Feminist Separatism
History
Megan Murphy:
"Separatism is not a new concept within radical feminism. Especially popular with lesbian feminists of the second wave, the idea was to create female-only communities, wherein women were allowed boundaries around how and when they interacted with men. It wasn’t seen so much as a punishment of men, but as an effort at autonomy, as well as of course protection from male predators and abuse. Michigan Womyn’s Festival (Michfest) is probably one of the more successful examples of the separatist attempt to carve out women-only space in the modern world, naturally destroyed forever, after 40 years, in the great transing. Other attempts have been made in the form of women-only land, bookstores, cooperatives, and transition houses for women escaping domestic violence. One of feminism’s great achievements was the creation of woman-only space, both for political organizing as well as to provide safety from men (again, mostly destroyed, thanks to trans activism and its funders)."