Before FDS there were no women only spaces on Reddit, or, really, on the internet at large. Even feminist sites allowed men into the discourse as most of them perpetuated LibFem logic/ideals. Dialog always seemed to devolve into pickme pandering and exhaustive, not all men circular conversations.

In a very short period of time FDS creators began this forum, the website, Twitter, FB and podcasts; giving women from all walks of life a safe space to commiserate, confess, complain, laugh, grow and cheer each other on. I've never been in a more supportive space, online or IRL.

The handbook can be tough for new members. A lot of FDS feels like a harsh awakening-ripping off the band aid of societal fairytales to show the darker reality of the patriarchy underneath. It can feel like tough love. I found this sub after a chilling experience with a TRP narc in 2/2020 when I was questioning my own sanity, so spun from projection and gaslighting I had no idea which way was up. I shudder to think where I'd be now had I not.

I was critical of the last podcast. And then I zoomed my lens out. That comprises < 1% of what FDS has given us. I wanted to give a shout out to the mods (specifically u/electroloop , u/Phoenix__Rising2018, u/modernmedusaa, u/spinsterchachkies, u/lillithwon) who work tirelessly to keep defending our space from lurking scroaches. The badass bitches who came up with the structure and framework to teach women how to take back their power from a world hell bent on insisting that pandering to patriarchy IS empowering. Thank you for creating this and keeping it going. I have a feeling FDS is just beginning to soar into what it will eventually be.