Welcome 📚
What is this about?
Welcome, reader!
The idea behind this newsletter/blog/project is to help you think & educate you about women, our lived realities, and ending gender-based oppression and improving material conditions for women — something that I believe will make the world a better, more just place for all.
What type of literature? 📚
I write long-form essays on feminist theory. The ideas I write about are through the lens of intersectionality and inclusion. The theories and writers I draw from are often radical, but I try to offer them up in ways that are connected to the current zeitgeist, and also in plainer, more objective language. Second wave feminism was too often myopic and not inclusive; third wave feminism too often focuses on individual and private, in-fighting, rather than addressing addressing or fighting back against systemic oppression. I attempt to address these inadequacies, and draw a bridge between time and space (through intersections).
The other idea behind feminism for all is to share and preserve lesbian literature and history, and compile the most complete, inclusive list of literary fiction and history by lesbian women authors1. That was the original purpose of this Substack, but I switched to feminism and philosophy a few months in.
Philosophical Underpinnings 📚
Over time, the authors I’ve covered here are philosophers that aren’t explicitly feminist writers, but I’ve contextualized them in feminist ways. These include the classic German philosophers (Kant, Schopenhauer’s a favorite), critical theorists, Marxists (Gramsci’s another favorite), and more. My purpose is to make esoteric philosophy more approachable.
The internet/social media era discourage nuance and complexity, and the essays and reviews you’ll read here are an attempt to bring them back into our wider discourse.
Posting style and frequency 📚
I share several reviews and/or essays per week. Each is 2,500 - 7,000 words, with ten minute-plus read times. I usually write them relatively fast: in one sitting and I do not edit prior to publication, and I’m typo-prone.
Paid v Free Subscriptions
New essays are currently free, and paid subscribers have access to bimonthly guides with information on ending sexual violence. Right now, less than 2% of my subscribers are paid subscribers. In order to do keep new essay free for people who cannot afford a paid subscription, I need to keep growing if I’m going to keep writing here. Your investment also allows me to spend more time on research and to expand my research; reading, thinking of what to write, writing, and advocacy, as well as covering costs, eg., my time, my unpaid survivor advocacy/activism, as well as for books and materials.
So if you feel you’ve learned or thought more deeply on specific topics because of my work, please consider paying for a subscription. Your subscription is equivalent to the cost of one fancy matcha latte, and less than the cost of fancy cocktail per month.
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I include bisexual women authors, eg, Djuna Barnes and Violette Leduc, who have significant relationships with women and/or identify strongly as women-who-love-women in my definition of “lesbian author”. As well, there is a dearth of non-Western lesbian women literature being written and/or published. I’ve written more about how I selected what is lesbian and what is literature HERE.
