Monologue of Lyubov Kalugina: She is accused of "inciting hatred towards men"
Radical feminist from Omsk Lyubov Kalugina said that the Investigation Committee is conducting a check on her in part 1 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code: the reason for this was the complaint of a Birobidzhan resident that the posts of a woman on the VKontakte network "incite hatred towards men." Kalugin says that the law enforcement agencies paid attention to her in the spring of 2017, and a few months later, in the summer, she was summoned to the police for a conversation. In August of this year, a woman, she claims, was summoned to the UK and was told that a criminal case could be opened against her. According to feminists, her twelve posts, published in 2013-2016, became the pretext - memes, demotivators and text posts are among them. We talked with Lyubov Kalugina about the current situation and views on feminism - the heroine notes that they largely differ from the position of the publication.
H
It all started in the spring of 2017. I am a citizen of Kazakhstan; a man in uniform unexpectedly came to my apartment, introduced himself as an employee of the migration department, said that they had some kind of routine inspection and he should talk to me so that I would not violate the migration
legislation. It seemed strange to me: they usually do not do that. In addition, this person was suspiciously interested in my page in social networks. Then I found out that he used to go through my friends and find out my personal information, including close relationships.
In August 2017, I was called to the center of resistance to extremism at the first official conversation. Having learned from the bitter experience of other persecuted people, I was with a lawyer: without him, talking to the authorities is very dangerous. We were then shown the materials of the pre-investigation check and screenshots of all posts. Of course, my first reaction was laughter: there are mostly jokes and fights between feminists, where almost nothing is said about men at all. They took an explanatory note from me and seemed to be lagging behind. A couple of weeks later I called the security officer, asked what and how, would it be. He said that my case was transferred to the regional IC (the fact is that at the time of the publication of these posts I changed several addresses) and if I want to collect the abandoned material, I have to go on these ICs myself. I did not go - I still regret that I did it.
They did not touch me for a long time, and now, on August 15, they again pulled the conversation, this time to the Investigation Committee of the Central District. I was again with a lawyer. They had some kind of expertise, which I found in my jokes about a drill in the ass, about wives with pans terrible extremism. I did not give evidence this time, because I understood that if they were going to open a criminal case for such trifles, they would not stop and each of my words was turned inside out and used against me. From August 15, I was no longer bothered; they said that the criminal case would be at the latest by September 9.
While we are talking only about the posts on your personal page. The second time we were not allowed to look at the materials of the pre-investigation check. I do not know how legal this is, but the lawyer did not protest - perhaps it was either legal, or she thought it was useless to demand. She managed to quickly flip through the materials - she was literally pulled out of her hands - and noticed that the materials seemed to have not changed. But something could miss.
If even the mildest guilty verdict is passed, the path will be beaten to imprison not only feminists, but also a bunch of other people as jokes.
The first thing I did (of course, apart from communicating with like-minded people), turned into the SOVA information and analytical center. They wrote about me, then picked up Mediazone, and then other media became interested. Now I take advantage of the situation. The interest of the media to me is quite large - this, of course, is not very comfortable, but I try to extract the maximum benefit from this: the situation is not good, but publicity in such matters really helps. My like-minded people created a petition, collecting signatures is going quite well.
At different times I created different communities. Some have already stalled, some have not gained subscribers. The most crowded and visited are "Your terrible lady" and "Proud of being a womyn". "Your terrible lady" was created as a platform for radical feminist education, and "Proud of being a womyn" - for controversy with the feminists of the third wave, but now painful themes and conflicts are carried out within the feminist community to platforms created for education, for quiet communication, so do not litter.
Then I plan to defend myself. Of course, no admission of guilt, of course, is out of the question, because there is no guilt, in addition, it can be a very bad judicial precedent. If even the mildest conviction is pronounced, the path will be beaten, to plant not only feminists, but also a bunch of other people as jokes. In this case, defending my innocence is a matter of principle.
Now about the difference of positions. We are arguing with third-wave feminists, with the SJW movement, or intersectional movement, on a number of issues. The very first thing: radical feminism believes that this ideology is only for women and about women. And a woman is a person born with external female genital organs, recorded at birth as a woman, socialized as a woman, past a female school of life. Intersectional feminists include on the feminist agenda the interests of a number of groups of men, some of these men are not recognized by men. - MtF transgender people, - besides them, we are also talking about gays, minorities, migrants, and religious minorities. Intersectional feminists also include in their political agenda issues related to environmental movement and zoolibertarianism, that is, the protection of animals. We believe that all this distracts attention from the serious problems associated with violence against women, and is an irrational waste of resources. Men for some reason do not rush to include the interests of women in the agenda of their movements.
Radical feminists look at sex as an institution. Not just a phenomenon, not just a process of genital interaction, but an institution with strong historical roots
The watershed between radical feminism and third-wave feminism also lies on the subject of sex. Third wave feminism was born as a result of sex wars (not immediately after them, but after a long reflection, but still it is the brainchild of sex wars). In debates about sexuality, pornography, sadomasochism (BDSM), MtF transgender people, prostitution, held in English-speaking countries at the turn of the seventies-eighties. Intersectional feminists, like their predecessors, sex-positive feminists of the second wave, consider sex to be a right, a part of human identity that needs to be fully protected. They take him beyond the framework of political analysis, they believe that this is the sphere of personal relations that does not concern anyone. Radical feminists look at sex as an institution. Not just a phenomenon, not just a process of genital interaction, but an institution that has powerful historical roots and acts for women not for the good, but an institution for their suppression. The institution, which includes such phenomena as rape and fertilization, that is, the pen of women into reproductive slavery.
The watershed between third-wave feminism and radical feminism also lies on the issue of personal and political. The main thesis of radical feminism: the personal is political. This means that for women, the mechanisms of political oppression are crammed into privacy. We serve men, spend almost all our free time on it and as a result we cannot make a career: earn money, go up the career ladder, do science, politics, art - in general, something else, more productive and interesting than work servants. The men who were served, who have a lot of free time, calmly do it. They get a lot of money, because they have a lot of time for this, they make a career, including a political one, occupy high leadership positions, from where they squeeze us in such a "natural" way. Thus, personal life is the foundation of politics. This is what the principle of "personal - political" means. Feminists of the third wave deny this principle and carefully breed private life, which for them is just a sacred cow, and political space.
Returning to the issue of sex wars and debates about sexuality, I would like to note the following. Third-wave feminists basically support the policy of identities, trans-movement. Many do not find anything wrong with pornography and sadomasochism. There are also those who support the legalization of prostitution. Radical feminists are categorical opponents of all this.
Cover: Photocreo Bednarek - stock.adobe.com