Support Liberal Women Over Gender Critical Men

Support Liberal Women Over Gender Critical Men

Far too often, we see women being deceived by gender critical men on social media. There are many right-wing men who espouse terrible anti-women rhetoric, who manage to convince women that they are on their side simply because they will ban transgender people in sports. We should not be deceived; these right-wing men do not care about women. Their record on women’s rights, reproductive freedom, and even basic workplace equality makes this clear.

While radical feminists are gender critical for the safety of women, right-wing men are only against transgender individuals because of hatred. Their hatred for transgender people is irrational, born out of the same well of fear and loathing that fuels their hatred of women and non-white races. In the end, they want a society like The Handmaid’s Tale, where women are complete slaves to men. Restricting transgender people is just a stepping stone to them restricting women’s rights and the rights of non-whites.

That is why gender critical policy is only going to work long-term if it comes from women who are aligned with reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. It must be built on a foundation of women defending their own spaces and rights, not on men cynically using gender as a wedge issue to advance authoritarian politics. Gender critical policies should come from women with a secular understanding, who reject patriarchal religion dictating morality. We cannot rely on men who need to be told by the Bible what is right and wrong, because their framework is always about controlling women.

In fact, gender critical policy will be strongest if it comes from liberal women. These women already fight every day for reproductive justice, racial equality, workers’ rights, healthcare access, and environmental protection. They already have the correct framework: liberation, autonomy, compassion. Yes, they are often wrong about gender issues today, but that stems not from malice, but from compassion, from the desire to support others. It makes far more sense to bring Democratic women on board with gender critical thought than to pin hopes on right-wing men ever adopting feminist stances. They won’t. Their opposition to trans-rights is not rooted in feminism at all; it’s rooted in the same patriarchal logic that has always sought to strip women of agency.

So what types of women should we support and elevate? Women like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Kamala Harris, and Jasmine Crockett. Women who have long fought for reproductive freedom and women’s health funding. These women understand the stakes when it comes to bodily autonomy. In the long-term, the Democratic Party will naturally become more gender critical as radical feminist viewpoints enter the mainstream. This shift will not happen overnight, but it is already beginning, especially as more women learn about the 4B Movement and why men must be kept out of women’s spaces.

And please, don’t give up on women just because they aren’t gender critical yet. There are many important fronts in feminism. A woman who supports abortion rights but gets the gender issue wrong is still doing vital work. She is still protecting women’s bodily freedom in the here and now. We should not hold women to a standard of absolute perfection that men never face. Liberal women, even with their blind spots on gender, are still fighting for women in almost every arena that matters. Turning our backs on them, while entertaining the idea that right-wing men are allies, is a devastating mistake.

I am friends with many liberal women, and I will always take them over any gender critical man. These women have marched, risked arrest, and faced harassment to protect abortion rights. They have pushed themselves in their careers to remain independent, refusing to let men dictate their survival. They care about the environment, and they grasp the necessity of racial and income equality. If they support transgender individuals, it comes from compassion; a compassion that has always been a defining strength of women. In time, we can teach them that only women can be women, and that protecting women’s spaces is essential to feminism. But even before that day comes, I will still stand shoulder to shoulder with them, because they are my sisters in the broader fight for women’s liberation.

The path forward is not through men who hate women, but through women who love freedom. The struggle will be long, but every woman who joins strengthens the movement. Our future depends not on compromise with patriarchal hatred, but on solidarity among women themselves. ♀