Yay! I'm now allowed to post my article that I wrote for the upcoming Central Phoenix/ Inez Casiano NOW Newsletter! Just a reminder to go sign up!
Haruki Murakami, a famous Japanese author, once proclaimed that “What we seek is some sort of compensation for what we put up with.” In other words, we seek validation. We seek validation for how we talk, how we look, how we run, how we behave, how we experience life. As social creatures, humans are fed by the presence of others, but in particular, we thrive with the presence of those who make us feel better, or even feel more legitimate. Such an experience has led to the echo chamber effect. No one goes out looking for a fight. We prefer to cushion ourselves within our own social group and exist only within the framework that we establish. Often, we are blind to any opposing party simply because we make sure we are not exposed to them.
This lack of exposure has only been exacerbated by the presence of the Internet and the online media. Think about your daily, supposedly innocuous, routine: you get up and immediately check your phone. Many of us, especially the younger generation, gravitate toward social media, all of which has been customized to fit our particular interests. Google mail (also known as Gmail) even sorts each mail into subcategories for us and highlights the mail it thinks is the most salient. At the end of the day, we open up our laptops where all of our most visited sites are listed on the bottom. We can click on Netflix and browse through selections that an algorithm has pre-selected for us. Then we go to bed and repeat the process.
The Internet has not broadened our horizons. It has limited our perspective.
In the last week, I’ve been scouring the deep pits of the Internet, attempting to objectively evaluate both feminist and anti-feminist media. Frankly, I’ve had a terrible time. Media caters to its viewers, and viewers’ wishes shape the media. Although some relatively objective sites exist (e.g. the WHO page for violence against women), the viewership on said sites is little compared to the salacious, click-bait types of media. Anti-feminist sites, in particular, have a strong grassroots culture, and several of them are well aware of other anti-feminist media, which leads to a network of people believing the same thing, and not bothering to fact-check. My particular focus this week was on The Anti Feminist website, which not only pokes fun at feminist concerns regarding acceptance of sexuality and slut-shaming, but also paints men as the victim of the supposed matriarchy in the media. (Nevermind that white, old, rich, heteronormative men still own most of the major news outlets. *Cough* I’m looking at Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Time Warner, and CBS. *Cough*) This red-pill philosophy demonstrates the problem we have created between our perspective and truth. To several of us, perspective becomes truth.
So I’m challenging you today. Try seeing the other side of the debate. Go read some anti-feminist arguments. Understand why people are upset with what you believe in, so that you can learn how to legitimately crush their argument. Because if we cling to our beliefs in desperation and refuse to listen to anyone else, how are we any different than the people we oppose?
Truth Isn’t a Music Genre: There’s No Such Thing as Alternative
This lack of exposure has only been exacerbated by the presence of the Internet and the online media. Think about your daily, supposedly innocuous, routine: you get up and immediately check your phone. Many of us, especially the younger generation, gravitate toward social media, all of which has been customized to fit our particular interests. Google mail (also known as Gmail) even sorts each mail into subcategories for us and highlights the mail it thinks is the most salient. At the end of the day, we open up our laptops where all of our most visited sites are listed on the bottom. We can click on Netflix and browse through selections that an algorithm has pre-selected for us. Then we go to bed and repeat the process.
The Internet has not broadened our horizons. It has limited our perspective.
In the last week, I’ve been scouring the deep pits of the Internet, attempting to objectively evaluate both feminist and anti-feminist media. Frankly, I’ve had a terrible time. Media caters to its viewers, and viewers’ wishes shape the media. Although some relatively objective sites exist (e.g. the WHO page for violence against women), the viewership on said sites is little compared to the salacious, click-bait types of media. Anti-feminist sites, in particular, have a strong grassroots culture, and several of them are well aware of other anti-feminist media, which leads to a network of people believing the same thing, and not bothering to fact-check. My particular focus this week was on The Anti Feminist website, which not only pokes fun at feminist concerns regarding acceptance of sexuality and slut-shaming, but also paints men as the victim of the supposed matriarchy in the media. (Nevermind that white, old, rich, heteronormative men still own most of the major news outlets. *Cough* I’m looking at Comcast, The Walt Disney Company, 21st Century Fox, Time Warner, and CBS. *Cough*) This red-pill philosophy demonstrates the problem we have created between our perspective and truth. To several of us, perspective becomes truth.
So I’m challenging you today. Try seeing the other side of the debate. Go read some anti-feminist arguments. Understand why people are upset with what you believe in, so that you can learn how to legitimately crush their argument. Because if we cling to our beliefs in desperation and refuse to listen to anyone else, how are we any different than the people we oppose?
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