Sisterhood / Coalition 5
The opposite of this hardening and isolation is not fusion and gumminess. That happens inside the hardened identity in unconscious and unexamined ways.
As I said earlier in this series, I'm not the only one thinking about the difference between the supportive bonds of sisterhood and the practical orientation of coalition. Kay Green is thinking about it in this post, Starhawk is thinking about it in this series. (Very recommend the Starhawk on Building Welcoming Movement.) I suspect the conflation of them in our concepts of our work has lead to a lot of conflict: an alteration practical goal is taken as a betrayal of intimate bonds (and it can be, but jumping there right away often means no way back). This isn't the whole of intra-feminist conflict, obviously, since very real political and cultural commitments are stake. I just think adding the pressure of (my concept here) sisterhood intensifies schisms and their durability. Let sisterhood be much deeper, and more personal, than coalition.
The concept of "ally" can work this way, too. Especially in the contemporary era. Allies, like sisters, are supposed to agree with us, even feel with us, have exactly the same priorities as us, all the way. Dress and present alike. Reject the same things. Say all the right words. Even fuck correctly. And that's not what that word means. It's for sure not what sisterhood should mean. Because that's not how diverse groups of humans work — at all. This expectation gets labeled 'safety' and pretty quickly slides into us/them, puritanical, and punishing forms of identitarianism. All that patriarchal hardening and isolation. Anything but safe.
The opposite of this hardening and isolation is not fusion and gumminess. That happens inside the hardened identity in unconscious and unexamined ways. The opposite of these demands for sameness is flexibility, flow, difference taken for depth and power, even contingency, as long as they're all oriented in a conscious and deliberate way. This what I thought intersectionality would lead to, and it's what I want strategic intersectionality to lead to.
