In social circles across America, a concern lingers in the back of all minds. That concern, ugly and subtle, is offending someone. Offense, once the staple of humor and the brunt of argument, has been brushed aside and spat on with little thought to its purpose. One of the most daunting individuals, who most try to avoid offending, that people show trepidation when speaking to is the feminist. There is confusion between the terms ‘feminism’ and ‘man-hating’ that has caused a synonymous negative connotation. A feminist, as defined by Google, is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Essentially, feminists desire the equality of men in all spheres of life, which, in an extremely majoritarian and masculine political culture, is fairly difficult to achieve. Let’s take a look at an occurrence that would relate to most people; a man makes a joke, something along the lines of ‘women should stay in the kitchen.’ A feminist, who justly believes the opposite, begins a lengthy debate with the man about the meaning of his joke. Whether that debate resulted in a change of opinion is irrelevant, the relevance lies in the interaction. The man’s joke acted as a catalyst for sharing opinion with which the feminist does not, in fact, agree. In the current political culture, this interaction is a microcosmic example of the way in which the political and social systems should function. To give offense is to provide a medium by which to express opinion, free speech, an ideal by which the United States was based upon and one that our political culture, majoritarian as it may be, still supports. Offense, whether stemming from a majority or minority group, provides an opportunity for those targets of offense to express their opinions and concerns. If it weren’t for the person who stated ‘gay marriage should not be legal’ and simply moved to create a law that established the illegality of same-sex marriage, the opportunity to refute the illegality of same-sex marriage would never have arisen before making it illegal. Offense instigates conflict, an interchangeable facet of change, regardless if that change is perceived as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. The true monster scratches at the back of our minds and is restrained by the tips of our tongues, political correctness, or rather, the avoidance of offense. Speak your thoughts because once individuals restrain themselves based upon the norms of society, the restraint of free speech will snowball into deprivation. As Americans, don’t deprive yourselves of the unalienable right of free speech and hide from conflict. I hope, the next time you have the opportunity, let your thoughts fly and, above all else, don’t deprive the feminist of the opportunity to tear you a new one.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at U Wyoming chapter.