The Women's Front (Norwegian : Kvinnefronten) is a Norwegian radical feminist organization founded in 1972, and the country's oldest and largest radical feminist group. It was historically associated with the now defunct Workers' Communist Party, although its ties to the party became less pronounced during the 1980s.
The organization was founded in 1972 and grew out of the marxist-leninist movement, known as the "M-L movement." As Norway's first radical feminist group, it distanced itself from the existing women's movement in Norway. It took its name after the historical newspaper named Kvinnefronten ("the women's front") which had been published by the Communist Party of Norway. The organization also built on women's movements against Norway's membership of the European Economic Community. It was closely associated with the Workers' Communist Party. [1] In the 1990s, it became known through the publication of the Lund Report that the organization had been under observation by the Norwegian Police Security Service, which categorized it as a front organization for the Workers' Communist Party, which the Police Security Service considered to be extremist. [2]
During the first part of the 1970s, the organization was briefly the largest women's association in Norway with 3,500 members in 125 towns and cities in 1973, but after the mid 1970s, the organization lost most of its members and the membership declined to a few hundred members. [3] From 1978, the organization became known for its pornography activism, which included showing hard pornographic films in public, intended to scare and upset the audience, which it called "porn against porn." [4]
In 1991 several members left the Women's Front to found a new organization, called the Ottar Women's Group, following disagreements on various issues, especially the Women's Front's relaxation of its stance on pornography. The breakaway faction that formed Ottar Women's Group had been the most radical wing of the Women's Front, but found themselves in the minority at the 1991 annual meeting of the organization. [4]
The Women's Front has published journals under three different names: Kvinnefront (1975–1981), Kvinnejournalen (1982–2004) and thereafter Fett. [5]
According to the organization's original program, its goal was to "fight for women's liberation" by "fighting capitalism and imperialism." It considered "the state, business and capital" to be the main forces which oppressed women. [6] In line with its roots in the anti-imperialist left of the early 1970s, the Women's Front has been critical of newer feminist movements which emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, such as queer feminism.
The organization today describes itself as "a radical feminist organization that opposes all forms of oppression of women, economic, sexual, political and cultural." [7] [8]
The Women's Front has also been active in promoting women's self-determination in abortion and pornography. It has liaised internationally with likeminded organizations in developing countries such as Afghanistan, Palestine and the Philippines and has participated in international networks on abortion, reproduction, trafficking and violence against women. [7] [8]
The Women's Front is traditionally regarded as Norway's main radical feminist organization. The organization has sometimes been criticized for its views on transgender people. For example feminist studies scholars and queer feminists Janne Bromseth, Elisabeth Lund Engebretsen, Lin Prøitz, Katrina Roen and Stine H. Bang Svendsen have noted that "trans-exclusionary radical feminism" (TERF) rhetoric appears to be a strong current in the radical feminism of the Women's Front and similar groups in Norway. [9] However Kvinnefronten has also criticized transphobia. For example Cathrine Linn Kristiansen, the chair of Kvinnefronten, described anti-trans group Women's Declaration International (WDI), on behalf of herself and her group, as "transphobes, racists and sexists" and said that "we strongly condemn them". [10] Kvinnefronten's journal Fett described its platform as intersectional feminist and co-signed a statement that expressed solidarity with trans people and criticized "statements that demonize and dehumanize trans people, dressed up as a debate about gender and health in the name of freedom of expression. We strongly believe that transgender people's right to exist as human beings is not a matter of debate". [11]
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race, class, and sexual orientation. The ideology and movement emerged in the 1960s.
Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy and informed by a human rights perspective. It is often considered culturally progressive and economically center-right to center-left. As the oldest of the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought, liberal feminism has its roots in 19th century first-wave feminism seeking recognition of women as equal citizens, focusing particularly on women's suffrage and access to education, the effort associated with 19th century liberalism and progressivism. Liberal feminism "works within the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that structure." Liberal feminism places great emphasis on the public world, especially laws, political institutions, education and working life, and considers the denial of equal legal and political rights as the main obstacle to equality. As such liberal feminists have worked to bring women into the political mainstream. Liberal feminism is inclusive and socially progressive, while broadly supporting existing institutions of power in liberal democratic societies, and is associated with centrism and reformism. Liberal feminism tends to be adopted by white middle-class women who do not disagree with the current social structure; Zhang and Rios found that liberal feminism with its focus on equality is viewed as the dominant and "default" form of feminism. Liberal feminism actively supports men's involvement in feminism and both women and men have always been active participants in the movement; progressive men had an important role alongside women in the struggle for equal political rights since the movement was launched in the 19th century.
Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a feminist movement centering on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women's freedom. They oppose legal or social efforts to control sexual activities between consenting adults, whether they are initiated by the government, other feminists, opponents of feminism, or any other institution. They embrace sexual minority groups, endorsing the value of coalition-building with marginalized groups. Sex-positive feminism is connected with the sex-positive movement. Sex-positive feminism brings together anti-censorship activists, LGBT activists, feminist scholars, producers of pornography and erotica, among others. Sex-positive feminists believe that prostitution can be a positive experience if workers are treated with respect, and agree that sex work should not be criminalized.
Antisexualism is opposition or hostility towards sexual behavior and sexuality.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW) is a radical feminist and gender-critical non-governmental organization opposing human trafficking, prostitution, and other forms of commercial sex. It has been described as a "neo-abolitionist lobby group" that represents a "carceral feminist anti-trafficking practice," and has been criticized for essentializing women and promoting a controversial and "ideologically charged" definition of trafficking. It is strongly opposed to the perspectives of the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and the sex workers rights movement. It has been linked to anti-trans groups and its Latin American regional branch is a signatory of the manifesto of far-right anti-trans group Women's Declaration International.
The Feminists was a second-wave radical feminist group active in New York City from 1968 to 1973.
Women Against Pornography (WAP) was a radical feminist activist group based out of New York City that was influential in the anti-pornography movement of the late 1970s and the 1980s.
The feminist sex wars, also known as the lesbian sex wars, sex wars or porn wars, are collective debates amongst feminists regarding a number of issues broadly relating to sexuality and sexual activity. Differences of opinion on matters of sexuality deeply polarized the feminist movement, particularly leading feminist thinkers, in the late 1970s and early 1980s and continue to influence debate amongst feminists to this day.
The Norwegian Association for Women's Rights is Norway's oldest and preeminent women's and girls' rights organization that works "to promote gender equality and all women's and girls' human rights through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy." Founded in 1884, NKF is Norway's second oldest political organization after the Liberal Party. NKF stands for an inclusive, intersectional and progressive mainstream liberal feminism and has always been open to everyone regardless of gender. Headquartered at Majorstuen, Oslo, NKF consists of a national-level association as well as regional chapters based in the larger cities, and is led by a national executive board. NKF has had a central role in the adoption of all major gender equality legislation and reforms since 1884.
Feminism has affected culture in many ways, and has famously been theorized in relation to culture by Angela McRobbie, Laura Mulvey and others. Timothy Laurie and Jessica Kean have argued that "one of [feminism's] most important innovations has been to seriously examine the ways women receive popular culture, given that so much pop culture is made by and for men." This is reflected in a variety of forms, including literature, music, film and other screen cultures.
Anna Cecilia Petra Östergren is a Swedish feminist writer, debater, social commentator and an instructor in self-defense. She has an MA in Social Anthropology, and is a doctoral student at Lund University. Her research is titled "The State of Feminism".
Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely.
Feminist views on sexuality widely vary. Many feminists, particularly radical feminists, are highly critical of what they see as sexual objectification and sexual exploitation in the media and society. Radical feminists are often opposed to the sex industry, including opposition to prostitution and pornography. Other feminists define themselves as sex-positive feminists and believe that a wide variety of expressions of female sexuality can be empowering to women when they are freely chosen. Some feminists support efforts to reform the sex industry to become less sexist, such as the feminist pornography movement.
The Women's Liberation Front (WoLF) is an American self-described radical feminist advocacy organization that opposes transgender rights and related legislation. It has engaged in litigation on transgender topics, working against the Obama administration's Title IX directives which defined sex discrimination to include gender identity. WoLF describes itself as radical feminist, and according to its mission statement, it wishes to "abolish regressive gender roles and the epidemic of male violence using legal arguments, policy advocacy, and public education". It has been described by news sources including The Washington Post, The Advocate and NBC as feminist, but progressive and feminist organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)and the National Organization for Women (NOW) challenge this characterization, with NOW describing WoLF alongside Women's Declaration International as "anti-trans bigots disguised as feminists."
The Swedish Women's Lobby is a Swedish gender-critical organization, and an umbrella organization for various Swedish organizations.
TERF is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008, the term TERF was originally used to distinguish transgender-inclusive feminists from a group of radical feminists and social conservatives who reject the position that trans women are women, including trans women in women's spaces, and transgender rights legislation. Trans-inclusive feminists assert that these ideas and positions are transphobic and discriminatory towards transgender people. The use of the term TERF has since broadened to include reference to people with trans-exclusionary views who are not necessarily involved with radical feminism. In the 2020s, the term "trans-exclusionary radical feminism" is used synonymously with or overlaps with "gender-critical feminism".
The Norwegian National Women's Council was founded on 8 January 1904 as an umbrella organization for the various Norwegian women's associations. It was established by Gina Krog whose international contacts had revealed that the International Council of Women was keen to include a delegation from Norway. As a result of diminishing interest, the organization discontinued its work at the end of 1989.
The Women's Declaration International (WDI), formerly the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), is an international advocacy organisation founded in the United Kingdom. WDI has published a Declaration on Women's Sex-Based Rights, and has developed model legislation to restrict transgender rights that has been used in state legislatures in the United States. The organisation has been described as gender-critical, anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-gender, trans-exclusionary, trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF), and as a hate group, and in several countries the group has been linked to the far right. It has been noted by Southern Poverty Law Center as being part of an "anti-LGBTQ+ pseudoscience network".
Kvinneaktivistene is a Norwegian gender-critical/trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF) group that opposes transgender rights, and that has been described as transphobic. Members have opined that they consider trans women to be "men" and "pervos" and have complained that they have faced backlash for expressing such views. The group is closely associated with the Norwegian chapter of Women's Declaration International (WDI). It has had a presentation cancelled by an Oslo events venue, Kulturhuset, due to its anti-trans views; Kulturhuset cited the group's bylaws that explicitly exclude transgender women and said the group is transphobic. It is considered part of the broader anti-gender movement in Norway. In 2024 Benedicte Alnæs, who has been both chair of WDI Norway and a spokesperson for Kvinneaktivistene, reported the leader of the Women's Group Ottar in Oslo to the police for hate speech after the Ottar representative had called her a "Zionist pig" due to her views on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
The Women's Group Ottar is a Norwegian radical feminist women's organization founded in 1991. It has its historical roots in the Norwegian Marxist-Leninist movement of the 1970s and has been described as the most radical women's organization and "a final offshoot of 70s feminism." Ottar began as an offshoot of the Women's Front, and later, it splintered again, resulting in the creation of two new groups with explicitly trans-exclusionary profiles, Women's Declaration International (WDI) and Kvinneaktivistene. The Women's Front described WDI as "transphobes." While mainly focused on combating pornography and prostitution from a radical feminist perspective, Ottar has also faced criticism from the Red Party, the Red Youth, LGBT+ rights groups and others for promoting or tolerating anti-trans and anti-Jewish views within its ranks, and some prominent members such as Kari Jaquesson have expressed support for trans-exclusionary radical feminism (TERF) and declared themselves to be TERFs. Ottar members have also engaged in doxxing and harassment of trans women by publishing pre-transition photos of them. Ottar has promoted several anti-gender beliefs, including opposition to the word "cisgender" and opposition to trans people's access to public restrooms in accordance with their gender identity. Ottar has accused the Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity of working for prostitution as "a nice way to recruit young men into the gay community and has claimed that the Norwegian Humanist Association and Amnesty International are linked to an alleged "prostitution industry." Ottar's claims have been criticized by LGBT+ rights advocates as conspiracy theories and by the Norwegian Humanist Association as unworthy of serious attention. For several years, Ottar has participated in the anti-trans FiLiA conference, which opposes what it refers to as "gender ideology" and which is closely linked to WDI and regarded as one of the world's most active gender-critical groups. In 2024 Ottar faced strong criticism when the chair of its largest chapter referred to a Jewish woman as a "Zionist pig."