Smug liberal condescending "educate yourself" culture

lunitabonita · 8時間前

When I first outed myself on FB, one of my MtT "friends" posted on my wall saying that I was a bigot, my views were "problematic," and I needed to educate myself, and that he was going to unfriend me.

Yahtzee!

zpret · 8時間前

Ironically the more I've educated myself the more I see through the lib-fem arguments. I don't think that's what they mean though!

qwertypoiuytre · 8時間前

When I first started hearing the "it's not my job to educate you" it was generally a legitimate rational response to dealing with concern trolling and entitled behavior from people hostile to your cause. It's pretty obvious if a guy comes onto a feminist's blog and starts demanding 101 justifications with citations for claiming misogyny exists. Anyone who's dealt with misogyny, racism, ableism, etc knows how it feels to be manipulated for emotional labor in that particular way. It used to be used when someone argues or asks about something for which there's such an overwhelming amount of evidence at their fingertips if they were genuinely interested in learning about it that you don't even know where to start, that it makes their sincerity questionable.

But now it's been largely transformed into a silencing tactic form of response for when there is zero evidence or logic to respond to someone's question with.

Eclectic58 · 7時間前

Someone telling a person to "educate themselves", especially someone whom they don't personally know, either online or in person, is the height of arrogance.

The person saying that has no idea as to the background of the other person; what they've read, what they've done, and so on. They don't get that another person could have done a lot of research and be well informed on the topic, yet have come to a different conclusion about it. Just "educating oneself" on a topic doesn't guarantee that someone will reach the same conclusions.

My main focus in feminism for the last 40+ years has been studying stereotyped sex roles and how they reinforce sexism, with the goal being the deconstruction of these stereotypes. Yet I've had arrogant know-it-alls, younger than my son, tell me to "educate myself", when I've been educating myself since they were even born. They just can't conceive that someone could possibly come to a different conclusion, thus anyone who doesn't agree with them can't possibly be knowledgeable or educated.

Bimbleby · 6時間前

It's such a dystopian use of the word 'educate'.

'Educate yourself' means 'start believing the "right" things'.

Veneficca · 8時間前

I've noticed the trans version often includes, "Read a biology textbook!" As if 10th grade science class should have covered the 900 gender feelings, and how many of us are intersex and just don't know it!

lefterfield · 7時間前

A friend of mine(who is not right-wing) called it liberalsplaining. The belief that they know what's best for everyone and endowed with perfect knowledge. It's infuriating, because this attitude is why people are being driven away from the democrats, and a huge part of why Trump won, imo. No one wants to be called stupid, or lectured about what's best for them, even if the other guy is 100% correct.

One personal example, I said on facebook that economy was what drove some people to vote for Trump, not "hate". IE, people who saw that their personal lives weren't any better, or were worse than they were 8 years ago for various social reasons- and that it was an attitude I sympathized with, because I felt the same way(though I didn't vote for Trump). One of my liberal relatives came back with, "well, that's just wrong, statistically things are better, blah blah..." I mean, how nice for the statistics, but people are not wrong about THEIR OWN LIVES. Pissed me off, and it seemed like a tiny reflection of 'the problem with the left' these days.

BigBoud · 8時間前

LOLOLOL Sorry brb - having hysterics at the "educate yourself" stupidity.

I've had that from someone who thought I ought to go and read Everyday Feminism, because having read Simone de Beauvoir and Germaine Greer clearly hadn't educated me "correctly" - ie I was actually able to argue from a feminist perspective instead of whatever tripe Everyday Oppression spouts.

Educate myself - as if I wasn't already very expensively educated and fully able to think critically.

50ShadesOfDune · 8時間前

Apparently "education" is the simple, obvious answer to ALL problems. That's how the world works in libfem, sjw fairyland.

the_puppiest · 8時間前

Good rant.

Does anyone have thoughts on countering this attitude? Not the extreme 'educate yourself or die in a fire' version, but people who can't conceive that someone could read an article they found convincing, or educate themselves on their own, and not be persuaded or draw different conclusions.

-backdrifter · 4時間前

Yeah, it's funny how their first assumption is always that you must be uneducated, ignorant, and unaware (and/or that you're just evil, mean, and hateful). What they don't seem to realize is that so many of us traveled through liberal feminism first before getting to where we are now with radical feminism, gender criticism/abolition, etc. Many of us used to be liberal feminists. Many of us used to be supportive of trans activism. Many of us used to wring our hands over the "TERF" panic as well. We don't really need to read their articles and blog posts - we've often already read them! We have reasons for why we disagree. We aren't doing this just for the hell of it. Frankly I've done more reading as a radical feminist than I ever did as a liberal feminist. My time spent as a liberal feminist was primarily wrapped up in regurgitating what I was hearing from others and trying to force myself to be okay with things that I wasn't actually okay with (like porn). I've learned a hell of a lot more as a radical feminist.

Sometimes they honestly remind me of my Republican father who assumes that I'm dumb and ignorant and thinks that if I'd just read the "right" articles (meaning his biased conservative news), I'd come around to his point of view. Both my father and these liberals seem to operate under the assumption that everyone who doesn't agree with them 100% must just be so stupid. It's honestly really insulting and simplistic.

hasgirlbits · 8時間前

I get the "educate yourself" position when it's like ... okay, women don't have to constantly explain politely and gently to all the men in their lives who are being sexist assholes and won't crack a book. Likewise, PoC don't have to spend their lives teaching racists, disabled people don't have to spend their lives teaching ableists, etc.

It's just that, like so many things, the modern left has turned it up to 9011 so now you can't even disagree with them without them screeching "educate yourself!!" I think a lot of us here, for instance, have done the fucking reading on feminism and trans; we've lived it. We've just reached (or been pushed) to different conclusions, so of course we're stupid and unlearned. Their way is the only true way, there can't be disagreement between people of knowledge and good faith.

purple_radish · 5時間前

I think that liberals tend to be black and white thinkers because once they find a framework of belief that works for them they stop thinking critically and begin thinking in terms of morality, and morality is an absolute. It's much harder to get someone to question their morality than it is their reasoning. Rhetoric becomes dogma. Everyone wants to be on the side of Right/Good.

endoftheliner · 8時間前

Yeah, I got that at 2 liberal sites almost 2 yrs ago because I said MtT weren't women. And yes, it was "you're ignorant" and "educate yourself". I just left because I knew there was no sense in trying to give them any biological facts or radfem politics.

a1c3e5g7i9 · 6時間前

I'm pretty sure they think that their opinion is fact and that if any reasonable person knows the facts and can understand their ideas then they will automatically agree with them. It's annoying as hell to me.

earthgarden · 6時間前

It has been crazy, for YEARS. It jumped the shark at least 10, 15 years ago when white activists started virtue signaling with that 'all white people are racists' nonsense. When I pointed out that No, that is not actually true I was then told by both black and white 'activists' that I was uneducated on racism (um I am a black person, an actual black person), suffering from internalized racism, and that was likely due to having a white husband i.e sleeping with the 'enemy' had caused me to 'identify' with white racism.

When I pointed out that wasn't true because actually my husband is not a racist (why on earth would I marry a racist, WTF) and also my marriage was irrelevant because there have always been white people in this country against racism, actively living/fighting against it. This is historical fact. But nope for some reason this belief/idea that 'ALL white people are racists no matter what' became something they insisted everyone 'believe', and if you don't well you're just a racist or have internalized racism. Why was this so important, especially to white people? Doesn't it seem odd that white people supposedly 'anti-racist' would push this agenda of all white people, themselves included, being born and bred racist? On the surface yes, it is very strange, but my dad always told me to follow the money trail. Who benefits/has benefited financially from this? White people. Look at all the activists getting paid: Tim Wise, Shaun King, etc. White people, particularly white men, are the new face of black civil rights. Note that these people don't get a tenth of the ire actual black activists get, such as the women who spearheaded Black Lives Matter, even though they posit some very strange and racist things about their fellow whites. Hmmmm

Now this all or nothing view has jumped to feminism regarding transgender people: They insist that you must believe transgender women ARE the same as women, and not only that, have ALWAYS been women and their penises are actual female sex organs. Why is this belief necessary, who actually benefits from pushing the ludicrous idea that a penis is a female sex organ, or that 'womanhood' is merely a thought or a feeling, or that sex has naught to do with biology and merely a 'social construct'? White males will soon become the face of feminism. We are watching it unfold before our very eyes.

refaire · 5時間前

The best article I've ever read about this is The Smug Style in American Liberalism by Emmett Rensin. Y'all should check it out.

newyearnewsn · 4時間前

Whats truly hilarious is how little those people tend to know themselves.

They have an advanced degree in Tumblr shitposting and thats about it!

introveritas · 4時間前

http://mimiandeunice.com/2011/06/08/status-quo/

Tegretol · 20分前

I hate how you can't disagree with leftists or you're branded a conservative, like how GC is considered alt right. It's ridiculous. I'm very left leaning and I get so sick of people thinking I'm a conservative.

cantaveritas · 11分前

This is brainwashing. The whole 'educate yourself' stuff. They make these wild statements like biological sex is a construct and then refuse to elaborate or justify or explain. Mainly because they can't.

When they say 'educate yourself' should say "does this mean you dont know?"

womenhaveovaries · 7時間前

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