Factual Feminist and IWF friend Christina Hoff Sommers, noted philosopher and prolific writer, has created quite a stir on two college campuses, where students say they need “trigger warnings” so that they won’t be “traumatized” by CHS’s ideas.
Activists at Georgetown University held up “trigger warning” placards at Sommers’ lectures, warning that her arguments would be potentially traumatizing. They also posted signs directing students to a “safe space” in another part of the college. Much like the recent Calgary Expo, the prospect of having their beliefs challenged was enough to make the activists feel “unsafe”. …
The former professor has become increasingly prominent in recent years for her anti-victimhood, anti-censorship brand of feminism. In her series of “Factual Feminist” videos for the American Enterprise Institute, she challenges a host of feminist dogmas, including the belief that there is a rape culture on college campuses and the idea that the gender wage gap is a result of discrimination.
She also took a stance on the #GamerGate controversy last year, arguing that there was little evidence to show that video games or the video game industry were sexist. Her independent views on gender issues has given her an enthusiastic online fan base, with hundreds of thousands of views on her YouTube segments.
Campus activists are less enthusiastic. According to them, Sommers’ questioning of the inaccurate yet widespread belief that 1 in 4 women are raped on US campuses is tantamount to “denying the experience of survivors.” They also accuse Sommers, who founded an entire school of feminist thought, of being an anti-feminist.
The zealotry of Georgetown’s activists was matched by their counterparts at Oberlin, who ramped up the rhetoric a few days later. According to the Ohio-based blog Third Base Politics, who reported from the event, activists accused Sommers of being an “internalised misogynist” who “participates in rape culture” and engages in “hate speech”.
You might be interested in looking at some of the posters that greeted Christina. Here are a few of the delightful slogans:
Rape Culture Is Real and You Are a Participant
My healing will outlast your bullsh-t.
F-ck anti-feminists.
Free speech means the government can’t censor you. It does not mean we have to tolerate your misogyny.
Lovely. This certainly speaks well for philosophical deliberations on $$$ college campuses.
The vulgarity is such that I am only glad I am not the parent of any of these young barbarians.
You can also follow Christina’s adventures on Twitter.