The real issues

UK Women’s March has a statement about itself.

*Our Statement*

With Donald Trump set to return as US president in January 2025 and Nigel Farage picking up the anti-abortion mantle here in the UK, it’s time to make our voices heard.

We are marching because violence against women and girls in the UK has increased by 37% since 2018 and has now been declared a national emergency.

We are marching because abortion in England and Wales, if not carried out according to the strict requirements of the Abortion Act 1967, is technically still a criminal offence carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

We are marching because reproductive rights are being removed state by state in the US making it increasingly more difficult to access safe abortions, and where vital healthcare is needed to save a woman’s life.

Big yes to transatlantic solidarity.

But then

We are marching because discrimination and violence against trans women and girls has increased around the world. Anti-trans rhetoric prevents women from addressing the real issues they encounter by reinforcing the gender stereotypes that have oppressed women for centuries.

No. It’s not a “gender stereotype” that men are not women. It’s not “anti-trans rhetoric” to point out that men are not women. Men helping themselves to everything that belongs to us, including even feminism, is what prevents women from addressing the real issues we encounter.

We are marching because women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule have been effectively silenced by being banned from speaking in public. They are no longer allowed to access education or work and are prevented from freedom of expression.

Indeed, and you know what? Those women are the real thing. The Taliban doesn’t bully and stifle and kill men who call themselves women, the Taliban bullies and stifles and kills women, real women, the kind that can get pregnant.

*Our feminism is intersectional*

Inclusivity is at the core of UK Women’s March. We acknowledge how race, gender, class, sexuality, and disability intersect. Women are exposed to racism, ageism, ableism, homophobia, and transphobia, not just sexism and misogyny. This means we must acknowledge how these differences interlock for feminism to work. 

Wrong. If you include men in feminism then it doesn’t work.

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