"A false dichotomy, also known as either/or reasoning, is the artificial reduction of all the choices available in a discussion to two... Of course, reality is rarely so simple. Instead of an artificial binary choice favoring an ideology, life offers a diverse landscape of choices and consequences."

a-man-from-earth · 2019-09-30T14:07:15+00:00

I don't disagree with "You are either a normal person or a sexist." It's just that many feminists are sexist, and many normal people are not feminists.

bkrugby78 · 2019-09-30T14:27:21+00:00

It's a statement which sounds nice at first, and the more you hear it, the more it sounds worse. Like you can do this with any combination of words to make yourself sound smart.

"I feel like we should stop calling Republicans, Republicans and just start calling people who aren't Republican "terrorist." You are either a normal person or a terrorist."

Of course, context matters here. Maisie Williams is a popular actress at the moment. For many celebrities, whatever they say isn't usually scrutinized.

Also, feminists aren't loyal. If she says something they don't like down the road, they will have zero hesitation in disowning her.

Lady_Coraline2 · 2019-09-30T13:58:48+00:00

"For instance, you might say that someone is either alive, or they're dead, ignoring the fact that they might be Dracula. Or you might say that if someone's not a Democrat, they must be some sort of Republican, ignoring the very real possibility that they may be Dracula."

heimdahl81 · 2019-09-30T21:29:58+00:00

The opposite of feminist is not sexist, not just for the obvious reason that a person can be not sexist and still not identify as feminist but also because identifying as a feminist does not make one immune to being sexist.

ElderApe · 2019-09-30T23:24:07+00:00

Ironically this would be a disastrous attempt to control language, since the old meanings are already so solidified. All you would do is end up removing feminist and merging it with 'normal person', which I am more than ok with.

mrsuperguy · 2019-09-30T15:59:56+00:00

I love that even on such an explicitly feminist sub as r/feminism there seemed to be a lot of genuinely intelligent discussion going on about this.

Lupercus64 · 2019-09-30T16:02:58+00:00

I agree with it for the most part, but I feel like the second half is saying, lets change the norm meaning for words so we define what we want by words that state the status quo. (I don't thinks that's necessarily what she means, but there's a vagueness) But I get what you mean. Feminist should not just be a glorifilying title. Another commentor said social justice types are often just bigots on the "right" side of history, and I entirely agree.

I feel like they have taken the same course with the word masculinity. They no longer use it without attaching toxic to it. In the same way they emcompass anything they approve of as feminism, anything they disapprove of is toxic masculinity, but they refuse to define masculinity. It is either feminism or it is toxic masculinity.

Melthengylf · 2019-09-30T15:33:42+00:00

Those types of tribalisms and name-callings are harmful. It makes it very easy to dehumanize other people like this. Sadly, this is an accepted form of thinking and someone famous and who I do value thinks this way.

"A false dichotomy, also known as either/or reasoning, is the artificial reduction of all the choices available in a discussion to two... Of course, reality is rarely so simple. Instead of an artificial binary choice favoring an ideology, life offers a diverse landscape of choices and consequences."

Crosspost "Some words from Maisie Williams" from /r/Feminism:

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