Have a quick read of this blog post on the subject of women not taking criticism well … and the responses that follow. I know the linked resource is kind of cutesy and shallow, but it does highlight an issue which I encounter time and time again – especially with regards to feminists. Also try googling on the words “why can’t women accept criticism?” to locate other similar discussions.
I appreciate that there are no doubt plenty of men who don’t handle criticism terribly well either, but the trait does appear to be much more prevalent amongst the feminist/SJW cohort. Why is that? Why does the average feminist fly off the handle so easily, and grossly over-use terms such as “misogynist” and “hateful” when responding to even the mildest criticism?
Wikipedia defines misogyny as “the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Misogyny can be manifested in numerous ways, including sexual discrimination, denigration of women, violence against women, and sexual objectification of women.” (Mod: This definition doesn’t appear to include ‘failure to enthusiastically accept every facet of feminist ideology’, ‘disapproving of certain aspects of learned female behaviour’, or ‘pointing out mistruths promoted by feminist spokespersons’, for example.)
Things are becoming so bent out of shape now that in some jurisdictions there are serious moves afoot to make anti-feminist comments illegal. Just madness! Terms like ‘sexist’ and ‘anti-democratic’ are far too insipid when describing this trend – it’s totalitarianism pure and simple.
As I mentioned in a related post, a major reason for establishing this blog was the very many times I have sought to add comments to online discussions about gender issues only to subsequently find that the comments were removed … never posted.
This inability by feminists to acknowledge views that differ from their own, to consider them, or even to allow them to be publicly discussed by others, is deeply disturbing. See my blog post about the ‘Strippergate’ affair. David Koch’s experience of having his online response to a feminist attack ‘disappeared’ was not in any way unusual – it seems to be virtually de riguer in feminist forums/blogs.
The only male responses that typically get posted – in an cynical attempt to suggest that all viewpoints are being accommodated – are either comments from misguided ‘white knights’ or inarticulate oafish rants. The latter are posted purely to ‘prove’ a point about the lack of validity of male viewpoints on gender relations issues. Any sensible male responses are conveniently binned by “over-enthusiastic” moderators – or however else you wish to dress up this deliberate policy of censorship.
Haven’t we already seen enough examples of the process whereby a particular group of people are targeted, disenfranchised, alienated and then demonised? This invariably leads to greater polarisation of positions, and to anger and ultimately radicalisation. This is exactly what is now happening with what passes as the sexism and gender relations debate (example).
One group (feminists) have hogged centre stage for so long now that they are unprepared to yield to others, even briefly. More worryingly still, they are motivated to prevent those alternative viewpoints being aired in any forum through any means at their disposal.
Alternatively, what better platform for us to come together around than the ideal of equality? This route would traverse honest mature forthright discourse, with each group conceding areas for improvement and assisting each other in implementing fair and workable fixes. Surely this is a better path to travel?
See also:
‘Anti-feminism’ posters at American University investigated as a ‘hate crime’ (10 March 2017)
Mozilla CEO threatens to fire person responsible for anonymous hate speech on Reddit (24 August 2015)
Why Do Feminists Cook Up Stories About ‘Misogyny’ When They Lose Debates? (11 June 2015)
http://thefederalist.com/2014/04/18/why-are-feminists-so-insecure-6-reflections-on-the-confidence-gap/ and this discussion on the related topic of Why women hold grudges