#Gender Issues

[covenofvenus]

A Historical Deep Dive into the Founders of Black Womanism & Modern Feminism

Six African American Suffragettes Mainstream History Tried to Forget

These amazing Black American women each advanced the principles of modern feminism and Black womanism by insisting on an intersectional approach to activism. They understood that the struggles of race and gender were intertwined, and that the liberation of Black women was essential. Their writings, speeches, and actions have continued to inspire movements addressing systemic inequities, while affirming the voices of marginalized women who have shaped society. Through their amazing work, they have expanded the scope of womanism and intersectional feminism to include racial justice, making it more inclusive and transformative.

Anna Julia Cooper (1858–1964)

Quote: “The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class—it is the cause of humankind, the very birthright of humanity.”

Contribution: Anna Julia Cooper was an educator, scholar, and advocate for Black women’s empowerment. Her book A Voice from the South by a Black Woman of the South (1892) is one of the earliest articulations of Black feminist thought. She emphasized the intellectual and cultural contributions of Black women and argued that their liberation was essential to societal progress. Cooper believed education was the key to uplifting African Americans and worked tirelessly to improve opportunities for women and girls, including founding organizations for Black women’s higher education. Her work challenged both racism and sexism, laying the intellectual foundation for modern Black womanism.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1825–1911)

Quote: “We are all bound together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.”

Contribution: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a poet, author, and orator whose work intertwined abolitionism, suffrage, and temperance advocacy. A prominent member of the American Equal Rights Association, she fought for universal suffrage, arguing that Black women’s voices were crucial in shaping a just society. Her 1866 speech at the National Woman’s Rights Convention emphasized the need for solidarity among marginalized groups, highlighting the racial disparities within the feminist movement. Harper’s writings, including her novel Iola Leroy, offered early depictions of Black womanhood and resilience, paving the way for Black feminist literature and thought.

Ida B. Wells (1862–1931)

Quote: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

Contribution: Ida B. Wells was a fearless journalist, educator, and anti-lynching activist who co-founded the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Her investigative reporting exposed the widespread violence and racism faced by African Americans, particularly lynchings. As a suffragette, Wells insisted on addressing the intersection of race and gender in the fight for women’s voting rights. At the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., she famously defied instructions to march in a segregated section and joined the Illinois delegation at the front, demanding recognition for Black women in the feminist movement. Her activism laid the groundwork for modern feminisms inclusion of intersectionality, emphasizing the dual oppressions faced by Black women.

Sojourner Truth (1797–1883)

Quote: “Ain’t I a Woman?”

Contribution: Born into slavery, Sojourner Truth became a powerful voice for abolition, women's rights, and racial justice after gaining her freedom. Her famous 1851 speech, "Ain’t I a Woman?" delivered at a women's rights convention in Akron, Ohio, directly challenged the exclusion of Black women from the feminist narrative. She highlighted the unique struggles of Black women, who faced both racism and sexism, calling out the hypocrisy of a movement that often-centered white women’s experiences. Truth’s legacy lies in her insistence on equality for all, inspiring future generations to confront the intersecting oppressions of race and gender in their advocacy.

Nanny Helen Burroughs (1879–1961)

Quote: “We specialize in the wholly impossible.”

Contribution: Nanny Helen Burroughs was an educator, activist, and founder of the National Training School for Women and Girls in Washington, D.C., which emphasized self-sufficiency and vocational training for African American women. She championed the "Three B's" of her educational philosophy: Bible, bath, and broom, advocating for spiritual, personal, and professional discipline. Burroughs was also a leader in the Women's Convention Auxiliary of the National Baptist Convention, where she pushed for the inclusion of women's voices in church leadership. Her dedication to empowering Black women as agents of social change influenced both the feminist and civil rights movements, promoting a vision of racial and gender equality.

Elizabeth Piper Ensley (1847–1919)

Quote: “The ballot in the hands of a woman means power added to influence.”

Contribution: Elizabeth Piper Ensley was a suffragist and civil rights activist who played a pivotal role in securing women’s suffrage in Colorado in 1893, making it one of the first states to grant women the vote. As a Black woman operating in the predominantly white suffrage movement, Ensley worked to bridge racial and class divides, emphasizing the importance of political power for marginalized groups. She was an active member of the Colorado Non-Partisan Equal Suffrage Association and focused on voter education to ensure that women, especially women of color, could fully participate in the democratic process. Ensley’s legacy highlights the importance of coalition-building in achieving systemic change.

To honor these pioneers, we must continue to amplify Black women's voices, prioritizing intersectionality, and combat systemic inequalities in race, gender, and class.

Modern black womanism and feminist activism can expand upon these little-known founders of woman's rights by continuously working on an addressing the disparities in education, healthcare, and economic opportunities for marginalized communities. Supporting Black Woman-led organizations, fostering inclusive black femme leadership, and embracing allyship will always be vital.

Additionally, when we continuously elevate their contributions in social media or multi-media art through various platforms, and academic curriculum we ensure their legacies continuously inspire future generations. By integrating their principles into feminism and advocating for collective liberation, women and feminine allies can continue their fight for justice, equity, and feminine empowerment, hand forging a society, by blood, sweat, bones and tears where all women can thrive, free from oppression.

[sillyguystrawb]

I'd like to comment on the fact people sometimes think "I'm a man" = "I should be hated".

I love men. POC men. White men. Mixed race men. Chubby men. Thin men. Buff men. Cis men. Trans men. Intersex men. Mentally ill men. Disabled men. Neurodiverse men. Neurotypical men. Able bodied men. Religious men. Spiritual men. Atheist men. Men with any size dick. Men with any shape of vagina. Men with ambiguous or variant genitalia. Men with flat chests. Men with tits. Men with scars and blemishes. Men with smooth skin. Men who wear dresses. Men who wear pants. Men who love men. Men who love women. Men who love enbies. MEN.

Same with women! Same with enbies!

You know what I don't like? People who hate any whole gender for the actions of some people of that gender. No gender defines all people with it.

Not all men are bad. Not all women are good. Not all enbies are quirky. Not all men are good. Not all women are bad. Not all enbies are normal. Dare I say most people aren't predictable based on gender.

I hate lots of men. But I don't hate men for just existing as men. Being a man isn't the problem, being an asshole is.

[oilbirrks]

The anger that rushes through me when someone brings up male loneliness and someone feels the need to comment that its always the mans fault for abusing and disrespecting women, like.... You know you're adding to the problem, right???

[soleminisanction]

I got a bee in my bonnet and spent last night crunching these numbers to confirm a long-held suspicion of mine, and now I'm going to do something with them even if it's only interesting to me. So.

I went through and tallied up all of the fics AO3 currently (as of 3/27/24) has under the tags "Trans Tim Drake," "Nonbinary Tim Drake," "Genderfluid Tim Drake" and "Genderqueer Tim Drake," since I figured that cast a wide enough net without committing myself to reading every fic vaguely tagged Trans Character to figure out which character they were talking about.

I then did the same for Dick, Jason, Damian and Bruce and, after comparing those numbers against each other and against the total number of fics each character has under their general tag, followed up with Duke, Babs, Cass, Steph and Kate, and then Kon, Cassie, and Bart for good measure.

The results confirm the suspicions I was going into check and are really interesting, to me at least:

Despite having far fewer stories overall than Jason, Bruce or Dick, Tim has by far the most stories tagging him under the trans umbrella (653 out of 58,395) and is the only member of the Bats for whom at least one full percent of his stories fall under that category (1.12% to be exact.) He actually has more total trans stories than Jason and Damian combined (308 out of 71,120 and 255 out of 42,607, equaling 0.43% and 0.59%, respectively) and outstretches the 2nd place ranker, Dick, by over a hundred (who clocks in at 438 out of 79,057 -- 0.55%). Bruce amusingly has by far the most stories overall (90,305) but the fewest trans stories (185) for the lowest percentage among the boys (0.2%).

The only one who comes anywhere close to matching Tim percentage-wise is Bart, who has far fewer stories to his name but a ratio of 62 out of 5,717 for 1.08%. I was thinking maybe Young Justice might have a higher percentage than the Bats due to their strong queer fandom but that only really proved true for Bart, with both Cassie and Kon coming in at only 0.2% and 0.28% trans umbrella percentage respectively (actual count 6 out of 2,874 and 39 out of 13,746).

Cassie's numbers correspond with the fact that women just, do not get a lot of these stories, at all, even compared to the general lack of attention they're paid by fanfiction spheres in general. Steph and Kate both clocked in at falling 0.17% under the trans umbrella (29 out of 16,638 for Steph, 5 out of 2,897 for Kate); Cass got 0.13% (21 out of 15,769) and Babs only 0.07%, the lowest percentage out of anyone I calculated for (11 out of 15,785). Duke's showing was a respectable 0.55% (34 out of 6,166) which puts him about even with the rest of the boys.

All of which I just went through to confirm a gut instinct I've had for a while: even in light of the noticeable trend in fandom towards increased visibility for trans and other queer-gendered people over the last decade and a half or so, it's a notable Thing for the DC comics fandom to explore with Tim Drake in specific.

And that doesn't even take into account things like the over 200 "Tim Drake is Catlad | Stray" fics, which almost always have some element of queered gender or at least femme'd sexuality to them, far outstripping any of the other Robin boys' spins in that AU (those counts stand at, respectively: Damian - 11, Dick - 33, Jason - 79, Tim - 242). Or the 11 fics logged under the "Tim Drake is Batgirl" tag, a category that doesn't even exist for any of the other male Robins.

(What makes that last one extra hilarious to me that most people don't know one canonical version of Tim has been a member of the Batgirls.) Part of me wants to use that parenthetic detail as a segway to ramble about the various canon snippets I think probably contributed to this, from Tim being presented as "the pretty one" who most often gets the "looks like his mother" comments to the fact that he is the only male Robin who's ever cross-dressed for an undercover mission and even though it only happened once the Internet will never forget Caroline Hill.

But this post is long enough as it is and I don't really have a point beyond I think this is interesting and cool so I'm going to leave off here for now and put my numbers under a cut so people have the raw data to look at if they'd like to.

TL;DR - Based on the numbers, the internet believes Tim Drake is more likely to be trans than any other member of the Bat-family or Young Justice, and I think that has interesting implications about his character and fandom. It's neat.

Data Taken: 3/27/24

Tim Drake: 58,395 Trans Tim Drake: 513 Nonbinary Tim Drake: 46 Genderfluid Tim Drake: 89 Genderqueer Tim Drake: 5

Dick Grayson: 79,057 Trans Dick Grayson: 399 Nonbinary Dick Grayson: 15 Genderfluid Dick Grayson: 23 Genderqueer Dick Grayson: 1

Jason Todd: 71,120 Trans Jason Todd: 286 Nonbinary Jason Todd: 17 Genderqueer/Genderfluid Jason Todd: 5 (4 have both tags and are the only ones tagged Genderqueer Jason Todd)

Damian Wayne: 42,607 Trans Damian Wayne: 215  Nonbinary Damian Wayne: 37 Genderfluid Damian Wayne: 3 Genderqueer Damian Wayne: 0

Bruce Wayne: 90,305 Trans Bruce Wayne: 180 Nonbinary Bruce Wayne: 5 (2 also tagged Trans Bruce Wayne) Genderfluid Bruce Wayne: 1 Genderqueer Bruce Wayne: 1

-

Total Trans Umbrella Tim Drake: 653 Total Trans Umbrella Dick Grayson: 438 Total Trans Umbrella Jason Todd: 308 (313 if you count the GQ tag separately) Total Trans Umbrella Damian Wayne: 255 Total Trans Umbrella Bruce Wayne: 185 (187)

Percentage Trans Umbrella Tim Drake: 1.12% (1.11825) Percentage Trans Umbrella Dick Grayson: 0.55% (0.55403) Percentage Trans Umbrella Jason Todd: 0.43% (0.43307 or 0.44010) Percentage Trans Umbrella Damian Wayne: 0.59% (0.59849) Percentage Trans Umbrella Bruce Wayne: 0.2% (0.20466)

----

Duke Thomas: 6,166 Trans Duke Thomas: 20 Nonbinary Duke Thomas: 14 Genderfluid Duke Thomas: 0 Genderqueer Duke Thomas: 0

Barbara Gordon: 15,785 Trans Barbara Gordon: 11 Nonbinary Barbara Gordon: 0 Genderfluid Barbara Gordon: 0 Genderqueer Barbara Gordon: 0

Cassandra Cain: 15,769 Trans Cassandra Cain: 15 Nonbinary Cassandra Cain: 6 Genderfluid Cassandra Cain: 0 Genderqueer Cassandra Cain: 0

Stephanie Brown: 16,638 Trans Stephanie Brown: 27 Nonbinary Stephanie Brown: 2 Genderfluid Stephanie Brown: 0 Genderqueer Stephanie Brown: 0

Kate Kane (DCU): 2,897 Trans Kate Kane: 4 Nonbinary Kate Kane: 0 Genderfluid Kate Kane: 1 Genderqueer Kate Kane: 0

-

Total Trans Umbrella Duke Thomas: 34 Total Trans Umbrella Barbara Gordon: 11 Total Trans Umbrella Cassandra Cain: 21 Total Trans Umbrella Stephanie Brown: 29 Total Trans Umbrella Kate Kane: 5

Percentage Trans Umbrella Duke Thomas: 0.55% (0.55141) Percentage Trans Umbrella Barbara Gordon: 0.07% (0.06968) Percentage Trans Umbrella Cassandra Cain: 0.13% (0.13317) Percentage Trans Umbrella Stephanie Brown: 0.17% (0.17429) Percentage Trans Umbrella Kate Kane: 0.17% (0.17259)

----

Kon-El | Conner Kent: 13,746 Trans Kon-El | Conner Kent: 19 Nonbinary Kon-El | Conner Kent: 19 Genderfluid Kon-El | Conner Kent: 1 Genderqueer Kon-El | Conner Kent: 0

Bart Allen: 5,717 Trans Bart Allen: 40 Nonbinary Bart Allen: 20 Genderfluid Bart Allen: 1 Genderqueer Bart Allen: 1

Cassie Sandsmark: 2,874 Trans Cassie Sandsmark: 4 Nonbinary Cassie Sandsmark: 2 Genderfluid Cassie Sandsmark: 0 Genderqueer Cassie Sandsmark: 0

-

Total Trans Umbrella Kon-El: 39 Total Trans Umbrella Bart Allen: 62 Total Trans Umbrella Cassie Sandsmark: 6

Percentage Trans Umbrella Kon-El: 0.28% (0.28371)  Percentage Trans Umbrella Bart Allen: 1.08% (1.08448) Percentage Trans Umbrella Cassie Sandsmark: 0.2% (0.20876)

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Fae Johnstone, a prominent trans activist from Ottawa, is calling on the federal government to update its travel guidance for LGBTQ+ people traveling to the United States following an executive order from the new president. The order prevents trans people from using washrooms and facilities that match their gender identity, withholds taxpayer funds from being used for gender-affirming healthcare, and requires government-issued identification to reflect the sex the person was assigned at birth, including passports. In the U.S., like in Canada, gender-non-conforming people had the option to put an “X” for their gender on a passport. While it seems passports already issued with an “X” in the United States are still valid, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly ordered a pause on passport applications with an “X.” It’s unclear where the United States stands on Canadians with an “X” entering the country.

Continue reading

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[maxdibert]

Its not a slur, it is a Nickname. And how can it be mysoginistic if he is not a woman? Misoginy is hatred towards women

Hope it Was popular in the entire school and drawn on lockers

I gave a pretty thorough explanation in the link I sent you. You could do yourself a favor and read it, because honestly, it’s a bit exhausting to hear you say nonsense when you haven’t even bothered to learn a little about the topic. You’re literally more interested in remaining a complete ignoramus.

And well i'm gonna teach you something because you're a ignorant fool and i hate ignorant fools and i don't have to educate you but well, it's my free day so why not doing something good for the society by teaching you a little bit?

Misogyny fundamentally devalues anything associated with femininity. While it directly targets women, it also polices men by punishing them if they show traits considered “feminine.” When society mocks or belittles a man for crying, expressing vulnerability, or engaging in activities stereotypically labeled as feminine, it’s enforcing a narrow view of masculinity. This isn’t just about hating women; it’s about keeping everyone locked into rigid, outdated gender roles.

Patriarchy is a system built on power imbalances that elevate traditional, aggressive forms of masculinity while demeaning anything that deviates from it. This framework:

Limits emotional expression: Men are pressured to be stoic and dominant, which stifles their emotional lives and mental health.

Creates harmful stereotypes: Both men and women suffer because these stereotypes restrict personal growth. Women face devaluation and marginalization, while men are forced to conform to a narrow, often toxic, definition of what it means to be “manly.”

Reinforces power dynamics: The system benefits those who already hold power (typically white, cisgender men) and perpetuates cycles of abuse and exclusion that affect everyone—even those who seem to benefit on the surface.

Because these expectations are so tightly woven into our social fabric, they create an environment where:

Women are oppressed: They are denied opportunities, respect, and the freedom to express themselves beyond limiting stereotypes.

Men are trapped: They must hide their true selves, often leading to emotional distress, and are at risk of both internalizing harmful behaviors and perpetuating them onto others.

In essence, the patriarchal and misogynistic vision isn’t just a “women’s issue”—it’s a societal disease that rots the potential of every human being by enforcing strict roles and punishing deviations. If you can’t see that the same system that devalues femininity also crushes men’s ability to be fully human, then you’re missing the point entirely.

Next time you try to lecture me on feminism, gender issues, or power dynamics, make sure you’ve at least read a basic guide for kids under 12. Because without the most fundamental knowledge, not only can I not take you seriously, but I also feel a deep, almost moral obligation to publicly expose your astounding and frankly embarrassing ignorance for all of the internet to see.

I mean, imagine being this idiotic, this illiterate, this utterly clueless in theoretical discussions—to the point where you actually have the audacity to claim that misogyny and patriarchy only affect women. My god, who even are you? JK Rowling?

[theteablogger]

I was recently rewatching the Strange Aeons coverage of Andy's behavior and I was wondering: Has there been any acknowledgement from Jeanine/Turimel that it was kinda fucked up to keep misgendering Andy? Yes, he's definitely the worse person here, but it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth that she's refusing to acknowledge his actual gender, like if someone had called a black or gay person a slur because they did something terrible.

As far as I know, Turimel has never acknowledged that it's fucked up and wrong to misgender Andy, and she's never let go of the idea that using he/him pronouns and his current legal name is a means of obscuring his "true identity". The most she ever did was to say (in a comment on Abbey's Wordpress blog) that she would avoid using any pronouns at all in the comments "in order to avoid Genderwank". She continued to put scare quotes around his name, though, and to do whatever she wanted on her own blog.

[the-bar-sinister]

I wish that unlearning misogyny had increased my attraction towards women as a woman. Instead, it increased my attraction towards women as a man, which is deeply inconvenient in fandom and society in general.

[its-the-allure]

Another podfic from me today! This time by @wisteria-lodge

On Wizarding Weddings in Harry Potter

Summary: Blogger wisteria-lodge publishes meta-analysis essays on the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. In this piece, they explain the rules they follow whenever expanding on/filling in the Harry Potter world building, and speculate on what a Wizarding wedding might look like for Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy.

[typhlonectes]

[toocutetaboo]

Omfg I fucking died anyway here's some gender swap eyeless jack I did for a friend. It's less bad then what I've posted

[faelapis]

(gender)-only spaces are not a helpful idea. they are a way to avoid the problems of patriarchy rather than solve them. this is true not only because terfs are shitty non-feminists who don't actually care about women's liberation, but because "separate spheres" type-societies have never actually solved the problems of women's power imbalances, or indeed, the power imbalance of any gender minority. they have often reinforced them.

felix, what brings you to talk about this random topic today?

because i'm transgender and tired. for instance, i'm tired of fellow trans people's half-measures of trying to include us in the "right" sports categories rather than dismantling the idea of gendered sports altogether. i'm even more tired of terfs and other dumdumbs endless crying over the mere concept of sharing such spaces.

if you accept trans people, you should understand that the idea of "vast differences" between men and women is a Lie. there is no reason sports can't be organized along more objective measures, like strength/weight classes, rather than outdated gender models.

if you don't accept trans people, EVEN THEN, you should be critical of this notion that the only way to "save women" is to safeguard them like jewelry in glass cases. it has been tried in many different societies. somehow, it never leads to full liberation for women. unless you think ancient models wherein women were not to interact with strange men was Peak Feminism.

by the way, exclusionary spaces has never saved LGBT+ people, either. at most, its a supposedly "safe space" to vent. but even then, its usually not safe for trans people who either aren't out or don't perfectly conform to gender roles. it has only ever been "safe" for a certain "type" of cis LG person (if you're bi, you're definitely seen as suspect).

anyway, the real way of dealing with misogyny is to dismantle patriarchy and work towards equal socioeconomic power. the real way of dealing with transphobia is to give trans people equal rights and dismantle cisnormativity. both work towards the larger goal of dismantling gendered expectations and discrimination. good talk.

[autismophrenic-anarchist]

i can't really tell whether I'm actually a trans man or just a really ugly weird girl anymore. maybe I'm both. can you be both. is that a thing

[wortsandall]

the ease in which transformers can just upgrade their frame and appearance and the level of just how much Gender does not matter makes me jealous in a way that i cannot describe properly. like longing for a place that has never existed and will never exist, parallel to nostalgia for a different time

[bloodbruise]

your guess is as good as mine at this point

[nellroshe]

TRON: Alterned

UPDATED: Chapter 10: Cipher (Not everything is what it seems)

Summary: The reunion is far from simple.