My story (From First Encountering Pornography to Becoming a Radical Feminist – which I’d written in 2007 at a time when I was still involved in a heterosexual relationship) can be found on my website here. My memory has been recovering more and more painful things since I found feminism. I am a young woman and a survivor of rape and domestic violence.
I am a radical lesbian feminist. I have recently come out.
I used to blog at a Blogger blog (which the address you can find on my sidebar). I have moved to WordPress because the software is so much easier and I like it better.
I am the creator of the anti-porn resource website Against Pornography. I particularly recommend: my FAQ section for answers to frequently asked questions on pornstitution (and the rest of my anti-porn site), the videos from a conference by the feminist anti-porn movement, the websites of Stop Porn Culture and One Angry Girl, Nikki Craft’s well-resourced list of anti-porn & anti-sexist websites, the Andrea Dworkin Online Library, Dworkin’s Audio Archive, and Ann Simonton’s MediaWatch interviews of anti-porn feminists.
You can find a definition of Radical Feminism here.
I oppose: patriarchy, sexism, racism, classism, lesbophobia, homophobia, speciesism (& other forms of discrimination), pornography, prostitution, sexual exploitation & objectification, BDSM, patriarchal religions (of any kind), pornified culture, heteronormativity (i.e. compulsory heterosexuality), gender roles & norms, gender coercions (to either “feminine” or “masculine” norms & roles), the institution of marriage, the nuclear family, capitalism, patriarchal socialization, malestream ideologies & politics, sexist portrayals of women in mainstream media, male-dominated institutions & laws, ecological disaster, malestream co-optations of the term ‘feminism’ by (some) female & male patriarchists, and all forms of dominance, hierarchy, abuse and male violence against women & children. I oppose all of those things on the grounds that they are patriarchal, oppressive, harmful and/or restrictions of freedom on (usually) women’s & girls’ lives, and sometimes on other human beings’ as well.
I support: the Women’s Liberation Movement (and I believe it is somehow still alive today in the hearts of so many womyn), a feminist revolution that would overthrow the entire male-supremacist system, the complete eradication & transcendence of gender roles & norms, women’s complete control over their minds and their bodies with the help of feminist consciousness-raising (that would help them reject pernicious ideologies patriarchy has taught them), healthy non-hierarchical & non-patriarchal visions of human relationships, egalitarian and non-exploitative sexuality, genuine emotional connections between womyn (and among other human beings as well), empathy, feminist activism, birth control/abortion rights (as being an absolute necessity within the current system of male domination of women), self-defense & retaliation against male aggression (whenever necessary), lesbianism & separatism (as revolutionary & understandable paths for the women who choose them), vegetarianism & veganism, the understanding that women are human beings (not “sex objects”), and the creation of a new world that would eradicate all power structures of domination and subordination.
I am woman-identified and woman-centered. I put womyn first, personally and politically, as they are members of the group who is oppressed as a sex-class in a patriarchal society. If more and more men changed, then I would start saying there is some gleam of hope for them.
I became a vegetarian when I watched this video in November 2008. I am an animal-lover and, especially, a cat-lover. I am now a vegan (since April 2010).
I am a member of a local feminist group and a local lesbian group in the area where I live and I frequently attend feminist or lesbian events and try to organize for activism.
I am a student in the social sciences. I currently have a part-time job that I don’t like (I do it just to support myself during my studies).
My favorite writers: Adrienne Rich, Audre Lorde, Robin Morgan, Andrea Dworkin, Alice Walker, Sheila Jeffreys, Diana Russell, Mary Daly, Anne Koedt, Catharine MacKinnon, Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Charlotte Bunch, Julie Bindel, Kathleen Barry, Marilyn Frye, and many other radical feminist writers.
Links to articles I like: the Feminist Reprise’s Library, the Documents from the Women’s Liberation Movement, Lesbian-Feminist Links, the feminist Off Our Backs news-journal , the Spinning Spinsters‘ writings, Rain and Thunder journal, Said It back issues, Sisyphe, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Genderberg and PRE Research anti-pornstitution articles (and many more – see my websites’ links and my blogroll).
My favorite books: Pornography: Men Possessing Women (Andrea Dworkin), all Dworkin’s books, esp. Our Blood, Letters from a War Zone, Intercourse, Life and Death, Right-Wing Women, Woman Hating and Scapegoat; Jeffreys: The Lesbian Heresy ( Sheila Jeffreys); all other Jeffreys’ books; Sisterhood is Powerful (by Robin Morgan ed.); Sexual Politics (Kate Millett); Sister/Outsider (Audre Lorde); Female Sexual Slavery & The Prostitution of Sexuality (both by Kathleen Barry); The Color Purple (fiction, by Alice Walker); Prostitution, Trafficking, and Traumatic Stress (Melissa Farley ed.); Take Back the Night: Women on Pornography (Laura Lederer ed.); The Sexual Liberals and the Attack on Feminism (Dorchen Leidholdt and Janice G. Raymond eds.); In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings (Catharine A. MacKinnon & Andrea Dworkin eds.); Making Violence Sexy: Feminist Views on Pornography (Diana E. H. Russell ed.), all other Diana Russell’s books; MacKinnon: Only Words, Are Women Human?, Feminism Unmodified and Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (all by Catharine MacKinnon); Radical Feminism (an anthology, by Anne Koedt, Ellen Levine, and Anita Rapone, eds.); Of Woman Born (Adrienne Rich) and other A. Rich’s books; Daly: Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism (Mary Daly); Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers (Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English); Against Our Will (Susan Brownmiller); Unleashing Feminism: Critiquing Lesbian Sadomasochism in the Gay Nineties (Irene Reti, ed.); Against Sadomasochism: A Radical Feminist Analysis (Robin Ruth Linden et al, eds.); Not for Sale: Feminists Resisting Prostitution and Pornography (Christine Stark & Rebecca Whisnant eds.); Pornography: the Production and Consumption of Inequality (Gail Dines et al); Daughters of a Coral Dawn (fiction, by Katherine V. Forrest); Ammonite (fiction, by Nicola Griffith); and many, many other books. Feminist Reprise has a great Booklist. And I have my own anti-pornstitution booklist.
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(Not Particularly Feminist)
My favorite films/shows: movies that portray strong female characters such as the Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3 (with Milla Jovovich), Ultraviolet, Underworld 1 & 2, Xena Warrior Princess (TV series), the Alien film franchise, Ms. 45, Carrie, Nightmare on Elm Street (1, 4 & 7- old version, not remake), The Fury, Panic Room, The Brave One, Double Jeopardy, Enough, The Accused (I know some of these are SciFi/horror/thriller movies, but I like them for their strong heroines); plus lesbian (or woman-friendly) films such as Show Me Love (Swedish movie), The Color Purple, Desert hearts, Fried Green Tomatoes, Puberty Blues, But I’m a Cheerleader, Itty Bitty Titty Committee, Born in Flames, Loving Annabelle, Fire (Indian movie), The Journey (Indian movie), Saving Face, Amour de Femme, I Can’t Think Straight, Fingersmith (TV movie), Volver (Spanish movie), and a few other ones… I don’t like most movies, as they’re too patriarchal…
My favorite actresses: Milla Jovovich, Jodie Foster, Kate Beckinsale, Whoopi Goldberg, Sigourney Weaver, Kathy Bates, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Lucy Lawless, Renée O’ Connor, Heather langenkamp, Lisa Wilcox, Drew Barrymore, Penelope Cruz, Amy Irving, and a few more…
My favorite music: Heather Nova, Collide (band), AniDi Franco, Flyleaf, Alanis Morissette, Evanescence, Nightwish, Le Tigre, Avril Lavigne (her first 2 albums), Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Bonnie Tyler, Tonic, Blondie, t.A.T.u., K.D. Lang, Sinead O’ Connor, Enigma, Irene cara, Queen, The Doors, The Beatles, L7, Neneh Cherry, Lindsey Harper, Melissa Etheridge, Nina Simone, Pat Benatar, Sade (singer of “Smooth Operator”), Luba, Lauryn Hill, Foreigner, Alix Dobkin (singer of the “Lesbian Code”), and a few more…
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What About The Men? I tend not to teach what radical feminism is about to men. In case some are interested, I recommend those pro-radical feminist male websites & resources to men:
Robert Jensen’s Articles on gender, sexuality, and pornography;
Jackson Katz, anti-sexist activist;
A Radical Pro-Feminist blog;
Refusing to Be a Man: Essays on Sex and Justice (1989), book by John Stoltenberg; Taylor & Francis, Inc or Routledge or Meridian. Available at Barnes and Noble or Amazon or Amazon UK [International shipping available]
The End of Manhood: Parables on Sex and Selfhood (1993), book by John Stoltenberg; UCL Press. Available at Amazon
What Makes Pornography “Sexy”? (1994) book by John Stoltenberg; Milkweed Editions. Available at Amazon
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Thanks all for your interest,
Maggie.
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Maggie,
I watched The Burning Times Documentary and I am still somewhat confused on something. Why exactly has European scholarship and the mainstream conception of “our” history erased the witch-hunt?
Thanks!
This is my primary stop by and I love what I’m discovering. Your blog is so great to go through, pretty entertaining as well as educational. I’ll absolutely recommend it to my buddies. Yet, I did have some difficulty with the commenting. It kept giving me an malfunction when I clicked on post comment. Maybe, that can be repaired. Many thanks!
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Dear Maggie,
You’re one of my heroes! I love your website “Against Pornography” – it was the main thing which convinced me, and then my boyfriend, to become antiporn!
Hi Maggie, I’m wondering where I can register for the WLM forum? I see the page, but it looks like I may have to be invited? I saw your invite at the hub and I am interested. Thanks so much!
Smash- Registration to WLM are re-opened now.
Hi, Maggie,
Wow, what a great site! I already learned a lot and I’m going to order some of those books! Have been wanting to read Ammonite, that’s big on my list. I would love to read the papers on parthenogenesis — vlietpoetry [at] hotmail [dot] com
Thank you very much,
Vliet
Ammonite by Nicola Griffith is amazing. So is Daughters of a Coral Dawn (and sequels) by Katherine V. Forrest.
Check your emails. Papers are sent. 😉
Hi Maggie! I read your comment on Radfem Hub about the two papers on parthenogenesis you have downloaded. I would be very interested in reading them if you would email them to me.
Thanks!
Barbara
Sent! 🙂
Hi Maggie,
I, too, come by way of Radfem Hub and would love to read the papers on parthenogenesis. I’m new to this blog and looking forward to exploring. I see you have a reading list…yes!
Thanks for the incredible work you and so many other women are doing. Fostering sanity one blog post at a time.
Email sent!