Feminist separatism

Separatist feminism is a form of feminism that does not support heterosexual relationships due to a belief that sexual disparities between men and women are irresolvable. Separatist feminists generally do not feel that men can make positive contributions to the feminist movement and that even well-intentioned men replicate the dynamics of patriarchy. Instead, separatist feminists concentrate on directing their energies and allegiances towards other women, outside of a patriarchal context. This typically includes working with other women towards political or social goals, choosing living and family arrangements that are female-only, and avoiding hiring or working for and with men. Feminists or lesbians identifying as separatist usually choose to live either in celibacy or as lesbians (see lesbian feminism).

Author Marilyn Frye describes separatist feminism as "separation of various sorts or modes from men and from institutions, relationships, roles and activities that are male-defined, male-dominated, and operating for the benefit of males and the maintenance of male privilege — this separation being initiated or maintained, at will, by women."

In a tract on socialist feminism published in 1972, the Hyde Park Chapter of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union differentiated between Separatism as an "ideological position", and as a "tactical position". In the same document, they further distinguished between separatism as "personal practice" and as "political position".

Heterosexual separatist feminism

One of the earliest, and best known examples of heterosexual separatist feminism was Cell 16. Founded in 1968 by Roxanne Dunbar, Cell 16 has been cited as the first organization to advance the concept of separatist feminism. Cultural Historian Alice Echols cites Cell 16 as an example of feminist heterosexual separatism, as the group never advocated lesbianism as a political strategy, instead promoting the idea of celibacy or periods of celibacy in heterosexual relationships.

Echols credits Cell 16's work for "helping establishing the theoretical foundation for lesbian separatism. In No More Fun and Games, the organization's radical feminist periodical, Cell Members Roxanne Dunbar and Lisa Leghorn advised women to "separate from men who are not consciously working for female liberation", but advised periods of celibacy, rather than lesbian relationships, which they considered to be "nothing more than a personal solution."

Lesbian separatism

Lesbian separatism is a form of separatist feminism specific to Lesbians. Separatism has been considered by lesbians as both a temporary strategy, and as a lifelong practice.

Charlotte Bunch, an early member of The Furies Collective, viewed separatist feminism as a strategy, a "first step" period, or temporary withdrawal from mainstream activism to accomplish specific goals or enhance personal growth.. Other lesbians, such as Lambda Award winning author Elana Dykewomon, have chosen separatism as a lifelong practice.

In addition to advocating withdrawal from working, personal or casual relationships with men, The Furies recommended that Lesbian Separatists relate "only (with) women who cut their ties to male privilege" and suggest that "as long as women still benefit from heterosexuality, receive its privileges and security, they will at some point have to betray their sisters, especially Lesbian sisters who do not receive those benefits." This was part of a larger idea that Bunch articulated in Learning from Lesbian Separatism, that "in a male-supremacist society, heterosexuality is a political institution" and the practice of separatism is a way to escape its domination. (See heterophobia.)

In her 1988 book, Lesbian Ethics: Towards a New Value, Lesbian Philosopher Sarah Lucia Hoagland alludes to Lesbian Separatism's potential to encourage lesbians to develop healthy community ethics based on shared values.

Bette Tallen believes that lesbian separatism, unlike some other separatist movements, is "not about the establishment of an independent state, it is about the development of an autonomous self-identity and the creation of a strong solid lesbian community."

Lesbian historian Lillian Faderman describes the separatist impulses of lesbian feminism which created culture and cultural artifacts as "giving love between women greater visibility" in broader culture. Faderman also believes that lesbian feminists who acted to create separatist institutions did so to "bring their ideals about integrity, nurturing the needy, self-determination and equality of labor and rewards into all aspects of institution-building and economics."

The practice of Lesbian separatism sometimes incorporates concepts related to queer nationalism and political lesbianism. Some individuals who identify as Lesbian separatists are also associated with the practice of Dianic paganism.

Radical lesbianism

The Radical lesbian Movement is a Francophone Lesbian movement roughly analogous to English-language lesbian separatism.

Inspired by the writings of Philosopher Monique Wittig, the movement originated in France, in the early 1980s, spreading soon after to the province of Quebec, Canada.

Wittig, referencing the ideas of Simone de Beauvoir, challenges concepts of biological determinism, arguing that those in power construct sex difference and race difference for the purpose of masking conflicts of interest and maintaining domination. Separatism was, as such, an opportunity for lesbians to diminish the impact of these constructed power differences on their lives.

Controversy

Aspects of Separatist feminism are controversial both inside and outside the feminist movement.

Feminist criticism

Some Feminists have suggested that separatism is insensitive to, or inadequately addresses existing social conditions like racism or classism. Others view it as a cultural strategy, not as an authentic movement, and some find it dogmatic, prescriptive or confining.

Feminist theorist and author Bell Hooks believes that the beliefs of separatist feminists run counter to many of the original goals of feminism, and instead of seeking to create equality, attempt to establish a female-centric and female-dominated society in which men are subjugated and misandry is brought into the mainstream. Critiques of the term "separatist" have also emerged from feminist critics such as Sonia Johnson who, while advocating a broadly separatist policy, point out that feminist separatism risks defining itself by what it separates itself from, i.e. men.

In a published conversation about black feminism and lesbian activism with her sister, Beverly Smith, Barbara Smith, co-author of the Combahee River Collective Statement expresses concerns that, "to the extent that lesbians of color must struggle simultaneously against the racism of white women (as against sexism), separatism impedes the building of alliances with men of color." Smith also notes that race places lesbians of color in a different relation to men as white lesbians, as "white women with class privilege don't share oppression with white men. They're in a critical and antagonistic position whereas Black women and other women of color definitely share oppressed situations with men of their race." Smith makes distinction between the theory of separatism, and the practice of separatism, stating that it is the way separatism has been practiced which has led to "an isolated, single-issued understanding and practice of politics, which ignores the range of oppressions that women experience.

Lesbian poet Jewelle Gomez refers to her entertwined history with black men and heterosexual women in her essay, Out of the Past and explains that "to break away from those who've been part of our survival is a leap that many women of color could never make."

Cultural critic Alice Echols describes the emergence of a lesbian separatist movement as a response to what she sees as homophobic sentiments expressed by feminist organizations (like the National Organization of Women. Echols argues that "...the introduction of (homo)sex troubled many heterosexual feminists who had found in the women's movement a welcome respite from sexuality." Echols considered separatism as a lesbian strategy to untie lesbianism from sex so heterosexual women in the feminist movement felt more comfortable.

In her essay Women, wimmin, womyn, womin, whippets - On Lesbian Separatism, Julie McCrossin takes the view that some aspects of separatism are "restricting...confining, inward turning and exclusive, not only of men, but of many women too." McCrossin cites slogans like "dead men don't rape" and "kill them in their cots" as examples of extreme lesbian separatist views.. Some separatist feminists seem to predict or advocate the attrition of men by a process of evolution, murder or abortion. Valerie Solanas's SCUM Manifesto suggested that it was the job of females to "destroy the male sex" though she later said her manifesto was "just a literary device."

Other criticism

While some of these statements may be empowerment fantasies rather than literal calls to violence, one men's rights activist compared separatist attitudes and hate speech towards men to those taken by Nazis towards Jews.

Men's rights groups have described women-only events and organizations as "separatist", with the UK Men and Father's rights group Website describing women-only library tables, for example, as "apartheid practices of excluding men". However, while organizations restricted to or geared towards only women are exclusive, they are not necessarily associated with the theories and political stance of separatist feminism.

Separatism in literature and culture

An important and sustaining aspect of lesbian separatism was the building of alternative community through "creating organizations, institutions and social spaces ...women's bookstores, restaurants, publishing collectives, and softball leagues fostered a flourishing lesbian culture."

Literature

Lesbian separatism and Separatist Feminism have inspired the creation of art and culture reflective of its visions of female-centered societies, including various works of lesbian science fiction where new technologies in human reproductive strategy have created Lesbian utopias, eliminating the need to have men for human reproduction.

The Wanderground (Persephone Press, 1978), is a separatist utopian novel written from author Sally Miller Gearhart's personal experience in rural lesbian-separatist collectives.

Periodicals

Lesbian and feminist in the 1970s "created a wide network of publications and presses" and magazines and periodicals designated "for women only" or "for lesbians only" were a common sight in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s (see List of lesbian periodicals); including the London, England lesbian magazine Gossip: a journal of lesbian feminist ethics[1], Circle, a lesbian only journal collectively produced in Wellington, New Zealand [2], the Australian periodical Sage: the separatist age[3], Canada's Amazones d'Hiver: Lesbiennes d'ajourd hui, produced for lesbians only in Montreal, Quebec, and the Killer Dyke a magazine by the "Flippies" (Feminist Lesbian Intergalactic Party), based in Chicago, IL.[4] [5]

Music

The early 1970s was an active period in Womyn's music, a genre mostly originated and supported by separatist feminists. Maxine Feldman's Angry Atthis, and Alix Dobkin's Lavender Jane Loves Women, were two early examples of this phenomenon.

Community projects

Separatist feminism provided lesbians opportunities to "live their lives apart from ...mainstream society," and, in the 1970s, "significant numbers of lesbian feminists moved to rural communities. One of these Lesbians, Joyce Cheney interviewed rural separatist feminists and lesbian separatists living in Intentional community, Land trusts and Land co-ops. The result was her book, Lesbian Land. Cheney describes the reason for many of these separatists' move to Lesbian Land as a "spatial strategy of distancing ...from mainstream society".

Noteworthy separatist feminists

Separatism within the feminist movement enjoyed a peak in popularity during the 1970s. Organizations associated with separatist feminism include:

• Cell 16 (Boston, Massachusetts)
• Chicago Lesbian Liberation
• Collective Lesbian International Terrors
• The Furies Collective (Washington, D.C.)
• The Gorgons (California)
• The Killer Dyke (Newsletter)
• The Lesbian Separatist Group (Seattle, Washington)
• The Lesbian-Feminist Center (Chicago, Illinois)
• Radicalesbians Revolutionary Lesbians (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
• Tribad (New York City, New York)
• Radical Women in Gainesville, a digital collection and exhibit site that documents the history of the Gainesville Women's Liberation Group. ([Gainesville, Florida])

Individuals associated with separatist feminism include:

• Jeffner Allen, author of Lesbian Philosophies and Cultures
• Joan E. Biren (JEB), lesbian Photographer
• Lizzie Borden, director of Born in Flames
• Rita Mae Brown, author and founder of The Furies Collective
• Mary Daly, theologian and former Boston College professor
• Alix Dobkin, Singer-Songwriter
• Andrea Dworkin, author of Womanhating
• Marilyn Frye, author of The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory
• Carolyn Gage, Author of The Second Coming of Joan of Arc
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman, author of Herland
• Karla Jay, English professor and former member of the Gay Liberation Front
• Judy Grahn, American poet
• Sarah Lucia Hoagland, Co-author of For Lesbians only: A Separatist Anthology
• Sonia Johnson, American author and activist
• Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, American activists
• Kate Millett, author of Sexual Politics
• Julia Penelope, Co-author of For Lesbians only: A Separatist Anthology
• Adrienne Rich, American poet
• Linda Shear, American folksinger
• Heidi Wyss, Swiss writer