I've considered myself a feminist since I was a young child, and I think this is the first time I've ever felt truly alienated and betrayed by the (online) feminist community.

I've seen a popular strain of tweets and threads recently complaining that "condoms are free whilst menstrual products are not", and many cis women who claim to be queer allies saying that this is because "men's pleasure is valued over women's dignity". I'm in favour of free menstrual products, obviously, but I don't think trivialising condoms to "men's pleasure" is appropriate either.

When I try to point out that condoms are sometimes provided for free because droves of gay and bisexual men and trans women fucking died during the AIDS crisis, leading to their communities campaigning vociferously for something to end their suffering, I'm accused of "placing men's issues over women's issues", which feels both homophobic and transphobic.

It also led me to think further and I feel that the provision of free condoms is...also a women's issue? I already mentioned trans women, but cishet women also use condoms. It is the only way to 100% prevent the spread of sexual disease, which contrary to popular belief are not exclusive to queer men. In a standard cishet relationship, it's the only form of birth control that the woman isn't 100% responsible for. In a world where afab people's reproductive rights are being steadily rolled back, they're arguably essential for woman's sexual liberation.

Also I would like to ask where all these tweeters and threaders are finding free condoms? The only place I've seen them before is at youth sexual health clinics, which also have free pads, and my university campus' lgbt room (where you can also find free pads and tampons in the women's restrooms, and hopefully also the men's restroom, but I don't actually know). In any other context, you do have to buy condoms and they're quite expensive so...?