Base Assumptions
General things to keep in mind
We try to make the culture at Double Union more welcoming than the world at large. Here are some of the values and best practices you can expect other members to share, what isn’t okay in the space no matter whether you are a member or not, and general guidelines. See also our code of conduct.
Values you can assume other members strive to uphold:
- “Women” includes trans women; not all women have uteri/XX chromosomes/etc.
- Nonbinary people are nonbinary people, not “women-lite”, and not men or women with other pronouns
- LGBTQIA-supportive (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual)
- The majority of gender-associated differences are socialized, not biological
- Feminism is good
- Meritocracy is a joke
- Intersectionality is super important (credit: Kimberlé Crenshaw)
- Racism is not okay
- Classism is not okay
- Prioritizing women and nonbinary people and our needs is perfectly awesome and needs no excuse
- If you get called out on something, apologize and learn from it
- It’s okay to disagree, not okay to blame self or others
- Respect people’s gender pronouns
- Capitalism contributes to injustice
Stuff that isn’t okay in this space:
- Taking “reverse sexism” or “reverse racism” seriously
- Questioning the existence of privilege (white privilege, class privilege, etc)
- Using the phrase “politically correct” when you are not 100% obviously ironic
- Requests for feminism 101 education (outside of educational events or other times where people invite each other to ask questions)
- Playing devil’s advocate
- Asking someone to educate you about an aspect of their identity (unless the person has encouraged asking questions)
- Making statements that assume that everyone shares an experience of privilege (examples: has gone to college, can afford to eat out, can find employment easily, has a functional family)
- Touching people without explicit verbal consent
- Policing people’s bodies or what they choose to eat
- Taking away someone’s keyboard instead of showing them how to do it
- Making fun of people for asking questions showing they lack technical knowledge
- Petting or interacting with anyone’s on-duty service animal
- Making fun of any kind of body part, shape, or size