"Females First" and for me "Butch Dykes First' which is the truth!

In response to bugbrennan's blog on:
http://bugbrennan.com/2012/01/05/females-first/


This is about identifying as Females First, the usual Female issues are trotted out: abortions, pregnancy and access to birth control, while the latter issues that correlate to Butch Dykes are considered an 'identity group' and yet those issues could apply to all Females and especially those who don't conform to heterosexist female roles, I argue that it is as important to me to see MY issues represented as much as the issues that don't affect me personally first and foremost. I have no intention to get pregnant, practice birth control or have an abortion, while these ARE important issues to all who retain a working fertile female body, my sexuality is 100% Lesbian, and my first concern sexually for myself would be safe sex with anyone beyond my primary partner, and my ability to be treated equally in a world that completely invisibilizes my needs as a Butch Dyke Female, mostly, the ability to work, get and keep a steady job and make a living, be treated equally and fairly on that job, to move through the world without harassment, violence or threats or being made fun of by either men or hetero women for not conforming to their idea of patriarchal womonhood, ect. This does not just apply to a Sister Dyke like BugBrennan who I do greatly respect, but to how heterosexual women treat Butch Dykes, and constantly dismiss our issues, much less Lesbians who also dismiss some of our issues who can pass for straight. I just experienced all this at a yearly women's conference I attended this past weekend which I may go into further later on.

So here's my response to her blog:
"Wow, great post. But nonetheless as a Butch Dyke Female, it IS important I have a group representing who I am as a Butch Dyke FEMALE. And to have solidarity with other Butches who throw their lot in with all of womonkind, instead of escaping it as so many are pushing away the Female/woman label. Because when people talk of feminism and women’s rights, it always seems to be HETEROSEXUAL womens’ rights, abortion/prochoice, childraising, relationships to M E N, even though others may think they’re ‘Lesbians’ if they aren’t in their straitjacketed feminine roles and are advocating for other Females first and foremost. For us, as Lesbians it is necessary to do so for our survival. For us as Butch FEMALES it is even more necessary when literally Butches are being pushed out of the Female realm and identifying as male/genderqueer/ftm/trans but NOT as a woman, and where the word ‘woman’ in the queer community is seen as a dirtier and dirtier word, even though they are coming together in basically bio female to female sexual relationships. As Butches we are so often told by the straight world “you just want to be a man”, and now we are being told the same by the queer world: “you must be a man.”

I could say, ‘abortion is not really MY issue, it certainly isn’t my primary issue” and that is totally true. Access to equal pay for equal work, equal opportunity, freedom from male violence and harassment and discrimination, as a Butch, as a woman and as a large woman are the biggest levels of discrimination I find in the outside world….first as a woman, but in that, other women are hired, and then I’m percieved as a large Butch woman….and they make an issue of my size, whereas with a guy they wouldn’t, and NEVER would they say because I’m a Butch Dyke, so which is it????It’s all three……sex, size, and sexual orientation/nonfeminine presentation…..the interplay of the three. Also I want the right to stay married to my Butch Dyke partner, and she works in an all female field and is hugely oppressed in opportunities, raises and advancement BECAUSE she is a Butch Dyke, BY OTHER HETEROSEXUAL FEMININE WOMEN!! We BOTH
suffer in the workplace, access to work in the first place(getting hired, me), her in advancement, raises, being treated fairly and opportunities BECAUSE OF BEING BUTCH LESBIANS….

So, for a feminism that works for me, I don’t want to be lumped in with straight women issues, except as pertains to ALL women/females moving ahead. I WANT MY issues taken as seriously as straight women have their issues taken. And it is one reason that Black Feminists and Black Lesbians started their own womanist movement to have their particular issues addressed as well. So if the personal is political and the political is personal, there has to be a two way flow with our commonalities AND our differences acknowledged and VALUED, because there are some of us as one kind or another as further minorities of womonhood that have the boot even harder on our necks, while other women who are more conventional and have more privilege do get the opportunities over us and get to move ahead, sometimes on our backs!"
-In Sisterhood,
-FeistyAmazon

On Separatism and the need for Separatist space.

At a meeting I was at today, I continue to fight for my WBW space, at least in regards to my workshops...but I'd prefer it overall at this event I attend yearly. One Dyke FELT she had to say, when I brought up the issue of our WBW identity and space, afterwards that she USED TO BE a big ole Dyke Separatist but no longer needed it, now that she's got a 24 year old male in her life, either her or probably her partner's son. One can have children in their lives, but STILL CRAVE womyn only or Dyke only space from time to time! And in fact our event is 5 days of womon only space, but unfortunately it no longer will be WBW space....

So here's Margaret Sloan-Hunter's short article on the NEED for Separate space, whether for Black Folks, Dykes, or Womyn! And yes, I used to know her, and admire her, and was very sad when that powerful big ole Butch Black Dyke passed! Enjoy!
http://www.feminist-reprise.org/docs/Sloan-Hunter.htm

-In Sisterhood,
-M.A.

P.S. You'll probably have to copy and paste the url to go to it....

Z Budapest's WBW Dianic Ritual and 3 Crones as observers and protectors outside it holding the space, at Pantheacon 2012

Ok, so this is another's blog, and I'm giving her full credit for it, but for those who feel strongly about retaining our WBW Dianic ritual space, here is a well known Butch Radical Feminist Lesbian whose been lifelong a fixture in the womyn's spirituality community, a Wisewomon, a Sage, a researcher and an Elder.


http://www.sourcememory.net/veleda/?p=486#comment-5463

You will have to copy and paste the url above to your line and it will take you right to the blog on this issue. Thanks to Max Dashu for her clear thinking on these very difficult times and issues we hold dear to our hearts.
-M.A.

Check out this great MSN video: 10 Most Powerful Women In The World

Check out this great MSN video: 10 Most Powerful Women In The World

"When Lesbians Define Lesbian!" By Bess Hungerford

I so liked this definition and stand by it in my heart and soul, that I HAD to include it on my blog, with full permission from the author. So enjoy Dykes!-MasterAmazon

"When Lesbians define Lesbian(!), we have a shared understanding that NO PENIS is involved. “No penis” goes without saying because attraction to physical traits (not gender presentation) is inherent to Lesbians’ definition of Lesbian. I can easily prove this by reference to the Lesbian tradition of butch/femme. Lesbians, as a class, do not have a problem accepting gender non-conformity in our ranks, thank you very much. You might even say that Butch Lesbians wrote the book on gender non-conformity. So this queer misinterpretation of ‘Lesbian’ as a GENDER preference belies one’s ignorance of Lesbian history, community, and our relationship to gender. Lesbians are attracted to female bodies, not the feminine gender.

Further, in addition to suggesting that we are confused about what our own sexuality means, you demand that Lesbians change the way we talk so as not to “insult” any male bodied persons with penises who believe that their subjectively asserted “gender identity” gives them license to claim entry to our Lesbian community and identity. This is not Lesbians’ responsibility. This is not Lesbians’ error. It is “queer feminism”‘s error. It is not millions of Lesbians with decades– even centuries– of history who should change our knowledge of each other in order to avoid insulting the “gender identities” of penised people who want access to us. It is penised people who must stop arrogantly colonizing “Lesbian.” We are not bigots, transphobic, or politically regressive for maintaining CONCEPTUAL boundaries around our Lesbian identity. It is our RIGHT." -Bess Hungerford

Check out this blog, and you will understand my commentary:
http://bugbrennan.com/2012/03/13/178/

MasterAmazon: This is why on one of my groups they HATE I use the term “This group is for BIO FEMALES ONLY” and I got one transapologist(bio female) go on and on how much better it is to use the term ‘Cis’ while we get accused of ‘cissexist and cisgender privilege’….well, for THIS Butch Dyke, I get NO so called “cisgender privilege’, because being Butch negates all that! So, on one hand I’m bio female, Female,Butch, and Dyke Proud, but on the other hand, I do NOT benefit from feminine heterosexual or passing for heterosexual or feminine female privilege…which is what in their minds ‘cisgender’ means, cuz they’re ALWAYS trying to put us Butches into the trans camp and put us out of womanhood and put themselves into it….and while I personally believe Lesbians (100% Dykes) don’t need birth control for ANY reason, being we DON’T have sex with men(otherwise you’re bisexual/pansexual), Lesbians CAN be impregnated, by choice or by force(sexual assault). By choice, as in artificial insemination or the biological method. Instinctively ALL bio females on some level, especially because of male violence, fear impregnation, and that INCLUDES Lesbians…..and NEVER does one single trans’woman’ have to EVER worry about impregnation…..not now, NOT EVER! So they can ignore the abortion/pro-choice debate altogether. Even though this is not a primary issue for me, being a 100% Dyke, I cannot ignore it, because if women are forced to bring all babies to term, or cannot use various forms of birth control (as this set of Republican candidates is threatening), ALL BIO FEMALE WOMEN have to fear for their sexual and physical safety.

This is something NO MTF EVER has to worry about, or concern themselves with if they don’t want to, and can continue to obssess on the glamorous forms of feminine womanhood, or their sexual access to Lesbians, but they don’t have to work one iota to our full sexual and biological freedom as bio females, since it doesn’t concern them on a genetic, bone and blood deep level….

-In Sisterhood,
-M.A.

A Definition of Feminism

I like this quote by Rebecca Whisnant because it is very clear and focussed. Though I may not agree with all of her article, I found it thought provoking and informative. -M.A.

"The resistance movement of and for women, against patriarchy, is called feminism, and its strength depends significantly on the cogency of the political analysis that underlies it." -Rebecca Whisnant

I also liked: "One claim central to second-wave radical feminism is that women are a class sharing a common condition." -Rebecca Whisnant

And: "Feminism is about ending the subordination of women. Expanding women’s freedom of choice on a variety of fronts is an important part of that, but it is not the whole story. In fact, any meaningful liberation movement involves not only claiming the right to make choices, but also holding oneself accountable for the effects of those choices on oneself and on others."-Rebecca Whisnant

The article is here: http://saidit.org/archives/jun06/article5.html

-In Sisterhood,
-M.A.

On Being a Lesbian: My response to noanodyne's blog

Thank you noanodyne for saying what you've said above: it is EXACTLY how I feel about being Lesbian: I worship the Sacred Female from the sexual to the spiritual and on EVERY LEVEL inbetween: emotional, intellectual, psychic, ect....that I see everything through Lesbian eyes, whether it be sacred sexuality between myself and another Dyke, or it be worshipping the Goddess/Sacred Female and seeing Her presence in another womon, and wanting to be in the company of strong Amazonian Lesbian centered womyn who LOVE women, and love THEMSELVES AS WOMYN.

It is our revolutionary capacity to 'see into the Background' and another way of being, than the malestream and those who identify with it, will allow us to be. I too feel that Michfest and womyn's land, and womyn's ritual space is my home....and so often I feel lost, cut off and sad in the malestream world, and these days, in the 'queer' world as well, with so many wanting to transition to male, it hurts me to my core, to my soul. It is so hard to find this affirmation, as our spaces have gotten rarer and rarer and our Lesbian businesses and bookstores and isles of sanity have disappeared. I LOVE what you've written above, and it affirms how I feel that Lesbianism is my FULL LIFE PATH, it is my sexuality, it is my spirituality, it is my whole Being and how I see the world....so much more than those coming out now even have a clue of....and why they wonder why we defend our spaces so strongly against incursion, those of us who have been lifelong Dykes, and cannot be any other way!
-In DykeAmazon Sisterhood,
-FeistyAmazon

LESBIAN: More than just a sexuality!!!!!

I'm a Lesbian EVERY SINGLE DAY. Lesbianism is my religion, my spirituality, my sexuality, my sexual orientation, my sex, and my outlook on life. Everything I see, I see with Lesbian eyes. I worship the Sacred Female from the sexual to the spiritual and on every level inbetween, emotional, intellectual, psychological, and psychic levels too.
-In DykeAmazon Sisterhood,
-MasterAmazon

The Magic of Days on Lesbian positive Womyn's Land like Michfest: From my post on 'Lesbian Caucus' on Facebook

This has been the problem. So many young women into 'queer' space, don't understand the real POWER of days of being in womon only, dyke positive or dyke centered space...it is so empowering, it is beyond anything you've ever experienced, cuz even Dyke March has men and others crashing it all the time....when you are in strictly womon only space, your heart opens, you become sensitive to psychic powers(at least for me while on Land)that are so often repressed in the patriarchal city environments, because you can open up in a way you never have before because you dont' have to put all that energy into looking over your shoulder for your personal protection...it frees you up psychically, emotionally, spiritually and sexually in a way that cannot be explained unless in that presence of womon power for days on end...and you will not want to leave. It is indeed, Amazon Nation, and a slice of what Matriarchy could be like...