I had a presentation today on rhetorical argumentation on this Sterling article about the development of gender. The entire point of the class discussion was supposed to be breaking down argumentation strategies, so nothing super controversial. It was kind of cool since I was teaching a bunch of first years. Anyways this guy puts up his hand, and begins to argue that the wage gap is a lie. Note that by almost any measure he is wrong. Note also that the article (which they had to read) includes no information about the wage gap. Its entirely about language surrounding biological development. I try pleasantly to change the subject, since Im not supposed to get into an ideological argument, and the dude keeps going, talking about how hes offended that the article doesnt talk about how badly men have it (despite the fact that it does comment on societal stigma for men who dont fit certain stereotypical criteria). I mention that, and he just changes the subject again back to wage gap, so I ask him for a source, and he says he found it on Reditt... like a forum thread on a mens rights board is a legitimate academic source. Sometimes I just feel so defeated by all of this. How do you have a debate about important shit when all you have to do is find some corner of the internet to act like a *bullshit echo chamber*. This is a University student, in arts and culture, who believes that as a white male hes an oppressed minority... I just... I dont get it.
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 23:42:46 +0000
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