don’t get me wrong, i hate essentialism - i understand it to be a philosophical framework which prevents people from self-actualizing, contributes to medical malpractice, invalidates, encourages violence etc.
however, something that fourth wavers never seem to take into account is that most folks often gravitate towards essentialist notions of gender and mental health and everything else because they ascribe meaning onto the world. people who live outside of pomo homo land aren’t necessarily evil. often times, they can be talked out of essentialist mindsets if you present a valid constructivist argument. screaming at somebody for talking about woman as a monolithic category usually accomplishes absolutely nothing.
