This blog was started out of spite.

This blog was started out of spite.

A conversation defending a paper I had written at my liberal arts women’s college in Massachusetts:

Me: I don’t believe men can write as female characters because they don’t have the experience of being feminine, whereas women can write as masculine characters because we live, and have lived, in a patriarchal society. A woman’s worldview is put in masculine perspectives. This doesn’t work in reverse. A man cannot understand a woman’s worldview. Standpoint feminism says-

Interrupted.

Professor: I don’t think so. I think this is very radical- I mean, you don’t have the experience of being a man or a male writer, or a writer, so how would you know? No, this is an extreme viewpoint. Do you think that a wealthy woman could write from a poor man’s perspective? I don’t think so. No, this is an extreme view. It exceeds feminism.

Me: Yes Professor, I do believe a woman could write a poor male character because the marginality of being a woman allows the feminine mindset to explore different marginalities, it’s a point of departure-

Interrupted.

Professor: I don’t know how you can think this- it isn’t justified. What you’re saying just isn’t justified. Marginality of women isn’t absolute- take wealthy women for example- they cannot understand poverty. They are more privileged than most men. No, this is very radical. But I am not surprised. I have other meetings to take. It has been interesting having you in class this semester. You are very controversial- so opinionated! I hope that I disagree with you almost always hasn’t disrupted your learning- or rather that you disagree with me. Good luck with your final paper, goodbye.

Yes, this blog was started out of spite. Just before this meeting, I had toyed with the idea of using exclusively works written by women in my research and papers. I questioned if my world-view would change if I defied hundreds of years of publication injustice by reading and using only the works of women; as I believe that a woman’s worldview is drastically different from a man’s. I believe women have a social position to empathize with marginality. I believe that we live in a masculine-minded world. I believe this allows women to live in two worlds at once- the one that is natural, and the one that is imposed.

I walked away from this conversation angry. I was angry that, at my liberal arts college, my WOMEN’S college, that a professor could maintain such a dichotomic, patriarchal viewpoint. I was angry that a professor at my women’s college didn’t recognize that there is a vast difference between the point of view of a woman than from a man- and more so infuriated that this professor didn’t recognize that all women are marginalized. But her opinion and position wasn’t all I was angry about. I was angry that this professor refused to hear me. I was angry this professor constantly interrupted me- refusing to accept that she could, in fact, be mistaken. And most of all, I was angry that she is a fellow woman and maintained these views. She is the kind of woman who is putting duct tape on the cracks of the glass ceiling in hopes that the barrier holds just a little longer.

In response to my experience with a female sexist Wellesley College professor, I committed to my experiment using exclusively women-written sources* for the next year. This blog will follow my experience, including social commentaries and reflections centered around my two favorite words- feminism and intersectionality. Call me radical. Call me extreme. I would agree with you. But expect radical action, and extreme words.

This one is for you, Wellesley professor. May my words teach you what extreme feminism looks like, and convince you to put down your duct tape.