First World Radicalization

There’s a story circulating about the radicalization of Luke Skywalker, which makes an interesting point: with the rise in global terrorism from extremists of a particular religious bent that the Donald finds offensive, the words “extremist” and “radicalize” have bent in meaning, until we think only of ISIS, ISIL, or whatever the non-offensive phrase of the month is.

We Americans have a tendency to not look outside ourselves. With the number of girls being kidnapped and turned into child-brides on certain continents, with associated expectation by force of wifely duties, American women, and worse American Women in Tech, are on a crusade, with views becoming increasingly more radical in the traditional term and output becoming increasingly more extreme. Now, stating an opinion or exercising your freedom of speech is seen as an attack. Worse yet, a recent speech to the UN called for it to be made illegal to attack women and girls on the internet.

I see two problems with this:

1. No one ever complains when this happens to men. It has, frequently, including leading to suicide. However, due to a societal bias to tell men to get over it, someone is working to write a gender exclusionary law as if being a rotten human being somehow sucks less if aimed at a man.
2. With all of the crises in the world today, with all of the potential good that could be done, with people like Malala Yousafzai speaking before the UN, a group of folks consider being sent videos that say “You suck” to be worthy of the UN’s time.

Think about this one for a second: The body of people whom a 14 year old girl went to pleading for assistance for women after being shot for daring to go to school is now being addressed to stop freedom of expression and freedom of opinion. The same people we look to for solving the world’s problems is being asked to stand down on nuclear talks, children being raped, access to health care and even more basic food, shelter and water to take a look at online name-calling.

“But it’s more than just name-calling, it’s harrassment!” one might say. Yes, and those same people, at the time when over 200 women were kidnapped by Boko Haram, organized an online campaign. “Of course, there were many who were opposed to Boko Haram! Who wouldn’t protest that?” In this case, American women. While children sat crying, separated from their families, with new husbands forced upon them, in all senses of the word, a group of American Women organized a protest to have a statue to Joe Paterno taken down.

Words cannot describe the disgust I feel when I have to introduce myself to someone, and think they are applying the words “American” or “Woman in Tech” to me and the radicalized, foaming-mouthed misandry that goes along with them. I long for the days when Silicon Valley was a meritocracy, and the people who met me judged me for what I was: an Engineer.