Separatist feminism is a form of radical feminism that holds that opposition to patriarchy is best done through focusing exclusively on women and girls. Some separatist feminists do not believe that men can make positive contributions to the feminist movement and that even well-intentioned men replicate the dynamics of patriarchy.^{[verification needed]}

Author Marilyn Frye describes separatist feminism as "separation of various sorts or modes from men and from institutions, relationships, roles and activities that are male-defined, male-dominated, and operating for the benefit of males and the maintenance of male privilege—this separation being initiated or maintained, at will, by women."

In a tract on socialist feminism published in 1972, the Hyde Park Chapter of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union differentiated between Separatism as an "ideological position", and as a "tactical position". In the same document, they further distinguished between separatism as "personal practice" and as "political position".

Helena Moloney (1884, Dublin, Ireland - 28 January 1967, Dublin, Ireland) was a prominent Irish republican, feminist and labor activist. She fought in the 1916 Easter Rising and later became the second woman president of the Irish Trade Union Congress.

In 1903, inspired by a pro-nationalist speech given by Maud Gonne, Helena Moloney joined Inghinidhe na hÉireann (Daughters of Ireland) and began a lifelong commitment to the republican cause. In 1908 she became the editor of the organisation's monthly newspaper, Bean na hÉireann (Woman of Ireland).

Moloney also had a career as an actress, and was a member of the Abbey Theater. However her primary commitment was to her political work.

As a labor activist, Moloney was a close colleague of James Connolly and Countess Markievicz. In November 1915 Connolly appointed her secretary of the Irish Women Workers' Union.

Moloney was a prominent member of Cumann na mBan ("Women's League"), an Irish republican women's paramilitary organisation formed in April 1914 as an auxiliary of the Irish Volunteers (IV). Members of Cumann na mBan trained alongside the men of the Irish Volunteers in preparation for the armed rebellion against the English forces in Ireland.