I feel like I've missed an episode. I have very little clue what has caused the latest feminist blow up. From what I can gather, it appears to be class, status and politics; women deactivating, women hurt and angry; same old, same old really.

We all make mistakes. I’ve made mistakes. Lots of them. I’ve fucked up spectacularly on occasions and sometimes I’ve been forgiven and sometimes I haven’t. You gotta take it on the chin and move on. Reflect, learn, grow.

I have learned some lessons in 9 years of twitter feminism and about 35 years in real life feminism, and I’m going to share them for no other reason than I think they’re important.

Disclaimer: these are my thoughts; you will have your own experiences which do not align with mine. That’s fine, I’m not speaking for you, I’m speaking for me.
Anyway, for what it's worth (not much), here is my incredibly lukewarm take.

In my previous incarnation as planetcath I was the target of multiple pile on’s/twitter storms, abuse and harassment over a 3yr period. I had my employer contacted, my personal information shared, my life dissected. I had MRA's and TRA's target me with the worst graphic abuse.

I feel for any woman who goes through this. It's not pleasant & seriously damages your mental and emotional health. But whilst Twitter and SocMed in general does have a role to play in feminist politics & activism, it carries much less weight than you think.

There has always been divisions in feminism; social class, anti-racism, trade unions lesbians, het women, radical or liberal. We all think our way is the best way and for us, it is.
You choose the feminism that fits best with your own life experiences and opinions.

My personal view is that you cannot claim to be a radical feminist & wear make up, shave your body hair and centre your Nigel. For me there is a conflict in those positions that cannot be resolved by attending a conference and talking about how hard it is to be a woman.

Remember that women are human beings. Human beings are not perfect, ergo feminism is not perfect.
No matter how much you want to feel the feminism is a collective sisterhood, it’s not. There are women you will like, women you will love, and women who you will hate.

There will be some areas where you might feel included and part of a movement, but it’s not a given and it’s not across the board.
There is no leader of feminism.
No one is in charge, there’s no selection process, committee, board of trustees or membership secretary.

Be part of it, don’t be part of it. It makes no real difference to the fictitious membership numbers.

Some women have access to the middle class arenas of academia, politics, journalism, authorship, media etc. That doesn’t make them better than my mate who works with women who have no recourse to public funds.

What makes a difference is the work they (and you) do. Not necessarily what you tweet, blog or write (although there is value in sharing ideas and discussions), but actual work for, and with, women.
That’s really the purpose of feminism.

You can’t talk about liberating women and girls without actually doing something towards making it happen. What makes the difference to women’s lives is what YOU as a practising feminist can do to make their lives easier, better, safer.

Women who are living in poverty, fear and danger don't care about your outrage over Yaniv or whoever. They value a woman believing them, listening to them and doing something to help them.

There are loads of areas where you - as a feminist - can make a change for women and girls.
- Volunteer on a helpline
- work with women prisoners
- support asylum seeking women and their children.
- Fight anti-semitism & racism by supporting Jewish/BAME women

Do some of the graft that forms the actual basis of feminism.
It’s not really enough to wear a t shirt proclaiming your politics unless you try and live them.

Accept you won’t like everyone.
There are loads of feminist women I don’t like.
Sometimes it’s because of their social class & entitlement., or because they spend their time centering men and male allies, or because they’ve stolen women’s work (yeh, I’m looking at you)

Sometimes it’s because they’ve fucked me over too many times.
Sometimes it’s because they’ve fucked over a woman I love.
Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter in the grand scheme. I can’t boot them out of feminism., no matter how much I might want to.

Personally, I don’t spend my time with any of the following;
- Women who have right wing views
- middle-class women
- Women who don’t examine their white privilege
- Women who spend their time theorizing but not putting their boots on the ground.

I choose my sisters carefully. However, I don't agree with them on every issue. There are conflicts around religion & politics & we can discuss the conflict and move on.
We're seriously not a homogenous mass and we need to stop seeing the feminist movement as one.

So, choose your path, choose your people and do the work. Feminism is not stationary with a women's symbol on or a clever t shirt. Its more than that. These things do not change lives.
DO. THE. WORK.

Anyway, that's me done. My views, my opinions, my right to express them.
As you were.