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Why does Gawker publish pieces like this?

This angry pointless diatribe about wearing a hijab does absolutely nothing to push the discussion along. But that’s because you have to acknowledge there’s a discussion to be had. You have to be willing to move away from neurasthenic victimology/finger-pointing and actually debate. You can’t debate when you snivel, and when you mischaracterize your opponent.

You can’t write, for instance, that a doctor described the hijab as an “instrument of oppression” when in fact he wrote that for adult women it is a perfectly acceptable personal choice. The doctor wrote that in several countries in the world the enforced hijab is an instrument of oppression – an obvious truth – and that since three year old girls have no choice at all in the matter it is objectionable when their parents make them wear it, as some do in Canada and various European countries. (Do some parents in the US do this to their children? Probably.)

The fact that you’re pissed off and exhausted because the world makes wearing hijabs and burkinis difficult and unpleasant is not an argument, and people will understandably read it and shrug. When you complain of Trudeau’s “very tepid” response to Quebec’s Bill 21, it only raises a question in your reader’s mind: Why? Why has Trudeau been tepid? Oh, because he’s a racist. He’s part of “an already intolerant country” which includes a “province even less tolerant.”

Well, babe, if Canada is an intolerant country I’d invite you to find a country more tolerant. Go ahead! Find a country more tolerant than a country that routinely lands on the top of World’s Most Tolerant Countries lists.

No, your problem is that you won’t ask even basic questions about escalating worldwide restrictions on various forms of covering. Until you calm down and start thinking rather than reacting you and your cause will really suffer.

Margaret Soltan, January 1, 2022 12:57PM
Posted in: democracy

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3 Responses to “Why does Gawker publish pieces like this?”

  1. Jonathan Mayhew Says:
    January 2nd, 2022 at 1:12PM

    https://whyevolutionistrue.com/2022/01/02/guest-post-censorship-at-the-canadian-medical-journal/

    This might be of interest here.

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:
    January 2nd, 2022 at 4:11PM

    Jonathan: Wow. Excellent, and very encouraging. I’ve already written a letter to the Canadian journal, but these later developments make me think I should write another one. Many thanks for sending! UD

  3. Jonathan Mayhew Says:
    January 2nd, 2022 at 4:41PM

    You are very welcome. Happy new year!

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