What Is Queer Feminism?

Mission Statement: QueerFeminism.com stands in radical opposition to patriarchy through providing education and resources, fostering discussion in and out of feminist circles, and challenging openly challenging all patriarchal beliefs.

Feminism in the 21st century has a problem.

Despite wonderfully bold activism by many young and older feminists, online and in person, broad swathes of the feminist movement are plagued by racism, homophobia, transphobia, imperialism, sex-negativity, and similar ills. Well-meaning feminists spend more time declaring their immunity from these “isms” than they do working to address actual marginalization within the feminist community. It’s time for a change.

This site defines Queer Feminism as radical opposition to patriarchy.

The term queer does mean that this definition of feminism explicitly includes queer people, but it goes beyond LGBT and other gender/sexuality minorities. By Queer Feminism, we mean a feminism that is different–a feminism that directly challenges the issues above and does not rest on its laurels. We believe that the definition of feminism that focuses on equality between men and women both excludes non-binary genders and ignores the serious problems created by patriarchy that harm people of any gender and can be exacerbated by people of any gender.

We stand in radical opposition to patriarchy, a system that includes:

Racism, imperialism, genocide, and violence
Strict rules about gender and sexuality that hurt everyone whether male, female, both, or neither
Blaming and shaming of trans people, queer people, prudes, sluts, and anyone who does not fit a narrow and arbitrary body standard
Rape culture
A tendency to claim that democracy and liberal politics fixes all ills, rather than addressing society’s problems

The site began its life as a blog, but due to limited editorial capacity, the current focus is on providing an extensive curated list of resources that follow the above philosophy and mission statement by presenting many angles of feminism–including content not explicitly about feminism and in direct opposition to it.

Mutual Respect Policy

The purpose of this site is to redefine feminism in a more inclusive and productive way, not to complain about individual feminists or organizations. Part of building a better movement is calling out folks who make feminism look bad, and so criticism is encouraged where it is due.

We welcome those who do not self-identify as femininsts to contribute to the discussion in the comments section. We respect that feminism has been used as a weapon against many people who may not feel comfortable repurposing the term or applying it to themselves. We have a duty as femininists who have a vision for a better movement to show our commitment through making change, not criticizing those who do not call themselves feminists. If we want to change the popular understanding of what “feminism” means, we need to do that by example first.

Hate speech will never be tolerated on this site, and comments are actively moderated.

Since Queer Feminism started in January 2012, the site has revolved around a lofty mission, but with very limited editorial capacity. This mission, to “[stand] in radical opposition to patriarchy through providing education and resources, fostering discussion in and out of feminist circles, and challenging openly challenging all patriarchal beliefs,” is certainly no less needed in 2016 than it was four years ago. Perhaps now more than ever, challenges including White Feminism and Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism make voices like ours necessary. But it’s also important to acknowledge that limited capacity, and the fact that this site will never be an actively-maintained, thriving periodical.

Instead, our purpose shifts to focus on the resources section, a curated directory of links relevant to the Queer Feminism mission that together comprise an amazing treasure trove of voices both celebrating and challenging the ideals of feminism. From racial justice to disability justice, challenging transmisogyny to challenging colonialism, these resources provide months of reading and are much more powerful than this site could ever be as a blog. Most importantly, the goal of this site has always been to lift up marginalized voices, and the best way to do that seems to be spending limited time on signal boosting, rather than editing and recruiting new writers. If you have a suggested resource, please feel free to leave a comment. There will be frequent updates to the resources page over the coming months, as hundreds of links are in the “to post” queue. And over time, we may split into separate topical pages for greater accessibility. The archive of posts originally published on this site will remain, as always, on the blog.

Thanks for your support, and much solidarity in your struggles for ever-increasing justice.

What Is Queer Feminism?

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