I honestly wonder what % of those techbros is trans. They seem to be everywhere on that platform.

Yea, FDS was an important gateway for me. I am here because of FDS. I don’t even care much for FDS anymore. I worry women won’t find rad feminism now.

Same here, FDS was pivotal for me, and the gateway to so much healing and growth. It has pointed me in the direction of Ovarit, as well. And it was guiding so many young women into healthier boundaries. And women of all ages of course, but I am particularly concerned for the young women I know growing up in an increasingly misogynistic society. They desperately need voices like these outside of the male society echo-chamber. I totally understand why the FDS mods just couldn't deal with all the toxic anymore, but the space was incredibly valuable for so many women. It will be sorely missed.

I agree, it's very stupid for them to not be on reddit

The only subs that exist with only cis [sic] woman content are porn subs for and by men

That’s it. Woman can be women when men want to ejaculate, for pleasure or reproduction. Otherwise, and either way, men must be available and have access to women at all times.

I will be the cynic here and question if the admins maybe thought driving traffic to their website would help them build a network for women and make money off of the advertising that could come from the increased volumes of traffic. Though FDS was moderated, the community itself was built up from women sharing their experiences and supporting each other. The beauty of that grassroots coming together was the fact that men could see it in front of their eyes and see themselves in those posts whether they wanted to admit it or not. I am not sure it was the admins decision to make whether to close FDS on reddit down, should have gone to a vote imo.

I do understand that the mods just don't want to do it anymore. It's a huge job, its unpaid, and they are subject to tons of abuse. Apparently they have a lot of mod freak outs there.

I would love if women would mass exodus reddit.

Very good point.

I agree with everything you said. I also was not there for the dating advice, but to understand the dynamics, and to see this sharp conversation really clear the fog. They teach women how to be safe. This is useful in so many contexts outside of dating, like in social situations, friendships, everyday life, and professionally. And seeing how my experiences were not at all unusual, to see other women describe the very same dynamics I've lived, helped me grow and go firmer in my decision to not engage with these kinds of people ever again. And if I am forced to professionally, I now have good strategies for how to handle it. It's a great loss that the subreddit is gone.

FDS already has a website, don’t they?

I can’t get it to load atm. But I used to check it every so often. It wasn’t good at all. No engagement and the UI was atrocious. Very locked down in a bad way that made it near inaccessible.

I really wish they had revamped it BEFORE deleting the subreddit. Now there are a bunch of confused women who don’t listen to the podcast with no place to go. That support is really important.

Edit: saw in a comment further down the domain name has changed and while the site still appears to be dead as a doornail, it is significantly improved in terms of UI. www.thefemaledatingstrategy.com

They already filed a confidential report with the SEC

Who did?

That's because anything that doesn't encourage a woman to let herself be fucked by any scrote who wants her is misandry.

Someone has a folder of their screenshots they saved from the posts and thread discussions. I’ll find out where it’s circulating.

The mods had to create an unsustainable system to keep men out. FDS was never going to survive on reddit longterm. I’m frankly shocked it lasted as long as it did.

Removing a pickme flair when they have hundreds of users to go through for approval, hundreds of posts to do the same for, and a mod queue filled with rape threats, reports, and dick pics—not exactly a priority.

So they've moved to a website, then?

FDS mods are not generally fans of Ovarit or radfems. https://ovarit.com/o/WomensLiberation/36728/fds-actively-smears-radical-feminism-grouping-it-with-wgtow-and-femcels

We're still primarily a GC space. There's plenty of radfem-leaning women on FDS but it isn't really their focus, and i can see why they as a group don't want to be so closely associated. Makes sense to develop their own platform.

Right? I know at least one host of the FDS podcast is a radfem. But I will say their focus at FDS is female forward, female first, and spanning women from different political backgrounds. So on the Female Political Strategy podcast, they have one Muslim fiscally - conservative leaning host and def not radfem.

Yes. There was a discussion about their rejection of radfems here:

https://ovarit.com/o/WomensLiberation/36728/fds-actively-smears-radical-feminism-grouping-it-with-wgtow-and-femcels

Nope, they want nothing to do with this space. They made some statement against radical feminists and transphobia last year...just so they could stay on reddits good side. I don't blame them for wanting their own brand. Why can't women have spaces for us and profit? Why are we always treated as though we must do everything for free but men make billions off of these platforms. Men can make billlions off of porn and exploiting women and children...getting away with it. I hope more women stop caping for men that hate us and support each other. I get a feeling on Ovarit and many Radfem spaces that they still cling to this idea of "Not my gay male friend though!"

One of the stated reasons they left reddit is because they want to build "their brand". They have zero interest in directing users to a different website that they can't profit from.

Reddit SUCKS for women and feminism. We’ve got to accept that. They won’t change unless there is a purge. Maybe once they have new venture capitalist overlords, things could change. Is it bad for business to run all women off the site?

I checked it out and registered as a user last year and the UI was so user hostile compared to the FDS subreddit that I never went back until today. I know I'm not alone in thinking that their site design is difficult to use because the site just doesn't have a lot of posts, although I'm sure they'll see some increase in traffic due to their decision to close the subreddit.

I really wonder if they'll see the level of activity they're obviously anticipating because the site is just a mess of user hostile design choices. Ovarit's decision to roll with Reddit-style software is pretty smart in comparison - it's easier to read and it's familiar to users coming over from Reddit.

Well yes to a VERY minor degree but I don't think their use of anti-lesbian in the post was referencing the lesbians on FDS. In this podcast episode they talk about how all female subreddits are banned unless men- i mean "trans women" become mods. ANd then they elaborate that on reddit lesbians are routinely banned for saying they don't like dick. So they weren't necessarily focusing on their FDS community, just the shit show of Reddit in general and dont' want to be involved at all.

Ahaha I was. I liked their views on men there and it was the only place on reddit for women 😅

I understand what you're saying and would definitely love more pro female spaces, but I have a strong feeling that the radfems would get overrun relatively quickly. We often forget how hostile the average woman is to any concepts that don't center and worship men.

Hmmm, I think the core of Ovarit is radical feminism. I can't imagine what this space would be like without it: pro porn? pro feminine stereotypes?

I don't mind more diverse circles, but I can't imagine allowing in belief systems that are contradictory to radical feminism. That is how we found ourselves in this "no woman's spaces" in the first place.

Ironically enough, Ovarit allows men, so this isn't even an all-woman space.

We also have to be careful about people coming specifically to sow division. The Wokes are very upset at how left- and right-wing and apolitical women are here getting along - get ready for a big increase in political posts to get us riled up at each other.

I’d be afraid of the new crowd bringing in people that would dilute the female centered attitude if it diversified. If we got too many pick-me’s promoting prostitution, spouting TRA talking points, or apologetically centering men (ei constant statements of “not-all-men” after every criticism of patriarchal standards and male depravity) it would change the entire feeling of this platform. Too many could overwhelm it and lead to it being a place where women who are critical get shouted down and don’t feel comfortable talking about things from rad fem perspectives, similar to how it is on other platforms.

Yes, I wish this site would expand into being a little female universe within the internet, with more varied topics and discussions.

I feel like every topic eventually turns into a feminist analysis and debate on here, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but sometimes you just wanna talk about a cool song you found, you know?

I love this idea. I'm not capable of doing the work, but I'd be interested in what the admins think.

I don’t think “we” should do that unless it’s what the women who put time and effort into developing the site, who funded the site out of pocket for so long, and who donate now want.

Libfems can start their own platform. If we let them in, they won’t keep it women-only for long.

I agree with this very strongly. I love the strong rad fem vibe here but I also think it can be very intimidating for newcomers (I still often feel a bit intimidated and fear speaking out of turn).

It would be great to have a women-centric space. Like Mumsnet but obviously for everyone not just mums.

I agree. I’m not really radical feminist, I’m just the basic ~feminist hahah. I like nuanced opinions. However, the “more chill” feminist spaces are prone to having ban-happy mods. So. We strugglin’ out here😵‍💫

Ovarit IS supposed to include all women not just radical feminists. As mentioned here and several annoyed announcements of the admins over the years. https://ovarit.com/o/Announcements/21904/welcome-new-members-and-lurkers-introduction-plea-to-read-the-rules-2

But its just a very very hostile place for any woman who is not.

If you have a different opinion here you get downvoted and insulted and harrassed.Thats why this site is still at barely 7k users after 2 years and so many women who started here have left or new accounts don't seem to last long.

There is a Books circle here, as well as Movies, Television, Gardening and ArtsandYarns.

Agreed.

The idea makes sense, but wouldn't it be confusing?

we need more spaces, not make the few there are bigger, that would just get the misogynists interested in trying to shut them down, we need many small female focused places, not a few large ones.

That would be fantastic, i already miss FDS.