Hey, so fascism is inherently gendered! Which I know, is going to make some folks absolutely roll their eyes and wander off muttering about the perils of a liberal education, a complaint rarely uttered by anyone who actually had one (though hopefully not too many of the folks here because I think we’ve scared most of that bunch away already). But I’m guessing there are actually quite a lot of you that are going to go ‘huh…I hadn’t thought about it that way, tell me more’ (because y’all are an absolutely smashing bunch of humans and always interested in learning more). And at least a couple of you are going ‘yup, correct, here, lemme hand you a stack of books I assign my students that cover that very topic, several of which I’ve actually written or contributed to’ (because holy smokes some of y’all are scary smart and do super cool stuff).

But just in case you want a teeeeeny tiny, super approachable, very chill introduction to the idea (and to the subject of fascism in general), can I point you to Fascism: A Very Short Introduction by Kevin Passmore (specifically chapter nine, entitled ‘Fascism and gender’)? And can I mention that some kind soul might just possibly have put a pdf of the book over on archive.org right about here (that’s link straight to the pdf, it will download when you click it). It gets right to the point, starting with “fascism is a quintessentially male ideology, evoking the be-shirted street-fighter of the inter-war years and the skinhead of modern times. Fascism is as deeply opposed to feminism as it is to socialism. Historic fascists generally argued that women’s primary function was domestic and reproductive,” and keeps right on rolling from there.

But before you settle in for a little cozy bedtime reading, how about you go make sure your medicine cabinet is well stocked to support yourself and your community. Aidaccess.org will send you abortion pills anywhere in the US (even places with a ban). The pills are safe and effective (safer than tylenol and effective up to 13 weeks). They’ll send them to you for free if you can’t afford them. And you can order them even if you’re not pregnant (just like you get cold medicine before you have a cold) to have on hand just in case you need them later (they’ll last for several years).

Because those fucks want you at home taking care of a house full of kids, not out here being full members of society and calling them on their shit. And taking away your ability to decide when and if you have kids is one way they do that. So keep your medicine cabinet stocked…it’ll piss off a fascist.