Why Is Lgbt And Feminism Allies

Why are we oriented to use terms like feminism or 'LGBT-ally'? How come we aren't fighting for the birth of terms like equalitism?

Equalitism, or equalism, or egalitarianism is not new. In fact it was the stated goal of one of the world’s great revolutionary movements in France in 1789 and 1790s.Great gains for equality would be made, though at the cost of a lot of the fourth, forgotten bullet item. To the death. But the general outline of this agenda has remained valid. Since Lech Wałęsa’s 1980 anti-authoritarian movement in Poland added a new word to the liberation agenda, we sometimes see . . .But 250 years after the American and then the French Revolution, we still have particular groups of people who are not free. It turns out that unless your slogan explicitly names the people you want to liberate from oppression, the world won’t think of them when it’s time to actually hire someone, or write a mortgage, or prosecute a hate crime.On the other hand, the forces of oppression know exactly who they are oppressing, and are eager to identify them.That’s why liberation requires identification.It is critically important to name the people for whom you are fighting . . .Our friends on the right say they oppose what they call “identity politics.” But the truth is that unless you have the courage to say the name of the oppressed people you are supporting, your “equalitism” isn’t worth much. It’s easy to support equality for people you think are similar to you. Much more difficult to genuinely support equality for all. We are still living in a time when oppression needs to be called out and identified. Identity is still very often a matter of life and death.

Has any work or research paper been done on "feminists as LGBT allies"? Is there a book or text on "relationships between feminism and the LGBT community" or "feminists as LGBT allies"? I have to write a research paper on it.

I'm not going to cite any specific research papers, you'll need to find your own, but this has definitely been written about within the realm of Gender Studies.A good start would be to look into Intersectionality. This is a form of feminism that recognises that multiple systems of oppression occur within a society and can have a layered effect in oppressing people and creating various Othered identities. This most commonly refers to race and trans marginalisation within feminist communities.For prominent Interesectional feminists, look into Sojourner Truth, and her famous speech ‘Aint I a Woman?’See also ‘The Laugh of the Medusa’ by Helene Cixous who advocates for a new style of feminist writing, but also for recognition of universal bisexuality, or the notion that everybody's sexuality exists on a scale.You can also look into Marsha P Johnson & Sylvia Rivera, two POC trans women who were prominent figures at Stonewall.To understand the notion of ‘the Other’ read the work of Edward Said, his 1978 book Orientalism is a good place to start.And finally, for the opposite of Intersectionality look into TERFs, Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists, & Essentialism. The first are a group of feminists (who probably self-identify with another name, as TERF is a derogatory perjorative) who don't recognise trans women as real women.The second group, Essentialist Feminists, believe there are innate differences between men and women, a belief which sometimes leads to them using this idea to justify homophobic or transphobic viewpoints.Not all Essentialists are prejudiced against LGBT+ communities, but IMO you do fall into an awkward position when you try to define fundamental differences between the genders as it just becomes another way to use the ideals of feminity and masculinity to oppress and degrade people who don't fit those ideals.You can find research papers on Academia.edu, or other libraries like JSTOR if you have access to it. Your school or institution may have other systems you can use.These are all basic starting off points, with some low level research you can find present some opposing views, discuss them and then draw your own conclusion.

How can white feminists be better allies to the LGBT and women of color? I'm aware of my cisgender white privilege, but other than just being self-aware how can I help?

As a white, cisgender feminist too, I've struggled with the same thought. How can I be a productive, proactive feminist and ally without letting my white guilt or fragility get in the way, and also not buy into the white savior complex?I found a group called Showing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) that has local Facebook groups all over the US (not sure where you're writing from), that I would suggest looking up. They recently had a webinar called Centering Insectional Feminism for the Win.In short, my answer is to dive into intersectionality. Understanding that true feminism cannot function without it. The webinar above was specifically designed to educate those of all genders who experience white privilege (although anyone/everyone were welcomed to attend and participate). If you're not able to access the recording for this specific webinar, I'd suggest searching for something similar.I hope this helps. I'm still figuring it out myself but I'm happy to try to answer any other questions or provide suggestions, and I'm open to receiving any feedback, as well.Take care

What do LGBT Allies think of the LGBT Community?

All the LGBT allies know that many people they work with, deal with or employ are from the LGBT community such that their work performance and contribution have nothing to do with their sexual orientation. With people who came out of the closet and being in many professional industry of all sort and not just arts, people with open mind have learned that the LGBT community are of no difference to others in many way other than they love the person of the same sex for their choice of a life partner. The well being of all the workers are what LGBT corporate allies have in mind to be supporting their LGBT employees against discrimination.That’s why we have lots of big corporate showing their support in many ways, like the Amicus Brief Record Number Of Amicus Briefs Filed In Same-Sex-Marriage Cases ;Here Are 17 Major Companies Protesting States' New Anti-Gay LawsSponsoring gay pride events : Sponsorship of gay pride parades on the rise

Why do feminists and the LGBT community clash so often? Are they not both trying to achieve equality?

They don’t, really. The one problem I’m aware of is that there is a small but very noisy subculture of trans women who try to police online discussions of the female experience. They object to discussions of menstruation, childbirth, or the experience of being a little girl, because they say it excludes them.They are obviously out to lunch. This naturally makes the ordinary women in these forums angry. What business does a trans woman have telling a non-trans woman what womanhood is about? A person who is born without hands and gets prosthetic ones doesn’t get to tell people who have always had hands that they’re not allowed to talk about them.As I said, this is a small group. Most of the trans women of my acquaintance have no problem with other women. And the phenomenon doesn’t seem to occur with trans men. I’ve never heard of any trans men telling other men that they’re not allowed to talk about prostate cancer because it excludes them.