Stupidity by association

There are people out there who argue against feminism.

This, in and of itself, is not a strange thing. Make any kind of speech act at all, and someone will inevitably find a way to argue against it. Even if you are God almighty accompanied by all the angels singing the Hymn of Truth, there will inevitably be someone. It's going to happen, so don't fret it.

The strange thing about people arguing against feminism is that they, for whatever reason, don't just settle for arguing. They could say "hey, I've read your argument, and there are some points I happen to disagree with, and here's why". They could say that. That would be a reasonable thing to say. And, to be sure, the polite thing to say.

Instead, it goes something like this:

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS GENDER! PEOPLE ARE BORN THAT WAY, BE IT MALE OR FEMALE! THERE ARE NO SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS, AND THEREFORE NORMS AND DISCOURSE CANNOT INFLUENCE THE WAY SEXED BEINGS ACT AND THINK!

Which, allcaps aside, is the strangest thing to say. It goes way beyond the needs of the argument - it in effect takes us right back to the nineteenth century when it comes to social sciences. Which, all in all, is slightly overkill.

You may or may not be familiar with Occams razor. In this case, it's not so much a razor as a full blown ultradeluxe electrorazor 5000, with all the extra trimming features added. The result is not only the removal of those things that are deemed superfluous to the argument, but of all the things useful in understanding this society we live in. Sociology, political science, psychology - all thrown overboard in the effort to show that Feminism Is Wrong. Feminists use it, and therefore it is Wrong too.

I can't help but be constantly flabbergasted by the enthusiasm behind this reduction to absurdity. Feminism is wrong - and therefore we can't know anything about how large scale societal systems works. Feminism is wrong - and therefore there is no such thing as critique of power dynamics within institutions. Feminism is wrong - and therefore writers like Proust can't tell us anything about how humans work.

Go go antifeminists. Stay strong.