FCA Book Club - Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen, and Girlbosses Against Liberation

Enemy Feminisms: TERFs, Policewomen & Girlbosses Against Liberation (2025), by Sophie Lewis. 

Our next read is going to be Enemy Feminisms, in which Sophie Lewis explores the history of extremist feminist movements (such as anti-abortionist and anti-trans feminists, KKK feminists, pornophobes), and the way they are holding back a larger globalized feminist movement from bringing forth the change we so wish to see in the world. 
This book relates directly to the conversation we had in our previous meeting, about whether we should call TERFs (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) feminists or completely remove them from our movement, and about how we approach these people that are full of hate and self righteousness. 
The book is available to order online through Savannah Bay, a cozy queer independent bookshop in the heart of Utrecht: https://www.savannahbay.nl/shop/non-fictie/feminisme/enemy-feminisms-sop...
For those who prefer to shop in person, the lovely feminist bookshop Het Fort van Sjakoo in Amsterdam is likely to have a few copies in stock, and they are very open to order this book for you (or any other book to enlarge your feminist literature collection) if they happen to be sold out - https://sjakoo.nl/en/

Here is what the Savannah Bay Website has to say about the book: 
“From the author of Abolish the Family, an unflinching tour of two hundred years of enemy feminisms, making the case instead for the bold, liberatory feminist politics we need. In recent years, “white feminism” and girlboss feminism have taken a justified beating. We know that leaning in won’t make our jobs any more tolerable and that white women have proven to be, at best, unreliable allies. But in a time of rising fascism, ceaseless attacks on reproductive justice, and violent transphobia, we need to reckon with what Western feminism has wrought if we have any hope of building the feminist world we need. Sophie Lewis offers an unflinching tour of enemy feminisms, from 19th century imperial feminists and police officers to 20th century KKK feminists and pornophobes to today’s anti-abortion and TERF feminists. Enemy feminisms exist."

"Feminism is not an inherent political good. Only when we acknowledge that can we finally reckon with the ways these feminisms have pushed us toward counterproductive and even violent ends. And only then can we finally engage in feminist strategizing that is truly antifascist.”

"At once a left transfeminist battlecry against cisness, a decolonial takedown of nationalist womanhoods, and a sex-radical retort to femmephobia in all its guises, Enemy Feminisms is above all a fierce, brilliant love letter to feminism.” 

We will meet at NieuwLand on the 11th of January at 16:30. 
Keep in mind that NieuwLand is an entirely independent venue that receives no government subsidies and is fully volunteer-run; there will be a donation jar and qr code so that anyone can support the venue if they wish to help us keep these events going. To learn more about NieuwLand and their events please check out their website, https://nieuwland.cc, they always have a very active social calendar. 

If you have any specific accessibility needs regarding the event please do get in touch with us and we will try our best to accommodate them. 

If you want to attend the session but find it difficult to get hold of the book we will try to help. 

At the FCA we aim to be a harassment free space for everybody. If you are new to our meetings, or feel you need a refresher please read our code of conduct to find out what behaviours we hope for from you, and hold ourselves to in our sessions http://www.thefeministclub.nl/coc

If there are topics or questions you would like to discuss please bring those with you!  

We are looking forward to seeing you!