Why My Gender Should Not Define My Beliefs

Maggie Fischer | maggie@thecounterweight.net

On principle, I try to avoid posting on Facebook about my political beliefs. Like many, I never much wanted to be called a bigot on my own profile page, and thus have often thought of politics, current events, etc., to be too volatile of subjects to post about. 

Recently, I broke my social media silence to show my support for a controversial article written in The Odyssey by a Bucknell student. The article, titled “Why I Hate The Word Feminist,” discussed the student’s dislike for the word “feminism” and many of extreme ideas the author found it connotes, such as the “Free The Nipple Campaign.” And dare I say it, the author of the article...was female. 

I feel that today’s feminist movement, third wave feminism, goes beyond campaigning for equality to the point where it begins to demean members of other genders, as found on the feminist t-shirt saying “Shut up! I wear heels bigger than your d**k.” Why should I support a current movement that at its core, fights for equality, but in its practice does the opposite?

In expressing this on Facebook, I received unnecessarily rude comments telling me that, by expressing my opinion, I was “isolating myself from a movement that is doing nothing but attempting to protect my rights as both a woman and as a person.” If that is so, why is the feminist movement not fighting for my right to express my opinion? I was told that I was “transphobic,” though I mentioned nothing of the sort, and instead was showing my support of equality and was specifically fighting for people not to be demeaned because of their gender. 
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"My gender should never pre-determine the validity of my political beliefs"

​If I thought the feminist movement today truly fought for equality, my radical opinion would have been met with feminists responses like “Though I may disagree, I appreciate your courage to voice your opinion, as many women today feel like society and men demand they be silent.”
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Whether you believe it or not, it is possible for us females (those biologically female and those who identify as such) to dislike the current feminist movement. Just as we can differ from what society dictates and become scientists and engineers, we can hold political beliefs that differ from what, seemingly, is expected of us. Just because I am a woman does not mean I have to fight for liberal beliefs. 

Nobody should ever be personally attacked based on their opinion, something I think we can all agree on. Why should that change when gender comes into play? Why is it right for women to call other women “ill-informed” for having differing political ideologies? My gender should never pre-determine the validity of my political beliefs, and the feminist movement should do nothing other than support that. 

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Maggie Fischer
maggie@thecounterweight.net