As a feminist, I am elated to have seen the movement gain popularity in the university in the past few years. More than ever, I see my feeds filled with people condemning rape culture and repudiating victim blaming. Although the activism of many of these women and men—including my own—is still young, naïve and sometimes outright flawed, to see people actively identify with the movement and call out the rampant sexism in our society is certainly progress.
While there is much zeal and idealism among not just feminists but the various social causes that have taken root in the university, there is also much arrogance. For some, the fight seems to no longer be about the cause, but a matter of pride. Discourse, at some point, is no longer about conversation or true debate—it is now about personal attacks and insults.
I do not pretend that this is something I am innocent of. We dismiss people who question our stances and principles as stupid; we then begin the race to point out the grossest personal flaws in the person: Horrible hair, weird mannerisms, questionable tastes in culture. Burn, and burn well, it seems.
I am not condemning the outrage in itself. It is often difficult to be completely calm and cheerful when dealing with issues, of course. More often than not, what others say and do is far too disrespectful, far too hateful, and, yes, far too idiotic. There is space for anger, because anger is admittedly the just response to these sort of things—we cannot be okay with their words and actions.
Our anger, however, sometimes causes us to forget what we are fighting for. We become engrossed with the destruction of personality when we should be focused on destruction of onerous systems. Perhaps it is alright (and admittedly fun) to question personality and personhood to some extent—but it cannot be all we do and it cannot be the soul of our cause.
We often say that people are more than stereotypes, more than just the ideas that they are reduced to. We claim, rightly, that women are unjustly denied things like career paths and opportunities because people judge them by their voice, their gait, their sex lives. We would, I think, be hypocritical if we used the same things to shame our detractors instead of facing their arguments head on.
Let me not mince any words—this is the exact peril of a movement rapidly moving towards the mainstream. Movements like these are supposed to demand a deep and difficult examination of our values, the foundations of our interactions. When these movements begin to be reduced into convenient posts and memes ready to be shared online, however, “joining” such movements become easy—and become detached from the moral and intellectual rigor that is necessary for them to truly flourish.
Of course, this is not to say that movements should not become mainstream—our ultimate objective is to have our advocacies—genuine gender equality, equal opportunities for all—become social norms that we all strive for. In the process of doing so, however, we cannot simply let double standards stand. We cannot tolerate intellectually bankrupt methods of activism. If we do, then the feminism we stand for may be nothing more than a hollow shell of its history.
If we do—then we will have truly and utterly lost.
