[Image description: Background is 6 piece pie style color split with pink and blue alternating. Foreground is a picture of a grey tabby cat wearing a yellow wig. Top text reads “That awkward moment when you try to reason with a feminist who is stating ‘misandrists are ruining feminism'” Bottom text reads “and you are immediately dismissed as 'not getting it’, being a 'bully’, and are subjected to the other feminist holding their education + degree + class over you” End description.]

I’ll be more honest though, it went beyond awkward and became uncomfortable, upsetting, and triggering. I’ve always had times where I question labeling myself “feminist” due to the treatment I get from the feminists in the Ivory Tower, or the ones who worship at the base of the Ivory Tower. I feel so excluded, so often. The silencing techniques they use, “You shouldn’t be so aggressive,” “You shouldn’t be so angry,” “People would listen to your needs if you’d calm down and be nicer,” “There’s no excuse for anger at the majority,” etc. None of it is helpful, but it certainly pushes me out.

I still care about liberation, equality/fairness, and trying to be as intersectional as possible - but right now, these Ivory Tower intellectuals have left me feeling hurt and defeated—-definitely feeling unwanted within “their” world. More and more, it feels like it is “their” world.

(Another issue I had with this was the feminist in question is cis, but felt a need to preach to me about trans issues, after they already got defensive about how they didn’t like the word “cis” because “normal” people didn’t need a word to let people know they are “non-trans*”.)