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.