Mythbustin’ Mondays: Feminists Are Only Opinionated And Hold No Truth or Value

I’ve heard this a few times, maybe not in the same wording, but definitely with the same meaning and intentions.  Yes, Feminists have opinions, as non-Feminists, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Moderates, or the Tea Party Movement do.  But I know from that pulled list you would say at least one is not solely opinionated and holds no value, but is credible.  Sorry to say this, but Feminists aren’t making patriarchy, gender and sexual orientation oppressions up, and this blog isn’t just for fun.  We’re trying to inform our friends, family, and colleagues “this shit is for real.”  Women, sorry but not at every level in society are you equal to men.  And this is not just an opinion, it’s a fact.

One day in Carrier, I asked a good friend of mine who is not a Feminist, why she thought Introduction to Women’s Studies is not apart of the General Education curriculum.  She replied, “Maybe because it’s too opinionated and it would scare off freshman.”  Well, it was somewhat of a true statement I must say.  But college is supposed to scare us a little bit, wake us up.  However, I snapped back, along the lines of:

“Too opinionated?  I am reading a scholarly article on Honor Killings, where men are killing Middle Eastern females because they went to the movies, their husbands had dreams of their wives having affairs, or their daughter kissed someone she is not married to.  Or, what about my other article where women’s vaginas are mutilated in order to achieve womanhood?  The very thing that makes a female a female, is removed in order to become a woman.  But these are just opinions.  These events don’t occur, there are no factual evidence, and if there were, there’s no value to them.  It doesn’t mean anything.”

Yeah, maybe it was a little harsh, but her statement pissed me off.  Feminists don’t make this shit up, we don’t sit around and bitch about nothing or make things up.  Patriarchy is a real system, but it’s hard to see because it’s all we know and it’s fucking everywhere.  It’s a haze which sits on our shoulders so we can only see in close proximity of where we are.  And, if what’s near you, you’re romantic, social, political, or economical situation isn’t that bad (male or female) then you discredit any Feminist values.  Because what Feminism studies couldn’t be true since I am a woman, and it’s not happening to me.   Look further than yourself, look to women in poverty, look to women of ethnic and racial minority, look to women in other cultures, look to your mothers, especially to your grandmother.

To discredit Feminism, is to disregard your position in life.  Because though you don’t claim Feminism for yourself, you are here because of Feminism.  Whether you are at a job or in school, voting in the presidential and state elections, or able to make a choice to own and control your own body, that’s because of Feminism.

What Feminism fought and continues to fight for are not because they “feel” sub-human and “feel” they are being granted injustice and inequality.  It’s because they know.