalized misogyny is a thing, but because patriarchy is a hierarchical system, that gives some women power over others, it makes them compliant.
For me personally it means that despite all the bullshit men did to me, women were the ones, who deeply traumatized me over and over again. It means, that I will choose the people I trust not based on their gender, but based on their ability for critical thinking, personal growth and the power structures inside and outside of my relationship with them.
#feminism #intersectionality #ActuallyAutistic
