03/07/2025
sent these words along with the below blurb in her Substack, Feminist Giant, today and I felt them so deeply. By remaining silent, by remaining polite, by remaining civil, we continue to uphold the power of our oppressors. There is some very fu**ed up s**t happening right now and we cannot continue to pretend that this is normal by remaining calm and waiting to see what happens. Let these words be a rallying cry for us all. Tomorrow is international women’s day. Show up, stand up and let your voice be heard at one of the many protests happening across the nation.
“Fascism is not polite. Fascism is not civil. Fascism cares little for decorum. Whether we are urged to be civil to racists or polite to patriarchy, the goal is the same: to maintain the power of the racist, to maintain the power of patriarchy. Demaning we stay within the lines of decorum even as a fascist f**k occupies the White House is the height of white privilege—the privilege of those least hurt by that fascist f**k. The obsession with civility and decorum in the United States is bipartisan and white. Fascism isn’t an “idea” to be debated. We—whose lives are directly threatened by that fascist f**k—are expected to behave and play along. Profanity is an essential tool in disrupting patriarchy and its rules. It is the verbal equivalent of civil disobedience. F**k decorum at a time of fascism.” - Mona Eltahawy