No, no, a thousand times no. In the anti Vietnam war movement, there were those who argued that struggles for civil rights, women’s rights and democratic rights more broadly were a distraction. Some argued that only efforts and actions directly opposing the war were worth while. That way of thinking was wrong then and it’s wrong now. Yes, fighting imperial propaganda and organizing against US imperial wars are of paramount importance. But…
Awareness, consciousness and willingness to fight are heightened in different people in different ways. Awareness for many is raised first by diving into the struggles that most touch them personally. More often than not, joining one fight on the side of the working class leads to willingness - even eagerness - to join other, bigger fights.
And a key point is this: gender ideology is manifestly a reactionary attack on women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, children’s health, rational thought, free speech and civil liberties - all issues of critical importance to the working class. Fighting to defend and extend these rights feeds directly into building working class solidarity and into the ability to mobilize against imperial war-making.
Women are told to accept men in their private spaces, rape shelters, prisons, sports teams and affirmative action programs if said men believe (or pretend to believe) they are women. Gays and lesbians are accused of bigotry if they prefer same sex partners rather than same “gender” partners (i.e., choosing partners based on their objective biology (sex) rather than their subjective self-perception (gender).) Children who reject sexist stereotypes are told they must be “trans” and are steered toward a lifetime of dependence on big pharma. Those speaking about these truths are censored and deplatformed. Every element of this benefits the powers that be while dividing and disorienting the working class.
Convincing people that men are actually women (and vice versa) is a handy step toward the kind of logical disorientation and abandonment of critical thinking necessary to getting people to accept that war is peace, free speech is harmful, “what’s good for General Motors is good for the country”, and many other dangerous, irrational precepts of capitalist ideology.
So why do some whose overall outlook is conservative oppose gender ideology? For the less powerful, this is nothing more than the normal contradictions one finds in individuals: conservative on some issues and progressive on others. Many of the more powerful only oppose gender ideology opportunistically, because the left has vacated the entire lane to them. If the left spoke up with a principled, unified voice, the right would not be able to use anti-wokeness as a trojan horse for their other issues and the oppression that gender ideology enables would be snatched from the arsenal of the ruling class. Misunderstanding this is a really, really big self own. For more see https://brucelesnick.substack.com/p/with-gender-ideology-the-left-is
No, no, a thousand times no. In the anti Vietnam war movement, there were those who argued that struggles for civil rights, women’s rights and democratic rights more broadly were a distraction. Some argued that only efforts and actions directly opposing the war were worth while. That way of thinking was wrong then and it’s wrong now. Yes, fighting imperial propaganda and organizing against US imperial wars are of paramount importance. But…
Awareness, consciousness and willingness to fight are heightened in different people in different ways. Awareness for many is raised first by diving into the struggles that most touch them personally. More often than not, joining one fight on the side of the working class leads to willingness - even eagerness - to join other, bigger fights.
And a key point is this: gender ideology is manifestly a reactionary attack on women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, children’s health, rational thought, free speech and civil liberties - all issues of critical importance to the working class. Fighting to defend and extend these rights feeds directly into building working class solidarity and into the ability to mobilize against imperial war-making.
Women are told to accept men in their private spaces, rape shelters, prisons, sports teams and affirmative action programs if said men believe (or pretend to believe) they are women. Gays and lesbians are accused of bigotry if they prefer same sex partners rather than same “gender” partners (i.e., choosing partners based on their objective biology (sex) rather than their subjective self-perception (gender).) Children who reject sexist stereotypes are told they must be “trans” and are steered toward a lifetime of dependence on big pharma. Those speaking about these truths are censored and deplatformed. Every element of this benefits the powers that be while dividing and disorienting the working class.
Convincing people that men are actually women (and vice versa) is a handy step toward the kind of logical disorientation and abandonment of critical thinking necessary to getting people to accept that war is peace, free speech is harmful, “what’s good for General Motors is good for the country”, and many other dangerous, irrational precepts of capitalist ideology.
So why do some whose overall outlook is conservative oppose gender ideology? For the less powerful, this is nothing more than the normal contradictions one finds in individuals: conservative on some issues and progressive on others. Many of the more powerful only oppose gender ideology opportunistically, because the left has vacated the entire lane to them. If the left spoke up with a principled, unified voice, the right would not be able to use anti-wokeness as a trojan horse for their other issues and the oppression that gender ideology enables would be snatched from the arsenal of the ruling class. Misunderstanding this is a really, really big self own. For more see https://brucelesnick.substack.com/p/with-gender-ideology-the-left-is