A Bunch of Men Were Asked to Leave A Movie.

UPDATE: There appears to have been some quite serious inaccurate representations in the Comment is Free article written by Marta Owczarek. I wrote this post based on the information in the article, as such, there are some inaccurate statements within my post concerning what actually happened after the premier of Myriam Fougere's Lesbiana - A Parallel Revolution. I was going to take down the entire blog post but I've decided to leave it up because it provoked some interesting discussion about the inclusion of men in women-only spaces. As such, this should be treated as a theoretical piece and not a representation or summation of what occurred at the London Feminist Film Festival.

UPDATE TWO: What Julia Long Actually Said:“I just wonder if there are any men that would like to show their solidarity and leave at this point, out of respect for autonomous women’s space. It’s a polite invitation, but I just thought you might like to consider it, as political allies. Thank you.” 
[Cheers and applause.] 

Julia Long's response in the Guardian Cif.

I offer my sincere apologies to Julia Long for misrepresenting what happened in the blog post below. I am sorry.

The London Feminist Film Festival took place last weekend at the Hackney Picture House. By all accounts, it was incredibly successful event with the premier of Myriam Fougere's Lesbiana - A Parallel Revolution selling out. Considering the amount of press the death of feminism has garnered recently, the success of the London Feminist Film Festival is something to celebrate. Not that feminism is actually dying; 10 minutes on google would be evidence enough of the strength and sisterhood within the feminist movement, but it is an accusation frequently thrown at feminists.

After the premier of Myriam Fougere's Lesbiana - A Parallel Revolution, panel member and feminist activist Julia Long asked all the men in the audience to leave so that women could discuss the movie, a film about the lesbian separatist movement, without men. Now, I wasn't there but I can imagine the uproar this caused. Excluding men from feminist events always causes an uproar. But, no one ever seems to ask why feminists are excluding men from *some* feminist events. No one asks why feminists are moving back to women-only organising or why feminists are increasingly identifying as political lesbians or lesbian separatists. Why are women-only spaces, once again, becoming so important? No one asks why there is such a backlash to the thought of women-only organising. When people do ask, they don't appear to be hearing the answer.

Marta Owczarek, in her Comment is Free article, claims that Julia Long derailed feminist debate about the film by asking men to leave. I would argue the exact opposite. Julia Long used a public platform to make a specific political point. She raised the issue of women-only spaces for organising and debating feminism at the premier of a film which is specifically about lesbian women choosing to live amongst only women. I can't think of a more appropriate place to push the debate back into the public sphere and, make no mistake, this debate has always been a part of feminism. It has never gone away. It has only reemerged in the press due to the backlash to the RadFem 2012 conference in London in June. It has never stopped being a contentious issue amongst feminists. It has never stopped being something for feminists are routinely ridiculed and belittled. 

I support women-only spaces. I think they remain fundamental to the success of feminism as a political movement dedicated to the liberation of women. Whilst the inclusion of men within the movement is necessary, they do not need to be involved at every meeting and conference. There are thousands of ways that men can be, and are, involved with feminist activism that doesn't require them encroaching on women-only spaces. They can help financially support women's organisations like Rape Crisis, Shakti Women's Aid, Women's Aid, Nia, or Southall Black Sisters. Men can join activist groups like Object, UK Feminista, Fawcett Society, and Abortion Rights. Men can fundraise by holding car washes and bake sales. They can join the White Ribbon Campaign and help to raise awareness about male violence against women and children.

The most important thing men can do to help the feminist movement is to challenge sexism every time they witness it. They have to challenge every rape joke. They have to challenge every man who minimises domestic violence. They have to step up every time; not just once in a while but every time they witness sexism. Sometimes this means they have to challenge themselves and recognise that their own behaviour is sexist. Sometimes it means accepting that they won't be allowed into every feminist space. As a white, heterosexual feminist it would be hypocritical of me to demand to be allowed into feminist spaces for Black, Ethnic and Minority Women. It would be equally hypocritical for me to demand entry into a feminist space for lesbians-only; just as it would be hypocritical for me to demand entry into a room of male survivors of sexual violence or testicular cancer. Campaigning for women's liberation to bring about the destruction of the capitalist-patriarchy and the creation of true equality does not mean every person deserves equal access. It means hearing the specific needs of specific groups and taking those into account. Like kindergarten, it's about learning fairness.

We need men in the feminist movement. We need men like the teenage boy I met at a UK Feminista conference in London two years ago who entered into a group on women's poverty and listened; a young man who asked thoughtful questions and then heard the answers. He participated as an equal instead of dominating the discussion. Male domination of public speech has been well proven in research for thirty years now. Dale Spender wrote about it in The Writing of the Sex? in 1989. Margaret Atwood wrote about men dominating classrooms in early 1980s. There have been countless studies in education and within the workplace that demonstrate the silencing of women's voices within the presence of men. The largest global study on violence against women found that it  was the feminist movement which had the biggest impact on tackling the issue; much of this was accomplished with women-only spaces. 

Would have I done what Julia Long did? No, but not because I disagree with her, rather because I would have been too afraid to speak up; too afraid of the inevitable backlash. And, that's the main reason why I believe women-only spaces are integral to the feminist movement. The silencing of women's voices never stops. Sometimes the only way to stop the silencing is to uninvite men and that's the lesson men need to take from this. If they insist on attending, whose voices are they really  silencing?