So it seems to me that across many spaces there is a tendency to water down queer and gender issues into the cynical commercialism that finance capitalists have pushed for. Among communists I see this with what people in Donbas have said, what a person from the DPRK has said to a Chinese interviewer, and it is also found in the west. Also in sections of the Indigenous community oftentimes elders will claim that (ironically) white people made up Two-Spirit people, all despite evidence to the contrary.
We also see characters like Putin rallying around this idea that the west is obsessed with “gender freedoms” despite the very obvious coordinated crackdowns against these supposed “freedoms” in the west.
When I hear people make these claims I am baffled because I am certain that colonialism has damaged and (attempted to) erase Indigenous gender expressions around the world. To say that queer issues can be boiled down to liberalism is clearly false and likley has its root in colonialism. Yet communists and other forces that are otherwise opposed to the financial imperialist system are not unified on this issue.
It does seem clear that the west tries to weaponize human rights to justify war and to justify investments. It also demonizes and makes sure to show when its enemies show these sentiments. But this reactionary strain of communism has failed to explain how the bourgeoisie apparently invented trans people without simply criticising their least favorite liberal feminist or gender theorist (perhaps Judith Butler). But gender is dynamic and if it has been molded by capital in this way then it should be demonstrable beyond criticisms of a single theorist or a single field.
I myself am absolutely no expert on gender or queer theory. Im straight and grew up in a reactionary home. Im hoping people here can give insight on how to address these issues that exist among communists. I think we can tallow the west to use human rights to further colonize the world and gender issues accross the world probably manifest differently and that should be understood and respectes. Simultaneously, we cant allow this erroneous view that the western bourgeoisie is not only the protector of gender rights, but its progenitor.
Anyways, I am hoping for some discussion on this.
Like anything else, gender and sexual rights in other countries must be struggled for and established on those country’s terms. It’s unfortunate that the global communist movement is divided on this issue still, but so are capitalist countries. Baggage from colonialism, reaction in response to imperialist countries using sexual rights as a front for regime change efforts, the fetishization and commodification of sexuality and gender in capitalist countries, etc. all have something to do with it.
This is why liberal lgbtq movements actively harm the struggle for true queer liberation. Solidarity, comrade.
Since it is reasonable to say liberalism and its identity politics is holding us back, how would you imagine a discourse that is free from it? In my personal life I find that liberalism prevents consensus building in spaces that are meant to advance a cause. How do we challenge liberalism without being demonized by the communities we are looking to be accomplices to?
Edit:
And also without alienating anyone further.
I just want to say in regards to indigenous people and the two-spirit identity, that the reason some elders may claim that whites made the concept is because “indigenous” is an extremely heterogenous category that includes a massive range of cultures, languages, etc. Some tribes had or have more than two genders, while others only recognize two. Beyond this, some are/were matriarchal and others patriarchal, with different types of government with varying levels of egalitarianism, etc. As a result of the United States campaign of genocide and relocation, these different tribes were for the most part unable to continue practicing their culture and pushed together creating a new and syncretic indigenous culture, while keeping parts of their tribal identity intact. This can be seen in the Pow-wow which is now practiced widely by many tribes and doesn’t have origins in any single tribe. Similarly Two-spirit to my knowledge is a short hand that refers to any traditional tribal non-binary genders or a more general syncretic indigenous concept. As a disclaimer, I am not part of indigenous culture so if I am incorrect in any respect let me know.
I also have heard that in some cases non-European cultures with more than two genders, this systems isn’t necessarily always better. Specifically I remember reading an article about a gay man that had moved to Canada partly to escape the gender role of Hijra; since he was gay, he couldn’t be a man. I don’t really have any further knowledge about this though…
Aside from this, I have heard the argument that when the US imposes progressive cultural policies on a country, it associates genuine activists with the foreign occupying power and turns them into a symbol for said power (this was in the context of the US withdrawing from Afghanistan). In a more general sense this means that genuine movements for social progress have to develop within the country itself. I think this is pretty convincing, though I am curious if there is a parallel to US vs. China’s foreign policy, i.e. a foreign progressive cultural influence could be seen as good if it is clearly mutually beneficial instead of clearly self-serving—or there may be other possibilities that I am not considering as well.
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I am certain that colonialism has damaged and (attempted to) erase Indigenous gender expressions around the world.
Absolutely! Silvia Federici wrote about this in the last chapter of Caliban and the Witch. Imperial Spain imposed rigid patriarchy as a way of dividing indigenous communities and attacking their fiercest opponents:
Pre-conquest American women had their organizations, their socially recognized spheres of activity and, while not equal to men, they were considered complementary to them in their contribution to the family and society.
…
But with the Spaniards’ arrival everything changed, as they brought their baggage of misogynous beliefs and restructured the economy and political power in ways that favored men. Women suffered also at the hands of the traditional chiefs who, in order to maintain their power, began to take over the communal lands and expropriate the female members of the community from land use and water rights.
…
For all these reasons, women became the main enemies of colonial rule, refusing to go to Mass, to baptize their children or to cooperate in any way with the colonial authorities and priests.
Here is my take on it. I say this ESPECIALLY to communists.
I didn’t choose my orientation. My wife didnt choose their gender.
First the communists have to understand that.
Understand also:
If ANY communist intends violence on me, my wife, our queer friends. Well it’s simple. I can take you to Hell with me; just like I would with any fascist.
Do not make my identity and my queer friends and comrades the problem; and there wont be a problem.
This doesnt have to be complicated. I dont have the power to turn your kids gay or trans.
But come to my doorstep with violence in your heart and aggressive intent and I will do everything in my power that you dont survive it.
Im not interested in being your landlord or some blood soaked drone pilot that levels your neighborhood. Ill appreciate communists stop accusing me of having capitalist ambitions because im not straight.
And dont ask me to get over it when we got reactionary white supremacists who wants people like me dead and are ACTIVE in that pursuit far more apparent and carries special attention in the minds of violent monsters. I dont need “bourgoisie decadence” accusations thrown at folks like me. Cool your jets. The fascists already want me dead; they dont need your help.
But what is the way forward? Obviously we should take hard lines on this issue, but how do we mitigate the spread of this nonsense among communists? If we cannot answer this question I fear we will be dealing with reactionary wreckers for eternity. It can’t be neglected that liberalisms propensity for co-opting everything is a major problem that seeps into communist spaces.
IMO the way forward, or at least our best bet, is a focus on the damage colonialism/capital has brought to many different gender expressions around the world. It exposes that all of this was here well before capitalism. The problem is that some communists dont care about colonialism or have no interest or mind for engaging with it, especially patsocs and others. There is more chuavanism and dogmatism within communist spaces than I would hope.
Ive asked white communists what they think colonized communists owe them. That there must be something that nonwhite communists arent giving white workers for solidarity for whatever reason. They cant name it so they retreat to this place where anticolonial thought and feminist thought is just a direct personal attack on private character of individuals.
I dont know what it would take on the ground level. My hope is that the dissolution of colonialism and imperialism that whites enjoy will, if not allow them to change for a better understanding; will keep them suppressed into a state of weakness when it comes to being able to colonize people.
Even if it has to come to that; it is worth it. Because CLEARLY the white socialist line of “Shut up about your grievances and your concerns of safety that manifests vestigially to capital and more to your nonwhiteness and noncisness and just help make the trains run on time” socialist line isnt sufficient.
I dont know what else will work other than a stunning and total and world severing defeat of the colonial west. If they dont wanna change and integrate into humanity with some respect for others… Then hopefully they can stay forever disempowered.
A socialist world doesnt necessarily need Europe’s input or white America’s input. All they REALLY need is their surrender or defeat.
A socialist world doesnt necessarily need Europe’s input or white America’s input. All they REALLY need is their surrender or defeat.
❤️ I tell ya what this is exactly how I feel and yet it is the exact opposite of what my academic field of study seems to espouse. Almost as if the whole thing was currated by the interests of corporations and investors (oh shit it was).
Yeah I feel like the total strategic military defeat of the west is the biggest domino that needs to fall. I couldn’t agree more that at the end of the day if white people are kept down the world has a chance to develop properly. We dont really need to make allies out of our enemies if we can just defeat them all together. It would be such a huge burden lifted from the world.
Im not suggesting to not TRY to reach out… To win over westerners to an anticolonial view. It is worth it; if for nothing, to add a chilling effect to military recruitment.
If we cant change hearts and minds with pleading and begging and educating; then perhaps a severe economic collapse with a lack of electricity and running water will change their minds.
And if not then; may the world contain these people to be the barbarians they wanna be in tight, controlled, impentatrable borders. Let them pray their way back to the stone age for all I care. So long as the rest of the world gets to move on in peace, cooperation, and stability. It’s worth it.
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