New feminist site Ovarit was founded on July 29, one month after r/GenderCritical was shut down from the social media platform by Reddit’s moderators. There have been over 1,600 users, over 2,000 posts, and approximately 15,000 comments on the site since its introduction in the last several weeks.

r/removal GenderCritical’s departure from Reddit this summer left a hole in the online radical feminist community. A new women-focused site fills the vacuum. It had 65,000 members before it was banned, making it the largest and most active radical feminist subreddit at the time.

Former r/GenderCritical moderators founded the website. US-based feminist activist and organiser led the new website. She said r/GenderCritical was crucial for the feminist community because it provided a secure environment for suppressed conversations.

Ovarit: a brief history:

The beginning of Ovarit history occurred on July 29, 2020, which was exactly one month after /r/GenderCritical was removed from Reddit. Many of its users migrated to other “free speech” websites that were similar to Reddit, such as Saidit, which is a hub for QAnon. 

It was created by former GenderCritical users with “help” from Spinster and the Women’s Human Rights Campaign. These people wanted a “real feminist” Reddit alternative. It’s not surprising that some organising was done on Discord.

Since “ovarit” refers to anatomical ovaries (the female gonads), it suggests that women who have had an oophorectomy or were born without ovaries are excluded. Trans males and non-binary people with ovaries are also included in this category.

This website originally wanted to build a “safe zone” for users to “shield” themselves and “grow”. Extremist movements often create private communities.

The System:

Ovarit, a link aggregator, operates a forked version of Throat, a now-defunct Reddit clone called Voat. Each of its “circles,” or private discussion groups, often has some connection to trans-exclusionary ideology. Examples comprise:

• “Activism,” in support of activism…against trans women.

• “Cancelled,” a song that criticises attempts by sane people to quiet transphobes.

• Because why not “GenderCritical”?

• The term “radfemmery” refers to memes that make fun of transgender people.

• “TransLogic” is an article that purports to condemn the actions of trans activists (also known as TRAs) without providing any basis for doing so.

• “Women,” apparently for lobbying for the rights of women that are somehow related to sex.

Ovarit prohibits the slurs “tranny” and “troon” but allows TERF language like “TRA” for trans activists and “TIM” (“trans-identified male”) for trans women.

The administrators:

For its administrators, the task is worth it for the online community it serves. It was inundated with support messages after its introduction. Its operators envisage their website as the first step in a wave of female online resistance.

Womenopausal wanted Ovarit to “channel the global knowledge, wisdom, enthusiasm, and experiences of women into action.” We may construct a new online frontier of women’s opposition to male control by defining patriarchy in 2020 and fighting it. “