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Disclaimer: I posted this initially on a reddit thread I won't say which and this was literally deleted and I was blocked for this very simple and actually non controversial point. So now I ask two questions. a. Should I have been blocked and b. Should feminism be falsifiable in our political discourse?
I ask this because though I identify as a feminist, I notice many women like myself who do not seem open to the idea that feminism may be incorrect (it isn't) or at minimum wrong on some things, but instead resort to a shutting down of opposing arguments from the other side. This seems to pose 2 major problems:
- Telling people to "stop talking" hardly seems productive in the current culture wars. It seems dangerous and antagonistic to other truths we hold as well, not just feminism but the freedom of speech. Disagreement and even offense cannot be grounds to dismiss speech. Simply because someone is offended that I consider their religion to be oppressive and misguided is not reason for me to stop talking about it or possibly have a healthy rational discourse/disagreement about it. The same would apply to discourses on feminism.
- Feminism falls under gender studies which falls under the social science of Sociology. There are criteria to determine if an idea is scientific or not. In particular, an idea/theory must be falsifiable. In other words, it must be refutable or quite simply, have the capacity to be proven wrong. I am not saying that it is wrong (it's what I believe) I am saying the possibility of it being so. An example in a hard science would be that of the atom, initially people thought that they were like solid balls, then they discovered electrons, then protons, then neutrons. This evolution of thought was as a result of accepting that the theory is falsifiable and "could be wrong" so it was open to criticism and refinement. Another example in the social sciences would be that Sigmund Freud's thought that cocaine was a good form of psychotherapy. Well, despite Freud being the father of modern psychology we do not believe this today because we could criticize and assess his ideas and prevent people with mental health from developing an addiction as well. If feminism is not refutable, then it is not scientific and if it is not, then how will it be different from religion or mere dogma?
As a feminist, I see neither 1 or 2 as desirable. No discourse sounds like a recipe for social strife and I don't think feminism is some dogma to be believed in. I think there are facts to be assessed that will give people good reason to believe it and even if it isn't accepted by someone, at least I know that I was rigorous and thorough in my beliefs.
Thoughts? Does anyone agree? Should feminism be falsifiable?
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