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In news that sounds like it should have been reported on The Onion, a comedian’s show has been cancelled because she was "The wrong sort of feminist".
Kate Smurthwaite was booked to do a stand-up show at Goldsmith College, until students who belonged to the Goldsmith Feminist Society threatened to form a picket line if Kate’s gig was allowed.
Their reason? While Kate is a feminist, these students disagreed with her position on decriminalising sex work.
Kate’s show would have nothing to do with her position on the decriminalising of sex work at all, and was, in fact, about free speech.
Due to the security risks this would mean, the gig was cancelled.
No one person is perfect. Everyone has their faults. As for movements like feminism, well they’re made up of people. Which means it’s not perfect. Feminism, like any movement, has faults. This is common sense.
The thing is, when a thousand people are ready to pounce on you the moment you admit to a weakness or a fault, and they use it against you whenever you stand for something, it can be hard to admit to any faults at all.
This is also because you do not want to give them any ammo.
I’ve noticed that when you get a person who’s bullied, harassed and attacked a lot, for example a famous person, that person either crumbles into an emotional ruin, or tends to become strong, hard, and a tiny bit blind to their own faults.
When a thousand people are screaming at you all at once, you kinda have to either listen to all of them (crumble and ruin) or block them all out.
As someone who’s tried, it’s really hard, nearly impossible, to sift through hatred and find the nuggets of truth while still keeping your head and not falling apart.
And so I understand why feminism sometimes does this. People hate feminists. I don’t mean like they hate selfies or hipsters or power outs.
People dedicate actual large amounts of time and effort to hating, attacking, harassing, and trying to discredit feminists.
So, for example, when a feminist constantly feels unjustified tone policing, no matter how nice she’s trying to be, no matter how soft spoken, no matter how justified her anger, I can understand if she’s a little sensitive to any mention of tone at all, even when it’s fair, viewing it as just another attempt to silence and attack her.
But if we, as feminists, don’t acknowledge and admit to our faults, and talk about them, and work through them; those faults are only going to get bigger.
I’m not saying this is an open invitation for all those foaming-at-the-mouth misogynists to pounce. This self-reflection needs to come from within.
We, as feminists, need to start acknowledging our faults and being able to discuss them and fix them, before they become really great ammo to be used against us.
So here I am, calling out feminism for a fault that I’ve spotted: The tendency to expect everyone in the world to subscribe 100% to certain beliefs, or to go to hell.
Only this attitude is what could have led to feminists actually stopping a comedy gig from happening, not because the comedian is a known misogynist, not because the comedian was expected to use her gig to punch down and attack, or even to preach her views on the decriminalisation of sex work, but because she held an opinion that they didn’t like.
This is a witch hunt, and it’s ridiculous. Feminists get enough angry mobs trying to burn them. They don’t need it from other feminists to do it as well.
As someone who used to insist I was "no feminist", I became one when someone challenged me to look at the actual definition of the word.
I’m sure everyone’s seen the "are you a feminist quiz" where you’re asked "do you support equal rights for men and women", and if you say "yes", you’re told "you are a feminist".
Since I’ve discovered that there are those ready to declare you’re not a feminist if you like the wrong comedian, or movie, or support the wrong political party, or believe in the wrong economic system.
It’s almost like there was a bait and switch along the line.
I have found many feminist communities have become too alienating, too judgemental, and too harsh. Too childishly ready to attack anyone who doesn’t toe the line exactly.
Kate has since found herself further demonized, attacked, and accused of lying. She’s spoken out about her experience here.
I’m a little horrified at how much of the complaints against Kate I recognize. I know feminists who think this way, who are this unforgiving and quick to demonize.
Yes, we’re attacked a lot. Yes, we’re made out to be PC obsessed harpies every time we object to even the most blatant and obvious misogyny. But this doesn’t justify becoming what we’re called.
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