Stop the Shite, Reclaim the Night
I used to look forward to Reclaim the Night (RTN) marches, buoyed by the feeling of sisterhood I felt powerful adding my voice to those of other women in a public protest at the violence of men. This year I went to the pub instead, then I went home to play Scrabble.
It isn’t that I think women are now miraculously safe when we walk the streets, it’s more that I feel the message of who we are reclaiming the night from is somewhat lost when we invite them to march alongside us. Men as perpetrators and women as victims is a generalisation, but is one based in raw, uncompromising fact. It might not be popular to acknowledge but the one in five women who have experienced sexual violence, the one in four who have suffered domestic abuse and the one in five who have been stalked carry this truth with us. We know the sex of those who perpetrate these crimes, and so do the statistics.
Naming men as the perpetrators will make some of them feel uncomfortable. Good. Discomfort is a feeling women never have a break from; whether it’s as subtle as having our personal space invaded or as all-consuming as the fear of rape, the exercise of power over women and girls is relentless and grinding. Men reflecting on privilege won’t hurt, and if they are genuine allies they shouldn’t resent it. Reclaim the Night should be one time at least where we are permitted to publicly put our needs above those of men.
But it seems expecting a whole two hours where we focus on the hatred and harm meted out by men is just too much. Selfish, silly women! This year I have struggled to find a single march that is exclusively for women and girls; it seems even reclaiming one night for ourselves is now politically unacceptable.
Approaches vary, the RTN march in my area is explicitly open to ‘men and women.’ Others are particularly careful to include a smorgasbord of various gender identities, while ignoring the basic truth that women are subject to sexism because of our sex. The men who perpetrate violent and sexual crimes tend not to ask their victims how they identify before they make the decision to rape, beat or harass them. Pointing this out might hurt feelings though, and as good-little helpmeets women must of course prioritise the needs of men. In particular we must make sure that those poor ladies and non-binary people who are inexplicably trapped in adult male bodies are made to feel welcome, nasty women who object must be educated until we comply.
This year my favourite piece of obfuscating virtue-signalling has come from Sheffield RTN which was advertised as for ‘both cis and trans women, non-binary people and people who identify as women to some extent.’ As a woman who rejects the concept of gender identity I can only assume I would not be welcome, though of course people like Pippa Bunce (the ‘gender fluid’ banker) and indeed rapist transwoman Karen White would be.
I think my second favourite was Brighton, which advertised itself as:
“All genders welcome. This is a sex-worker inclusive event, and we actively advocate for the decriminalisation of sex work. Given the chequered history of Reclaim the Night elsewhere in the country, we consider this vital to state clearly, and to do all we can to challenge the worrying rise of so-called radical feminism (that seems in fact rooted in very conservative politics).
We will endeavour to ensure it is a safe and accessible event to attend.”
If I were feeling charitable I would acknowledge that events organising is hard, and of course everyone’s a critic. I have no doubt that women behind the various RTN marches across the country are doing their best and desperately trying to be nice. Of course it is women who pay the price for such gushing displays of inclusivity to men.
Reclaim the Night was born in the wake of the murders of prostituted women by Peter Sutcliffe. Police in Leeds advised women not to go out alone at night. Women on the first march in 1977 carried placards emblazoned with slogans such as “No Curfew on Women — Curfew on Men.” Our feminist foremothers were not afraid to name the problem of male violence. Presumably if such revolutionary slogans were to be revived for today they would read “No Curfew on both cis and trans women, non-binary people and people who identify as women to some extent — Curfew on not all men...”
Those of us who understand what a woman is need to wrestle public feminist activism back from these painfully woke, dick-pandering handmaidens. Dare I say it, we need to reclaim Reclaim the Night.
