>> They didn't push for a more complete conversation. >> Feminism has nothing to do with the truth and everything to do with politics and power. >> I have read their words and seen what they do to those who disagree.

Focusing on the most radical voices and generalizing broadly about feminism doesn't make you a "defender of the truth". In any movement you can find people with extreme opinions and then use that to discredit an entire group. There are many examples where feminism has made a positive impact without "denying the truth".

One area where feminism has pushed for a more complete conversation is in sports. Women like to participate in sports. Until laws were passed that insisted women have an equal right to participate in sports, the argument was, "why fund women's sports when they're not interested?" Women are interested. It took time to get funding, organize teams, get access to facilities, develop the training schedules that are different for women's bodies. It has taken many years. On average, 45.7 percent of American marathon participants are now women. In the 1970's they were banned from even participating. So it's taken about 50 years to get from 0% to nearing parity. This was made possible without denying that men and women have different physical abilities.

In fact, in some sports like boxing where physical mass matters a lot there are even categories within men's boxing: flyweight, featherweight, heavyweight. Manny Pacquiao is arguably one of the most famous boxers today. He primarily competes in the lower weight classes. He is a national hero. Nobody mocks his sport, denies him the ability to participate, or says that he is a poor athlete because he doesn't compete in the heavyweight category. Women athletes want the respect and opportunity to compete within their category, make money, develop a fan base, be broadcast on TV, have watch parties, etc. Manny Pacquiao is not a "truth denier" for not competing in heavyweight boxing where he would lose. The feminists who want female athletes to be respected for their talents are also not "truth deniers".

In the intellectual realm, for a large part of history women have not had the same access to education as men. Now that women do have access, over half of the students at universities are women. It's true that men and women cluster in different majors. Major preferences for both men and women have changed a lot over time with different economic opportunities, hiring trends, what people's friends or parents did, what people see on TV, and what career counselors recommend. How many archaeologists were inspired by Indiana Jones? Is there some biological component to these choices? Maybe? I don't know. There are a lot of factors that go into people's life choices. The problem isn't studying whether this is true or not, but in using this information to dismiss concerns about unequal opportunity to prove oneself and deny opportunities to groups of people because of their biology when it is one of many factors that drive people's choices.

> There are many examples where feminism has made a positive impact without "denying the truth".

I agree with this. I don't deny the benefits of feminism to women and society in general. I don't deny the historical oppression of women. I do claim that the methods they used to achieve their egalitarian ends were not always clean. This is one example.

> In any movement you can find people with extreme opinions and then use that to discredit an entire group.

Yes. Radicals are so toxic they've been weaponized: having agents infiltrate and radicalize a movement is an excellent way to get it discredited. Union busters have done this. Leaders need to be aware of this move and prevent radical elements from having any influence.

You say people shouldn't discredit the entire movement. Well, I didn't see the other members protest against the vocal minority that openly and directly attacks others on social media. Were they okay with it? Who knows. To the people watching the events unfold, it sure looks like they're okay with it.

I think the passion of radicals should also be acknowledged and given credit, as it is often the catalyst to create the movement in the first place.

Creating change is always hard, especially larges changes affecting large groups of people. Historically, radicals often have lead change. Sometimes you do have to get in someone's face to help them understand why things should change, and IMO radicals deserve some credit for having the courage to fight unpopular battles, even if their extreme views do not represent the majority of their constituents.

I do think it's a shame that most of the debating we see these days seems to be between radicals on opposite ends of the debate. In previous times, when news was more about journalism than about profit and political influence, I think the news helped put things into context and give more balanced, objective presentations of debates and issues. Now, the news itself has become radicalized and instead of helping our society grapple with these complex issues, the news companies just want to keep things as polarized and confrontational as possible. It's not just the news of course: nearly all of politics has become radical, even though my guess is that most people are in the middle.