History of Feminism

... the most difficult thing I have had to learn is the need for affirmation that is inherent to feminism. This applies not just to feminism, of course, but to the need for affirmation of all oppressed groups. Since I already stipulate the applicability of rights to all, to me the question was always a done deal, so why were we wasting time on it? It took awhile to assimilate the reality that for the "other" the deal wasn't "done" at all, but one that even the most enlightened fighter often still had to struggle with. I think that this may be one of the reasons there are so many problems with MRAs and their ilk -- the basic inability to comprehend that talking about injustice is not whining or special pleading, but a means of affirming to the oppressed individual that yes, you are not imagining things, you are really being fucked with. It is not a failing of intellect or will, but rather a failing of experience. For as many times as my old man told me to shut the fuck up, I never questioned (as that child of white-boy privilege) that I had a right to be heard. It is really hard to grasp that others might have a whole different reality.

-- Mal