See, the thing is, I still want to separate identity and issues, (politics. movements, policies, oppressions, etc). There are lesbians who do not share my feminism. And there are feminists who are not lesbians, or even women. If I have to choose, I'll choose the feminists. Not because I'm not proud to be a lesbian, but because being a feminist is where I can effect action and change. (Fortunately, I don't have to choose.)
What I got from Martina's posts, the way I understood them, is that as long as we focus on uniting around identities, even when we try to be inclusive, we are bound to fail, and we are at risk of in-fighting, erasure, and unexamined bias.
Which is why I keep trying to re-focus on issues. And why ultimately what's most concerning for me in the BV conflict was the excising of feminism from the mission statement, as well as un-addressed misogyny and agism within the organization. It's not that I don't care about butch women/lesbians being marginalized, I do - deeply. They are the ones that brought these issues to the fore and I applaud them and support them for that.
But as long as we focus on who is in/out of the "community" based upon identity, we will just keep policing each other, parsing identities endlessly, get all huffy and offended, and redefining ourselves and each other ad nauseum.
I'm off topic for a lesbian pride thread, but what I'm saying is in the end it's about bringing our lesbian pride to bear upon issues that impact us --misogyny, sexism, homophobia, agism. racism, etc....
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