How do you navigate a society that expects you to lean left? Have you ever been met with scrutiny before? Have you ever been or felt excluded? Asking as a slighty right-leaning lesbian because I feel like society has categorized us into "real' and "fake" based on political leanings.
Hello, OP here. Sorry it took me so long to reply. If anyone here has a Discord, feel free to add me @ Peach#4555. I feel like the more of us, the better.
I have voted for Democrats all my life, but the past will not necessarily be prologue.
I like this stance: don’t ask me which side I am on. Instead, tell me what the issue is and I will tell you what I think about it.
For me, the problem with the Left is not just their irrational erasure of women. I am prepared to question everything.
I am starting to renew my appreciation of some of the values of the “West” that continue to attract immigration to the U.S. and Europe. Do I want to trash rule of law? Freedom of speech? Innocent until proven guilty? No. Do I think the color of someone’s skin makes them racist or not racist? No.
I asked myself why do some Blacks vote Republican? That question opened me to hear/read some impressive conservative Black voices. Currently, just getting into WOKE RACISM by John McWhorter.
I think I have left the Democratic and Left Media bubble I was in. I am looking to avoid getting bubbled in future. I will not “become” a Republican. I will be independent. I will adopt the best reality-based positions I can find. Often these will be somewhere toward the center.
I will remained woman-centered. :-)
As has been said many times before on Ovarit, I'm a political orphan. Republicans want to oppress and subjugate me, Democrats want to buy/sell (same thing?) me. Republicans want to force me back into the kitchen, Democrats want to force gender penis on me. They can all go fuck themselves.
Political belief can go beyond the binary of electoralism. If you generally have left-leaning beliefs, you don't need to identify as a democrat. You can engage in political activism in other ways, and network with others who have gone beyond the American political binary. In my opinion, radfems need to thrive in these outsider political groups, because as you've pointed out, electoralism hasn't really left any room for radfems.
Left and right are reductionist generalizations that are used purely for a very tribalistic form of categorization in Western cultures. Blame the French Revolution, but really I don't think it's very accurate and squishes a lot of positions into a singular paradigm, which inevitably leads to a lot of problems. People have attempted to expand on this by creating the grid systems, which in my experience are only a little better, but then also with three-dimensional grids that do happen to beget much more precision. I've had people say I'm very conservative, and others say I'm very liberal--so what does that tell you? Am I a centrist that just swings by on particular categories? I've described myself that way, but I think it's a pointless division ultimately. I navigate society by explaining my nuanced views and leaving it at that. People that are adamantly self-described as left and right have different takes on it. The lefties sometimes are fine with it until they prod, in which case they may create some ludicrous strawman about Libertarians, Greenies, or some stupid election. I once knew a TIM furry that blamed Trump on people like me, so there's that lol. The right tends to be of the variety that says "Okay, that's reasonable," until the issue of women's rights comes up, to which they promptly get angry. My girlfriend sells baked goods at a radical right-wing party's meetings, which we attend weekly, and to be frank, when you take the insane people out of the mix, they're about as polite as anyone else--just with shitty views on gays and women that they won't necessarily tell you to your face unless it's about something topical such as abortion. Funny enough, they stare and care less than the average person downtown (which felt quite hostile this past week for some reason). That said, a lesbian isn't fake dependent on her views, but rather on basis of her biological attraction. Any and everything else is superficial. If a lesbian believes in the Christian God, well she's ignorant and blindly believing in Middle Eastern bullshit meant to control women, but that doesn't actually affect such an innate biological trait. That extends to everything.
While I lean right on some economic issues, I am mostly right when it comes to governing structures (conservation of the constitution and states rights). I lean center on social issues, but as everyone knows, center, right, and left definitions in regards to social issues are completely wonky by now. I have encountered straight people telling me what to think. I have had one "friend" heavily imply that I must hate myself because I'm a lesbian and voted for the right.
In general, I don't talk about my sexuality in work settings(I don't lie, I just don't share private details) and, more recently, I've been reluctant to share my political opinions in public. When I worked at my previous job, I found that only my older co-workers respected my viewpoints and that they were also the only ones who could discuss politics without getting offended. My younger co-workers were skeptical to even offended when I told them that I was gay and knew I leaned right. It was very difficult for them to discuss anything past feelings on political and social issues.
Talking about current events and their political undertones used to be something I enjoyed, but in the current political climate, it might be better to keep political views private in left leaning spaces.
I am libertarian and slightly right leaning. My close friends know my views. Dating is a bitch, not going to lie. I haven't found anyone who shares my views or morals. Most lesbians I have encountered IRL and even bi women (who I usually date) are woke now. Other than my love life the rest of my life isn't impacted by it. I don't share my views with people I know just want to argue or try to persuade me to their side. I am becoming more religious and conservative as I age. I think this is common regardless of sexual orientation. I think for me I am tired of the far right telling me I'm going to hell for being gay and the far left telling me I'm a bigot because I won't suck girl dick. I just want to live my life in peace and not have either side up my ass as to who I'm dating. So, to answer you question in a long and rambling way, yes I have felt excluded but I try my hardest not to let it get me down.
Edited to say: Most of my close friends are straight or bi. I have zero lesbian or gay friends, not by choice, just how life has gone.
I lean right. I have for most of my adult life. I would almost take on the title of conservative though I do not agree with their uproar with "redefining marriage" and some other topics. But I do strive to preserve America and American traditions.
My wife was very liberal leaning when we met so we never talked politics. Since then (6 years together, 4 years married) I've been able to open her eyes to the world around her and have been able to peak her... so there's hope!
I do feel out casted as a conservative because yes, "gays" are "supposed" to be liberal, and when my gay friends found out They sadly stopped talking to me. Which blew at the time, but now I'm glad I don't have that drama in my life.
My girlfriend leans slightly right, in part because she grew up in the deep south with military parents who enforced a ton of conservative views down her throat. She is however, able to think for herself and can't bring herself to stand behind leftist ideology.
I am directly in the middle; A moderate, who is able to see both sides at REASONABLE intervals. Because I'm not a liberal or left leaning really at all, I refuse, yes I have been attacked. For my own views (or lack thereof before I started really voicing my real opinions.)
I actually came to Ovarit today to post about coping with the loss of friends, or even feeling like I have to un-follow public figures I used to adore. Because cancel culture is running rampant these days, and who knows...do they ACTUALLY feel negatively towards the gender critical crowd, or are they following the bouncy red ball.
I don't trust politicians, well the Government in general. I've always voted blue in the past....but come 2024 I may be making a very different decision, and that thought is frightening. Seems there isn't really a place anymore for moderate/right leaning lesbians who don't buy into this toxic trans cult BS.
I have felt that and gone through it myself. Loosing friends due to political beliefs. For me it started in 2016 when I stated an opinion my gay group and they started casting me out. It sucked then but I'm glad to be out of that drama group now because, Good Lord they would be insane by now!
I used to consider myself to be left leaning, as I thought that they cared about women’s rights, and the rights of homosexuals. Now that I’ve been proven wrong, I don’t know where I stand.
It seems that the right has some beliefs that align with ours when it comes to trans gender woo shit, but at the same time, they don’t care about women or homosexuals either.
Neither side is on my side, so I don’t feel like I can claim to be either or really anywhere in between.
My sister assumes that because I’m gay, I should be all over trans “rights”, pronouns and shit, so I guess with that I’m more right leaning.
I just don’t know…
Yeah, it seems pretty uncommon. I've always just been myself, without feeling a need to do what society expects me to. I've definitely been in a large group of left lesbians who probably didn't like how I responded to some questions, but that's the worst of it. With that said, I'm not super vocal about my political beliefs due to the way society gets upset with people for having different opinions.
I suppose I lean right... I support free speech, the right to bear arms (with exceptions) and believe in fiscal responsibility. I have never voted straight Dem or Rep down a ballot- I always look up the candidates. I have had people lose their shit on me for voting republican. My own brother hasn't spoken to me since I told him that I strongly believe in the secret ballot and people should not have to announce who they are voting for. He had text me to ask who I was voting for in the 2020 Presidential election. I think recent politics has been incredibly decisive. If you are part of a minority (race, sex, religion, etc) that votes against "your" party, people are incredibly harsh.
Stay strong.