Women's Voices

Martha Nussbaum is an American philosopher and current Professor of  Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly  appointed in the law school and the philosophy department. She has a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political  philosophy, feminism, and ethics, including animal rights.

In this essay, Nussbaum analyzes the works of Judith Butler,  particularly her theory of gender performativity, and what Nussbaum  calls Butler's “hip  quietism” which “collaborates with evil”.

“What precisely does Butler offer when she counsels subversion? She  tells us to engage in parodic performances, but she warns us that the dream of escaping altogether from the oppressive structures is just a dream: it is within the oppressive structures that we must find little spaces for resistance, and this resistance cannot hope to change the  overall situation. And here lies a dangerous quietism.

Helen Joyce is a journalist for The Economist who holds a PhD in mathematics from University College London, and who recently published a book titled Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality, which debuted at number 7 on the Sunday Times’ hardback non-fiction list, and appeared in the Times’ list of the best books of 2021. Regular Times columnist David Aaronovitch wrote that “Joyce [examines] a new ideology about gender. This holds that biological sex is as much a 'social construct' as the idea of gender is. One benefit of Joyce's book is its intellectual clarity and its refusal to compromise.” Kathleen Stock, professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex, and author of Material Girls: Why Reality Matters for Feminism (2021), gave Trans a 5-star review at The Telegraph, calling it a “superlative critical analysis of trans activism” and observing that “Joyce shows an impressive capacity to handle complex statistics, legal statutes, and other bits of evidence without losing clarity or narrative drive.” Writing for the Standard, Stella O’Malley said, “Joyce’s book truly is a tour de force. With a fine eye for detail, she brings all the elements of gender ideology together with clarity and precision. For anybody who wishes to gain a deep understanding of the issues related to trans activism, this book is simply a must-read.”

Patrícia Lélis is a Brazilian radical feminist and former congressional journalist who has been repeatedly harassed and threatened with death for speaking about issues that impact women and for criticizing the sex industry. She has been maligned by Brazilian political parties on both the right and the left, and recently experienced a campaign of targeted harassment and death threats for opposing sex self-identification, citing the recent incident at LA's Wi Spa, and was even called a criminal by her own political party, PT, who issued a statement denouncing her. In addition, her employers were flooded with thousands of emails asking for her to be fired.

On April 12, the Chinese government removed radical feminist groups from a popular social networking website called Douban. Similar to Reddit — which banned feminist groups critical of gender ideology last year — Douban is an online forum with a group function allowing users to post on various topics and engage in discussions. Of the groups deleted, several were centered on facets of the “6B4T” movement. Additionally, the term 6B4T was censored, and Douban users are not permitted to mention the names of the disappeared groups without risking suspension.

The abbreviation “6B4T” is a Chinese radical feminist movement that encourages women to reject sexual intercourse with men, as well as child-rearing, dating, and marriage. The ideology originated in South Korea and is associated with separatist feminism and political lesbianism, which advocates women organizing for their rights by refusing any participation with men and patriarchal institutions. The reason for the removal of the radical feminist groups on Douban is not explicitly stated, but it is suggested that the ideas discussed in the forums violated national policies.

Maya Forstater, who was let go from her position at think tank Center for Global Development (CGD) in March of 2019 for tweets asserting the reality of biological sex, and who had originally lost a court case challenging her employer’s decision, has on June 10th won an appeal filed with the employment tribunal.

Caroline Norma and Genevieve Gluck discuss recent events pertaining to gender ideology and women's rights, including Japan's decision not to go forward with sex self-identification, the possibility of trans-identified males competing in women's categories in the Olympics, and male violence against women in the US prison system. Guest Jen Izaakson provides commentary regarding Maya Forstater's appeal, who was sacked for tweets saying that biological sex is immutable, drawing the support of JK Rowling; Jen also provides an update on the decision by several UK institutions to withdraw support from LGBT charity Stonewall.

Dr Kathleen Stock OBE is a professor of philosophy at the University of Sussex who has written a number of articles for peer-reviewed academic publications primarily on aesthetics, sexual objectification, and the impact of modern gender theory on the rights of women and girls. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her contributions to higher education, after which many philosophers took to social media to object, circulating an “Open Letter Concerning Transphobia in Philosophy.”

Elizabeth Miller is a radical feminist activist and organizer who runs the Chicago Feminist Salon. In 2018, she co-organized the Women in Media Conference. Recently, she has successfully campaigned for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by the state of Illinois, as well as the enactment of House Bill 40, to protect women’s rights to abortion should the US Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade at the federal level. She is currently working with radical feminist organization Feminists in Struggle (FIST) to advocate for women’s sex-based rights and protections.

Pornography and Male Supremacy was first published in an anthology of speeches and essays by Andrea Dworkin, Letters from a War Zone, 1988.

Caroline Norma and Genevieve Gluck discuss the Yogyakarta Principles, US bills banning the medical transitioning of minors via "puberty blockers", some of the challenges faced by women and girls in Japan, Australia's growing "Me Too" movement, and a website exposing rape culture in top UK schools.