In response to your column published March 10, I would like to offer a defense for feminism and activists here at North Dakota State. I will endeavor to respond point by point in a manner that is affirming and friendly and not as a harassing or intimidating harpy, a charge which has been laid at the door of my feminist sisters and brothers.

I will respond to your questions in the order they have been put to your readers.

1. Why is it called feminism rather than gender egalitarianism? This is an excellent question, and without a working knowledge of the history of feminism is a reasonable assumption. Feminism, as movement, was born out of extreme inequality faced by women between the late eighteenth century and early twentieth century. Women, no matter what social class or race, were unable to own property, vote, or make legal and social decisions for themselves. Those decisions were made for them first by their fathers, then by their husbands and later by their sons. Our feminist foremothers rejected this cultural hegemony, and the feminist movement was born.

Now that women have the right to vote, to work, to be autonomous human beings, feminism’s focus has shifted to other inequalities faced by both women and minorities in the 21st century.

Women, more than anyone else, regardless of race, face higher rates of violence, homelessness, income inequality, workplace discrimination and legal discrimination. While minority men also face these issues, they do so at lower rates than their female counterparts.

Just because sex is a protected class and women have the right to vote does not mean that women and men are yet truly equal.

The reason it’s called feminism is this: until men and women are truly equal, no person is equal because our treatment of the lowest ranking members of our society demonstrates the cultural values we hold about the value of human life.

Patriarchy is indeed the biggest threat to equality faced by both men and women. Patriarchy is not synonymous with men or male culture.

Patriarchy is equally discriminatory and predatory towards men as it is towards women. Patriarchy is the idea that masculine men are better and stronger than women and feminine men mentally, physically and emotionally and as such deserve special treatment and rights in our society.

Such hegemony discriminates against men who do not meet a very rigid set of standards and cultural roles and is the lead cause of violence perpetuated against women, LGBTQ individuals and people of color. It is not a surprise that more violent crimes are perpetuated by white men, a group that is traditionally and currently the most effected by patriarchy.

1. Why is opposition to feminism often attacked in a way that is perceived as harassing or intimidating? In a world where we largely still think women should be meek and submissive to men, it is reasonable to be intimated or feel harassed by women who stand up for themselves, and for those their ideology seeks to advocate for an protect. Misogyny and attempts by the patriarchy to silence and erase feminist discourses should make reasonable and equality-seeking individuals angry. Now, more than any time in the last decade, women and minorities are under attack. From dozens of current legislative actions against transgender and lesbian and gay individuals to laws limiting the woman’s legal right to abortions and birth control, feminist discourses are being stifled by individuals who do not believe that women and other minorities are smart enough or human enough to make decisions for themselves and their families.

We should be angry, but our anger and our pushback against “misogyny as usual” should not be interpreted as harassment; rather, it should be interpreted as a group of people asserting their right to be heard.

In other words, if you feel intimidated and harassed, imagine what feels like to be woman and have male politician tell you what you can or cannot do with your vagina.

1. Is the women and gender studies program an institutionally condoned indoctrination machine? I’d say no more than any other program or department on campus. The job of a university is to teach students about things that challenge their beliefs and encourage them to think differently about the world. If they did not we would not progress as a culture or society of knowledge and science. The goal of the women and gender studies program is to teach students to think about issues related to women and gender in society, which means students in that program will be exposed to concepts rooted in feminist theory, queer theory and critical race theory.

You state you are “puzzled why four freethinking adults would independently choose to promote an ideology consistent with that of their professors.”

Don’t take this as a critique or harassment, but as a doctoral student in an academic program, I find this statement to be really odd. Of course they espouse the ideology of professors they respect and admire.

I imagine most of us internalize messages we’ve heard our entire life and those message form our central ideology. But please, do not be so patronizing as to assume that four women are too stupid to listen in class and independently agree with what they hear, and then take that knowledge and apply it to a real-world problem in order to find a solution. Is this not the goal of education?

To my feminist sisters and brothers and mothers and fathers: stand strong! You are doing great things here at NDSU to make our community more inclusive, open and affirming for all our students, faculty and staff.

Darcy Corbitt-Hall is a doctoral student in the clinical psychological science program.