Discussion Bring Feminist Politics to ICE Protests
Discussion Bring Feminist Politics to ICE Protests
Yesterday, 4:58 AM
Quote:The War on Daycares: No Mother is Safe Under Patriarchy
As most of you know, the Trump administration has used the "scandal" of a Somali-run daycare inflating their numbers to freeze federal funding for all US daycares indefinitely. Because most daycares are running on fumes to begin with, this is likely to lead to shutdowns nationwide. And because most women make less then men in two parent households, those women will likely be the ones taking the hit to their careers and staying home, potentially permanently.
When I read this, I wasn't thinking of the long gone conservative women who supported trad wife nonsense. I wasn't thinking of the women resigned to stay in shitty relationships because it was "better than being single."
I was thinking of the women who lucked out and got good feminist/egalitarian partners. Or the women who were single mothers by choice. Women who worked hard and studied harder, and organized their entire lives around the ability to maintain their career AND have children. I was thinking about the women who did everything "right," had the stars in their favor, and were still getting screwed.
This attack on daycares is proof that there is no safety in motherhood under a patriarchy.
You cannot "choose better" your way out of suffering as a mother in patriarchy. It puts you in an inherently vulnerable position where your child, assuming you care about them, becomes leverage to force you back in line.
What kept June in Gilead for so long during the Handmaid's Tale? They had her daughter. And as long as they had her, she would stay there, or keep going back, even though she was fighting the whole time. She did not have the freedom to leave even when she had the ability to. The system has to be brought down.
Or consider this one by Financial Sweet_689 the day after the shooting:
Quote:After what happened yesterday in the USA I don’t think men realize how screwed they’re gonna be when our rights are gone
I read today that ICE has been targeting daycare centers around the country, and that’s why they were in Minneapolis yesterday. We all know women run daycare and childcare centers. They’re targeting buildings filled with women and children. Women are the ones getting dragged out of town hall meetings, getting shot for trying to warn their neighbors about ICE. Men won’t protect each other. And I haven’t seen one man address the fact that they pulled the trigger so easily on a woman. This is male violence to women. I’m so tired of people not addressing the obvious, that women are the ones taking stands for all men and they’re going to be severely screwed over when we can no longer scream and shout. It’s just so eerie to be reminded once again that men, liberal men especially, just don’t get it. And karma is going to have them on its worst side for never taking a stand for women.
Just want to thank you all for these comments. I can really count on this sub for good insight and genuine conversation when things feel upside down.
This is the point. The reason there was such an ICE presence in Minneapolis was owed directly to the administration's recently-declared war on day care. Women not only staff these facilities, they also are the primary beneficiaries of day care programs. We know who raises the kids. There are two sexes to our species, but only one that prioritizes their kids over themselves. Because of this, a war on children and empathy is functionally a war on women. It's so symbolically apt that the consequent death was that of a woman. A woman who, incidentally, did "everything rigtht". Everything a woman is supposed to do to quell male rage she did. She stayed calm. She de-escalated. She was polite. She managed the men's emotions. Or tried to. Didn't matter. She was killed by male rage for attempting not the fight response to armed, masked men with unmarked vehicles trying to force her out of hers (as the DHS drag queen Kristi Noem has claimed), but for attempting the flight response instead. She was killed by testorone; by uncontrollable male rage that she would, under any circumstances, disobey a male command. This needs to be highlighted at these protests. This context matters. Knowing what the problem is is key to getting at the right solution. This should not simply be framed as "immigration, yes or no?" like these events so often are. Bring the gender politics of this moment to the table when you're out there the way these Handmaids are!
Men use motherhood as a weapon by which to subordinate you to them and there is nothing you can do to reason with them over it. That is the key point to be raised by radical women.
Edited Yesterday, 1:28 PM by Impress Polly.
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Saw this on Instagram yesterday and grew more hopeful. It's common to see handmaid-style dress at protests, but especially poignant in response to the murder of Renee Nicole Good. This isn't about immigration, frankly, so much as it it's the White House using immigration as a means to try and force women out of the workforce. As much is getting sharp commentary over on the 4B subreddit atm. For example, consider this post by cozycatcafe (I place I would like to stay):
Quote:The War on Daycares: No Mother is Safe Under Patriarchy
As most of you know, the Trump administration has used the "scandal" of a Somali-run daycare inflating their numbers to freeze federal funding for all US daycares indefinitely. Because most daycares are running on fumes to begin with, this is likely to lead to shutdowns nationwide. And because most women make less then men in two parent households, those women will likely be the ones taking the hit to their careers and staying home, potentially permanently.
When I read this, I wasn't thinking of the long gone conservative women who supported trad wife nonsense. I wasn't thinking of the women resigned to stay in shitty relationships because it was "better than being single."
I was thinking of the women who lucked out and got good feminist/egalitarian partners. Or the women who were single mothers by choice. Women who worked hard and studied harder, and organized their entire lives around the ability to maintain their career AND have children. I was thinking about the women who did everything "right," had the stars in their favor, and were still getting screwed.
This attack on daycares is proof that there is no safety in motherhood under a patriarchy.
You cannot "choose better" your way out of suffering as a mother in patriarchy. It puts you in an inherently vulnerable position where your child, assuming you care about them, becomes leverage to force you back in line.
What kept June in Gilead for so long during the Handmaid's Tale? They had her daughter. And as long as they had her, she would stay there, or keep going back, even though she was fighting the whole time. She did not have the freedom to leave even when she had the ability to. The system has to be brought down.
Or consider this one by Financial Sweet_689 the day after the shooting:
Quote:After what happened yesterday in the USA I don’t think men realize how screwed they’re gonna be when our rights are gone
I read today that ICE has been targeting daycare centers around the country, and that’s why they were in Minneapolis yesterday. We all know women run daycare and childcare centers. They’re targeting buildings filled with women and children. Women are the ones getting dragged out of town hall meetings, getting shot for trying to warn their neighbors about ICE. Men won’t protect each other. And I haven’t seen one man address the fact that they pulled the trigger so easily on a woman. This is male violence to women. I’m so tired of people not addressing the obvious, that women are the ones taking stands for all men and they’re going to be severely screwed over when we can no longer scream and shout. It’s just so eerie to be reminded once again that men, liberal men especially, just don’t get it. And karma is going to have them on its worst side for never taking a stand for women.
Just want to thank you all for these comments. I can really count on this sub for good insight and genuine conversation when things feel upside down.
This is the point. The reason there was such an ICE presence in Minneapolis was owed directly to the administration's recently-declared war on day care. Women not only staff these facilities, they also are the primary beneficiaries of day care programs. We know who raises the kids. There are two sexes to our species, but only one that prioritizes their kids over themselves. Because of this, a war on children and empathy is functionally a war on women. It's so symbolically apt that the consequent death was that of a woman. A woman who, incidentally, did "everything rigtht". Everything a woman is supposed to do to quell male rage she did. She stayed calm. She de-escalated. She was polite. She managed the men's emotions. Or tried to. Didn't matter. She was killed by male rage for attempting not the fight response to armed, masked men with unmarked vehicles trying to force her out of hers (as the DHS drag queen Kristi Noem has claimed), but for attempting the flight response instead. She was killed by testorone; by uncontrollable male rage that she would, under any circumstances, disobey a male command. This needs to be highlighted at these protests. This context matters. Knowing what the problem is is key to getting at the right solution. This should not simply be framed as "immigration, yes or no?" like these events so often are. Bring the gender politics of this moment to the table when you're out there the way these Handmaids are!
Men use motherhood as a weapon by which to subordinate you to them and there is nothing you can do to reason with them over it. That is the key point to be raised by radical women.