I have the gratification of being one of several lucky guys to be in the first undergraduate co-ed class at Chatham University (in Pittsburgh, for those of you who have never heard of it, like me, before I was contacted). Why am I so lucky? Well, before going to Chatham, my knowledge of feminism was nearly nonexistent. But because Chatham’s required courses like First-Year Writing Seminar and the oh-so-beloved and completely necessary course: “Strategies for Success in College,” I was introduced to the central pillars of feminism: patriarchy, privilege, rape culture, gender politics, and the importance of diversity. I would have never known how privileged I am as a white male had it not been seeped in Chatham’s core curriculum to serve as a constant reminder to me, every day of class for that first year. But, as a previously all-female school, what else would you expect?
I’ve been at Chatham for a year now and things are finally starting to click. I now notice the plights of women today. For example, I was typing up a totally sarcasm-free article for an online website, and I was trying to use a particular word in the English language. The word was, “mandate.” To the untrained and uneducated eye, this word may seem harmless. But, as any gender studies major, social justice warrior or gender activist will tell you, this word is part of our phallogocentric language that subtly conditions all of us to oppress women in the most microscopic of ways. Do you notice it? The first three letters: “m-a-n-date.” And what is the definition of the word, “mandate?” The authority to give orders or someone with that authority. That’s right. We’re telling little girls and women that to give orders, you have to be a man. It was right there in plain sight all along! Exhibit B: “Manners.” It’s definition: the proper way to behave. My newly educated mind quickly began to recognize the rampant sexism that exists in the basic words in our dictionary: “Mend” means to fix something, “mentality,” means the ability to form intelligent and coherent thoughts. Even traditionally feminine words exhibit this phallogocentrism: Manicure, menopause, menstruation, even the word woman has the word “man” in it…
How could I not have seen this before? The fact that I had previously been so ignorant of this blatant sexism in words I use every day only proved how deeply I was conditioned to devalue women, all without even knowing I was doing it!
All sarcasm aside, I am in no way committing a strawman here. Gender activists often complain that history is male focused, and they start their evidence with the first three letters in the word. They'll often have special "herstory" programs at universities that specifically focus on women (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herstory). I have no problem with focusing on historical female figures, so long as it's done in an objective way, and not through the lens of modern-day feminism.
Regardless, the purpose of this article is to demonstrate women's, "issues," in the first world. Aside from the continually debunked wage gap argument, and the sexual assault hysteria, both of which I will write about in the future, this is all that feminists in the west have to complain about. I think that these kinds of arguments are akin to saying that our society is male-centered because we have artificially selected bananas to have the shape they do. It's just as bad as when religious apologists make the argument that since the banana is such a convenient fruit, it is proof that God exists. There are many parallels between left-winged feminist-brand social justice and the traditionally right-winged religiosity of old, but this will be a topic to talk about in another article.
