A Scholar Asked, ‘Why Can’t We Hate Men?’ Now She Responds to the Deluge of Criticism

It doesn't fully address the question the interviewer asked. She was asked about the concern that this attitude would alienate centrists, but she answered the question as though she was asked about progressives.

Her response assumes that the hypothetical man in this situation is familiar with the context she's speaking from and is educated about feminism and sociology. She reasons that if a progressive rejects all of that because of their hurt feelings then they weren't really progressive to begin with.

The problem with this is that it only makes sense from within feminism, you have to understand a lot of feminist theory to get where she's coming from and even then you have to agree with her conclusions. She's practically gaslighting the reader by saying that there is nothing divisive about this.

Do you think someone unfamiliar with feminist theory will just dive into the literature, trying to figure out what she means by all of this? Or will they walk away believing that feminism is about hating men, because she's literally stating that feminism justifies hating men.

Now, I won't go as far as to say this will drive people to the right inherently, but it does give the right and anti-feminists more ammo to use against feminists. It further tarnishes the optics around feminism in the mainstream and increases the divide between centrist moderate liberals and progressive leftists.

/r/TrueReddit Thread Parent Link - chronicle.com