lovemeorhateme
Well-known member
Hello everyone! I know I haven't been around much recently, but I really wanted to share this post. As many of you know, back in September I started a philosophy degree at university. Unfortunately due to where I live and the cost implications of moving, my choice of university was limited to my local area. Whilst the university I chose is considered to be a good university, it also happens to be one of the most militantly left-wing campuses in the UK. In the five months since I started there, I've had quite an education in left-wing identity politics. As a result, I thought it might be interesting to share some of my experiences with you here.
In a nutshell, feminism rules. Everything seems to have been affected in some way by the ideology of feminism. If one disagrees with feminism, they will immediately be branded "sexist", "misogynist" or "rape apologist", depending on the disagreement one has. Usually it's a combination of the three. After all, it's treated as an immutable fact that we live in a patriarchy ruled by men and designed to oppress women, people of colour, LGBT and disabled people. As part of this, it is also treated as an immutable fact that we live in a rape culture. This in turn leads on to the presumption that all men are potential rapists who need to be "taught not to rape". So seriously is this taken that one particular feminist activist on campus saw fit to throw her hot coffee over and then punch a man who disagreed with her on the concept of rape culture. She then wrote an essay of a Facebook post justifying her actions. No matter what facts or reasoned arguments one uses against feminism, the three 'buzzwords' quoted above will be used to shut you down.
Just before Christmas the student union held a debate over whether or not the role of union president should be scrapped and replaced with a full time 'equality and diversity officer' instead. This was apparently considered because the role of president was declared to be 'gendered' (the current president is male) and 'women are under-represented in the student union'. Of course, they ignored the fact that of the previous three presidents, two were female and one identified as "genderqueer", and that the other five full time officers are females. It really does take a student to spot underrepresentation like that! In addition to this, it was said that if the president was replaced with an equality and diversity officer, the role would only be open to 'women, people of colour, LGBT people and those with disabilities'. In other words, with the complete lack of any sense of irony they are saying 'straight, white men need not apply'.
During the debate, I learned about more modern concepts sweeping university campuses. These include "oppression" and "privilege". Certainly in that room I saw an oppression Olympics which had to be seen to be believed. Everyone seemed to be vying to be a member of the most oppressed group. The idea is that all minorities are "oppressed", along with women, with anyone white, straight, male or Christian being considered "privileged". One gay guy declared during the debate that 'life is so hard as a gay person that it's difficult to even get out of bed in the morning to come to lectures out of fear of what might happen to me'. Something which I consider to be absolute rubbish. There's almost nowhere friendlier to LGBT people than my university campus.
The whole idea of being part of the most oppressed group is that your opinion counts for more than someone who is deemed to be privileged. This is why if a man dares to have an opinion on something a woman does, he is told to 'check his privilege'. The same can be said of any person deemed to be 'privileged' holding an opinion on someone deemed to be 'oppressed'. The phrase 'check your privilege' is another of those catchphrases used to shut down any possibility of rational discourse. It's an example of reverse racism and sexism of the worst kind. "You're a white, cisgendered, straight man, check your privilege, your opinion doesn't count". Whilst those at university would likely argue that only white people can be racist and men can be sexist, I wholeheartedly disagree with this assertion. It works both ways.
Examples of "oppressed" groups include: Women, people of colour, ethnic minorities, Muslims, LGBTQ+++ (the letters seem to keep changing daily) people, including those who choose from any of the now 300+ genders which Tumblr has now come up with. Indeed these days it seems to be fashionable to adopt a new gender identity or two, like taking pick and mix sweets from a sweet shop. I can't even begin to list the number of people I've encountered who claim to be a gender that I've never heard of before.
What the student union fails to realise is that the real minorities on campus are Christians and people with right wing political views. Indeed, anyone who dares to express political views which dissent from the left wing orthodoxy of the university risks being shunned by their friends and peers simply for having a different opinion. Being on a philosophy degree, there are times when I have to share an opinion I have on something publicly with the rest of my class. I won't compromise my integrity or beliefs for the sake of appeasing those with different views to myself, but I'm already experiencing the fallout from this. On one particular week the subject of abortion came up, and we had a debate about it in class. Well, I call it a debate but I was the only one in that room of 15 people who has pro-life views. Completely outnumbered, when it came time to share my thoughts I didn't find it easy and I was treated like a weird, evil person for believing in the child's right to life over the mother's 'right to choose'. By those who haven't yet bothered to learn my name, it seems I'm now known as 'the one who's against abortion'. My 'unorthodox' viewpoint has become what they define me by. Slowly but surely, people who considered me a friend at the start of the course are dropping like flies.
This is just some of my experience of life at university so far. If it's happening here in the UK, I'm pretty sure it's happening over there in the USA too. I'm just glad of being able to find solace in the friendships I've made with the few other right-wingers I've so far found on campus, but more importantly finding solace in my faith in God. Without God, I would probably have already gone insane!
In a nutshell, feminism rules. Everything seems to have been affected in some way by the ideology of feminism. If one disagrees with feminism, they will immediately be branded "sexist", "misogynist" or "rape apologist", depending on the disagreement one has. Usually it's a combination of the three. After all, it's treated as an immutable fact that we live in a patriarchy ruled by men and designed to oppress women, people of colour, LGBT and disabled people. As part of this, it is also treated as an immutable fact that we live in a rape culture. This in turn leads on to the presumption that all men are potential rapists who need to be "taught not to rape". So seriously is this taken that one particular feminist activist on campus saw fit to throw her hot coffee over and then punch a man who disagreed with her on the concept of rape culture. She then wrote an essay of a Facebook post justifying her actions. No matter what facts or reasoned arguments one uses against feminism, the three 'buzzwords' quoted above will be used to shut you down.
Just before Christmas the student union held a debate over whether or not the role of union president should be scrapped and replaced with a full time 'equality and diversity officer' instead. This was apparently considered because the role of president was declared to be 'gendered' (the current president is male) and 'women are under-represented in the student union'. Of course, they ignored the fact that of the previous three presidents, two were female and one identified as "genderqueer", and that the other five full time officers are females. It really does take a student to spot underrepresentation like that! In addition to this, it was said that if the president was replaced with an equality and diversity officer, the role would only be open to 'women, people of colour, LGBT people and those with disabilities'. In other words, with the complete lack of any sense of irony they are saying 'straight, white men need not apply'.
During the debate, I learned about more modern concepts sweeping university campuses. These include "oppression" and "privilege". Certainly in that room I saw an oppression Olympics which had to be seen to be believed. Everyone seemed to be vying to be a member of the most oppressed group. The idea is that all minorities are "oppressed", along with women, with anyone white, straight, male or Christian being considered "privileged". One gay guy declared during the debate that 'life is so hard as a gay person that it's difficult to even get out of bed in the morning to come to lectures out of fear of what might happen to me'. Something which I consider to be absolute rubbish. There's almost nowhere friendlier to LGBT people than my university campus.
The whole idea of being part of the most oppressed group is that your opinion counts for more than someone who is deemed to be privileged. This is why if a man dares to have an opinion on something a woman does, he is told to 'check his privilege'. The same can be said of any person deemed to be 'privileged' holding an opinion on someone deemed to be 'oppressed'. The phrase 'check your privilege' is another of those catchphrases used to shut down any possibility of rational discourse. It's an example of reverse racism and sexism of the worst kind. "You're a white, cisgendered, straight man, check your privilege, your opinion doesn't count". Whilst those at university would likely argue that only white people can be racist and men can be sexist, I wholeheartedly disagree with this assertion. It works both ways.
Examples of "oppressed" groups include: Women, people of colour, ethnic minorities, Muslims, LGBTQ+++ (the letters seem to keep changing daily) people, including those who choose from any of the now 300+ genders which Tumblr has now come up with. Indeed these days it seems to be fashionable to adopt a new gender identity or two, like taking pick and mix sweets from a sweet shop. I can't even begin to list the number of people I've encountered who claim to be a gender that I've never heard of before.
What the student union fails to realise is that the real minorities on campus are Christians and people with right wing political views. Indeed, anyone who dares to express political views which dissent from the left wing orthodoxy of the university risks being shunned by their friends and peers simply for having a different opinion. Being on a philosophy degree, there are times when I have to share an opinion I have on something publicly with the rest of my class. I won't compromise my integrity or beliefs for the sake of appeasing those with different views to myself, but I'm already experiencing the fallout from this. On one particular week the subject of abortion came up, and we had a debate about it in class. Well, I call it a debate but I was the only one in that room of 15 people who has pro-life views. Completely outnumbered, when it came time to share my thoughts I didn't find it easy and I was treated like a weird, evil person for believing in the child's right to life over the mother's 'right to choose'. By those who haven't yet bothered to learn my name, it seems I'm now known as 'the one who's against abortion'. My 'unorthodox' viewpoint has become what they define me by. Slowly but surely, people who considered me a friend at the start of the course are dropping like flies.
This is just some of my experience of life at university so far. If it's happening here in the UK, I'm pretty sure it's happening over there in the USA too. I'm just glad of being able to find solace in the friendships I've made with the few other right-wingers I've so far found on campus, but more importantly finding solace in my faith in God. Without God, I would probably have already gone insane!
