I 
 

have very fond memories 
of sitting in the living 
room with my family, 

watching 
Bill 

O’Reilly 
on 
the 

television. 
It 

was 
part 
of 
my 

conservative, 
libertarian 
and 

Republican family’s 
routine. I quickly 
became 
interested 

in 
the 
political 

issues Bill O’Reilly 
talked about on his 
program and wanted 
to 
learn 
more, 

believing 
the 
information 

I’d find would affirm the 
conservative viewpoints that 
surrounded me.

The 
exact 
opposite 

occurred. After researching 
various 
issues 
by 
reading 

countless sources, I realized 
that my viewpoints aligned 
with those of mainstream 
liberals 
rather 
than 
the 

conservatives I had previously 
thought were correct.

I soon became a liberal 

in 
a 
conservative 
family. 

In 
the 
inevitable 
political 

conversations I had with my 
family, I had to defend the 
liberal 
views 
I 
eventually 

developed. This was difficult. 
At first, it was hard for me to 
deal with some of the views 
my family held. I felt that some 
conservative viewpoints, like 
the Republican Party’s pro-life 
stance, were offensive to me as 
a woman. At the same time, my 
family found some of my liberal 
viewpoints, 
like 
increasing 

social welfare programs, to be 
fiscally irresponsible.

However, my family and I 

were quickly able to reconcile 
our political views with our 
love for each other. This was 
possible through conversation, 
which required me to evaluate 
my viewpoints thoroughly. In 
fact, I’m grateful that I grew 
up the way I did, because it 
forced me to constantly defend 
my values. Now, as a college 
student in a divisive political 
climate, I can defend my views 
more effectively.

Here at the University of 

Michigan, I have been doing 
my best to have this same 
understanding with those I 
disagree with. While there 

are some views that I just 
cannot tolerate — including 
white 
supremacist 
views, 

homophobic 
or 

sexist 
rhetoric 
or 

any other type of 
hate speech — I try 
to 
keep 
an 
open 

mind when it comes 
to 
Republican 

or 
conservative 

viewpoints. 
My 

experience 
as 
a 

political 
minority 

in my family has 
helped me become 
more perceptive to 

opposing viewpoints.

Political 
ideologies 
are 

often developed as a result 
of a combination of research 
and personal experience. My 
identities 
and 
experiences 

have largely influenced my 
political views. This is also 
true for those whose identities 
and experiences shaped their 
conservative ideology. Their 
experiences are their own, 
and as a result, I cannot tell 
them 
what 
political 
views 

they should hold. This is why 
acceptance of a variety of 
viewpoints is necessary. Each 
person has their own identities 
and experiences that influence 
their ideology, and it is important 
to validate those factors.

Mutual 
respect 
was 

a 
big 
factor 
in 
creating 

understanding 
between 
my 

family and myself. I knew that 
my family members did not 
hold their more conservative 
viewpoints for any sort of 
malicious reason; they did not 
want to destroy the country 
or offend people. They simply 
believed that their ideology 
was the best route for the 
United States. I had to explain 
why I thought that liberal 
policies were better for the 
nation. These conversations 
created the mutual respect that 
was key in generating healthy 
relationships.

My 
family 
and 
I 
have 

realized 
that 
both 
of 
our 

divergent ideologies have valid 
points, which has increased 
mutual respect. My family 
respected the effort I had put 
into 
researching 
different 

issues. This type of validation 
helped me respect the beliefs 
my family held. After years 

of not entirely understanding 
the views my family holds, I 
realize that their views are just 
as thought-out as mine. As a 
liberal who prides herself on 
being open-minded, I refuse 
to 
invalidate 
the 
thought 

my loved ones put into their 
political views, and I find it 
necessary to keep that lesson in 
mind when dealing with others 
who hold viewpoints that I may 
find problematic.

This is not to say I never 

make assumptions about a 
person based on their political 
views. I do. However, I try 
my best to get past these 
assumptions. I strongly believe 
that 
we 
should 
welcome 

a 
multitude 
of 
opinions. 

Debating different aspects of 
an issue is the best way to solve 
a political problem.

I am blessed with a really 

loving family. I could not 
ask for anything better as 
my family supports me in 
my pursuits every day. I also 
know that my family loves 
me because of, not in spite 
of, my passion for my views. 
Though I realize it is much 
easier to respect the views 
your own family holds, it is 
possible to embrace ideological 
differences and conversation is 
necessary. I truly believe that 
diversity of opinion is what 
makes the U.S. a great country. 
The University should be a 
safe place for everyone who 
goes here. Doing our best to 
understand those we do not 
agree with is an important step 
in this pursuit.

I 

remember 
being 
very 

young and so incredibly 
proud of the fact that I was 

a girl. I refused to watch movies 
with a male lead as I insisted 
that they were always boring, 
and I’m sure I had an army of 
T-shirts and stickers that said 
“girls rule and boys drool.” 
Whenever any boy in my class 
teased anyone for being a girl, 
I was sure to stand up for them 
and state what my father had 
always insisted I remember: A 
girl can do anything a boy can do. 
Though my conception of gender 
has changed since my preschool 
days, 
my 
femininity, 
my 

sensitivity and my inclination for 
cooperation and understanding 
are still the traits I value the 
most about myself.

Unfortunately, another part 

of me that hasn’t changed since 
preschool is a general fear and 
wariness of cisgender men. 
When I was younger, this meant 
I would feel more comfortable 
with a female teacher, a female 
doctor and female friends. 
Nowadays, this means I’m more 
likely to sit next to someone 
in class who I perceive to be 
female-presenting, and more 
likely to avoid someone I 
perceive to be male.

This 
doesn’t 
mean 
that 

I don’t have any male or 
masculine friends whom I 
trust 
and 
appreciate, 
but 

this does mean that my gut 
instinct is to stick to female-
presenting folks. Many could 
perceive a general distrust 
of maleness as a form of 
misandry, a hatred of cis men 
for simply being cis men. But 
I truly don’t believe that this 
distrust was formed out of an 
attachment to feminist ideals, 
but 
instead 
as 
ingrained 

lessons I learned throughout 
my childhood.

The lessons to which I am 

referring are the times my dad 
would tell my sister and me 

that “men are idiots” and “boys 
are only after one thing.” It 
became a joke in our family; my 
dad would turn to my sister or 
me and say, “What are boys?” 
We would respond, “idiots,” 
and he would nod his head in 
satisfaction. The fact that the 
man who was most important 
to me during my childhood 
insisted I remember not to 
trust boys inherently affected 
my worldview.

I also am referring to the 

times my mom would tell me 
not to walk home late at night 
because, “You’re a pretty girl, 
we don’t want boys getting any 
ideas.” Lastly, I am referring 
to the many times my sister 
and I were told to lock the 
bathroom door and not walk 
around in our bathing suits if 
there were other men in the 
house. Women, on the other 
hand, were always completely 
trusted and a strange woman 
visiting my house heeded no 
warning to my sister and me. I 
began to understand that those 
who were female-presenting 
could be trusted, but that men 
and maleness, though to be 
respected, was also something 
I needed to remain wary of. 

As I became older, I began 

to fall back on this feeling of 
distrust more and more often. 
I became numb to catcalls, and 
at night, I would instinctively 
lower my head and avoid eye 
contact 
when 
walking 
by 

someone who appeared male. 
Over and over I would hear 
my female-presenting friends 
talk about how they had been 
mistreated by random dudes at 
the bar or the club. I would feel 
the need to be more assertive 
and aggressive when taking 
classes that were majority 
male, or else my voice would be 
stomped out.

I 
received 
inappropriate 

messages from strange men 
on 
Facebook, 
Tinder 
and, 

most surprisingly, LinkedIn. 
I 
still 
get 
nervous 
when 

opening 
messages 
online. 

When 
I 
reported 
a 
male 

educator for behavior I deemed 
inappropriate, it was because 
I didn’t trust him and felt my 
privacy violated. Thus was life, 
and distrust and cynicism was 
how I managed to get through 
it all.

Though I feel bad that I have 

an internalized distrust or 
wariness towards strange men, 
I am not yet willing to apologize 

for it. This past month men 
and women, inspired by the 
women who came forward to 
denounce Harvey Weinstein, 
shared the hashtag #MeToo 
in order to display the breadth 
and 
magnitude 
of 
sexual 

misconduct in our society. As 
many articles have pointed 
out, Weinstein would not have 
gotten away with his crimes 
for as long as he had without 
the help of many others, as well 
as a workplace culture that 
minimized sexual harassment 
and shamed survivors.

So, 
though 
I 
do 
feel 

somewhat 
guilty 
for 
my 

inherent biases, I refuse to 
feel the need to apologize or 
feel guilty for them when so 
many cisgender men will rarely 
recognize or call out sexism 
or 
inappropriate 
behavior 

in everyday situations (for 
example, Quentin Tarantino). 
If cisgender men truly want 
to see the system change, 
they need to begin to stand up 
against sexism in obvious and 
uncomfortable ways.

As 
a 
white 
woman, 
I 

understand how awkward it 
can be to call out friends and 
family for their inappropriate 
behavior, but I understand that 
if I don’t call out racism, then 
I am complicit in a system of 
white supremacy. Cisgender 
men need to realize that if they 
don’t start working to change 
this dialogue around sexual 
assault, then they are actively 
promoting their supremacy in 
a patriarchal system. If they 
want to see a world where they 
are not inherently distrusted 
by female-presenting people, 
then they need to realize that 
they play an integral role in 
creating it.

Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Friday, October 27, 2017

REBECCA LERNER

Managing Editor

420 Maynard St. 

Ann Arbor, MI 48109

 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.

EMMA KINERY

Editor in Chief

ANNA POLUMBO-LEVY 

and REBECCA TARNOPOL 

Editorial Page Editors

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 

All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

Not just a “woman’s problem”

ELENA HUBBELL | COLUMN

Becoming a liberal

Carolyn Ayaub
Megan Burns

Samantha Goldstein

Caitlin Heenan
Jeremy Kaplan

Sarah Khan

Anurima Kumar

Max Lubell

Lucas Maiman

Alexis Megdanoff
Madeline Nowicki
Anna Polumbo-Levy 

Jason Rowland

Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Ali Safawi

Sarah Salman
Kevin Sweitzer

Rebecca Tarnopol

Stephanie Trierweiler

Ashley Zhang

Emily Huhman can be reached at 

huhmanem@umich.edu.

Dismantled

 Editor’s note: The writer’s last 
name is omitted to protect their 
identity.
T

he drinking and the 
costume 
definitely 

made 
IT 
easier 
for 

them. But IT shouldn’t have 
even happened. I was not a 
target, I was the bullseye. 
Unknowingly in the center of 
a malicious plan. My vision 
was clouded and my dexterity 
was 
diminished. 
As 
my 

strength deteriorated, so did 
my judgment. I like to dance, 
but why did I venture so far 
that night? I trusted a stranger 
to bring me home safely on an 
unfamiliar campus. 

Mistake. Mistake.
Like an idiot, there was no 

alarm going off in my head. The 
liquor had transformed me. No 
alarm, until I was pulled in a room 
by the arms of multiple men.

For days after the assault I 

laid in bed unmoving, other 
than the tears rolling down my 
cheeks.

Do you know what emotions 

canter through your body? How 
self-blame is inevitable, and how 
self-worth shatters in your face? 
Your former character is exiled 
from fear. Your previous being 
is dethroned. In the following 
months, there were two monsters 
that controlled my thoughts.

The first was an ebony cave, 

with an absence of light. It 
induced hibernation and no 
appetite. My ambition became 
limited, yet my idleness ran 
rampant. It acted as an empty 
cavern for my anxiety to reside. 
The walls were reverberators 
for the echo of its breath. Slow 
and unsteady, like the beating 
of my chest. Ready to cease, yet 

relentlessly unfailing. Agony: 
He would gawk at me.

The second was a sharp high, 

with that full-body absentee. 
It forged enhanced sensations 
and hyperreality. My awareness 
was active, but my response 
was impaired. It operated as an 
induced insanity. Emotions free 
of gravity. Active when they 
wanted, and not when I needed. 
Attendance in rhythmic motion 
with my most inconvenient 
moments. Panic: She would 
take over me.

They entered me without 

my 
permission. 
All 
the 

perpetrators 
and 
prevailing 

emotions. 
Physically 
and 

mentally. It dismantled me 
inside, then out.

CATHERINE N.

Catherine N. is an LSA student.

Elena Hubbell can be reached at 

elepearl@umich.edu.

This is the second piece in the 
Survivors Speak series, which 

seeks to share the varied, 

first-person experiences of survivors 

of sexual assault. If you are a 

survivor and would like to submit 

to the series, please visit 

https://tinyurl.com/survivespeak 

for more information.

CONTRIBUTE TO THE CONVERSATION

Readers are encouraged to submit letters to the editor and op-eds. 
Letters should be fewer than 300 words while op-eds should be 550 
to 850 words. Send the writer’s full name and University affiliation to 

tothedaily@michigandaily.com.

I began to fall 
back on this 

feeling of distrust 
more and more.

In the following 
months, there 

were two 

monsters that 
controlled my 

thoughts.

My gut instinct is 
to stick to female 
presenting folks.

EMILY HUHMAN | COLUMN

EMILY WOLFE | CONTACT EMILY AT ELWOLFE@UMICH.EDU

EMILY 

HUHMAN

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Readers are encouraged to join in on our editboard discussions. 
Editboard occurs every Monday and Wednesday at 7:15 P.M. in the 

newsroom at 420 Maynard St.

Diversity of 

opinion is what 
makes the U.S. a 
great country.

