Trigger warning: This email contains general references to the Epstein files, gender-based violence, pedophilia, and sexual assault.

Leftists may be loud about calling out the abusers in the Epstein files, but leftist culture isn't ready or willing to divest from patriarchal structures.

Supporting and enabling predators is the norm.

Leftists fail to hold their community members accountable, treat survivors as disposable, don't learn the tools for restorative justice or even understand what it is, and then act surprised when survivors turn to carceral systems to seek the barest shred of protection.

I'm less interested in seeing leftist men put famous predators on blast, and more interested in seeing them unpack their internalized patriarchy.

I'm less interested in seeing leftist men call out the Trump administration for the cover-up, and more interested in seeing them examine how they've contributed to pushing survivors out of their spaces.

What if we really, really took a hard look at how the culture of power, exploitation, and pedophilia is reflected in leftist spaces?

That culture can be seen in:

• The leaders who date younger women they can "mold" (abuse more easily)

• Leftists who use the language of relationship anarchy to absolve themselves of care, connection, and mutual support

• Men who spout the importance of reproductive rights but pressure their partners into unwanted abortions

• And many other corners of the leftosphere.

What if we untangled the complex knots of abuser/enabler networks in leftist culture?

What if we divested from the celebrity cult mentality that keeps exploitative leftist men in positions of leadership, skimming resources that should go toward survivors and others facing oppression?

When I see men on the left being loud about the Epstein files, I think of how quiet they are about everyday feminism. I see them distancing themselves from the “bad” men in the files, while they engage in or actively enable the same kinds of harm on smaller scales.

Misogyny and transphobia are everywhere in leftist culture. We don't prioritize creating or maintaining leftist spaces that center survivors, or that are even safe for survivors. We platform performative feminist men. Meanwhile, it’s trendy to say “Listen to Black women!”… but not to back that up with material support for the most marginalized activists, many of whom are themselves survivors of gender-based violence.

I'd love it if men who are railing about the Epstein files took a week off social media to reflect on how they uphold patriarchy, and actually change.

But gender-based oppression won’t be shaken easily. The patriarchy is self-replicating. It’s tied to capitalism, the nuclear family, and every aspect of our lives. Those of us who are not cis men have spent plenty of time justifying our patriarchal training, because it’s far more simple than untangling the complex webs of dehumanization woven through us from childhood. Once you begin untangling the webs, there seems to be no end. And of course, cis men have no reason to even see the systems that keep them in power, let alone to do the difficult work of understanding and dismantling them.

We can’t trust men just because they’re leftists. Or activists. Or “feminists.” Or queer. Or any other label they take on. If cis leftist men want to show solidarity with survivors of gender-based violence—and all other women, trans people, and children—they must unequivocally commit to:

• Deconstructing masculinity

• Healing from the trauma of patriarchy

• Taking accountability for their interpersonal harms

• Learning from feminist leaders and thinkers

• Ensuring the safety of survivors in leftist spaces

• Re-organizing collectives in ways that honor survivors, support gender diversity, and center the wisdom and systems of Indigenous peoples (and other non-colonial, non-patriarchal groups)

If you’re a survivor who’s given up on activist spaces because your abuser(s) have been treated with more dignity and care than you have: I’m so sorry. You deserve better. We can do better.

May this moment call forth the change we’ve needed all along.

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