Thanks for saying this. I’ve had mixed reactions to Nina and Corinna in the past, and I admire Stella. I think the response to these disagreements, while important, has become absolutist and out-of-proportion. [Edit: Not the ridicule, however. Corinna’s tweet is worthy of at least two threads of chortling disdain.]

Disagreements about coalition-building, boundaries, and compromise are necessary. They belong. I don’t like Corinna’s tweet and agree that it is both sexist and silly, but the fact is…occasionally I read something I consider sexist and silly here, too. That doesn’t absolve Corinna’s bad judgement or mean we shouldn’t bring it up, but while the frustration and weariness make sense to me, these feel like in-fights and not capital offenses.

I am not trying to scold women who vent their frustration about the recycling of sexist tropes by so-called allies. Speak up. But a number of comments have emphasized that this is why we cannot or should not include TIMs in our coalition, and that is not my personal reaction. There is diversity of opinion around a more radfem ethos here in general - and I think that’s a good thing as long as we can make space for each other. That space should include room for all the principled indignation we are hearing now.

But - and I say this no-doubt as a brainwashed libfem handmaiden TIM-apologist - I think we sometimes lean pretty hard into the temptation to categorize anyone south of our personal hardline as a handmaiden.