I have heard people talk about what it means to be a woman, man, another race/ethnicity and etc. but don't identify with the groups they speak of. But, how can they attempt to describe something that they're not? How can they understand it on a personal level? I can't tell you what it's like to be a "shark in the ocean", because I am not one. Therefore, how can people speak for others who they don't understand or about things they've never experienced?

I can't tell you what it's like to be water in glass, because, well, I am not water in a glass. For example: How can you tell a woman what it's like to be a woman in the world or etc? How?

Help me understand.

Idk. I hate people like this. A lot of ATRL members are like this.

it annoys me so much when straight people say being gay is a choice

I noticed this myself, a lot of ATRL is anti-gun/hunting despite never having owned a gun or hunted.

I don't see the logic when people do this so I try to only speak on things that affect me/people like me. Like I don't know what it's like for black people so I'm not gonna be up here trying to speak on black issues, tf do I know about that? This also annoys me when men try to speak on women's issues, y'all don't understand and most of the time you're wrong. I think it's a sense of entitlement, people are brought up now being told they're ~special~ and their opinions are so important when honestly most of the time they're not. You don't need to give an opinion on everything, and if it's something that doesn't pertain to you personally it's probably best for you to let people of that specific group do the talking because they know best.

I don't think you have to have personal experience with something to understand an issue or have an opinion on it.

Edit: Especially in the age of the internet.

Hmm, I agree.

This is different. Someone who is against animal cruelty would obviously not want to hunt, thus their opinion on it. Do you expect someone to hunt to conclude whether they like killing or not?

ok but when you think like this you get white people telling black people 'it doesn't seem so bad'. men telling women 'it doesn't seem so bad'. straight people telling gay people 'it doesn't seem so bad'. More often then not the person trying to speak on something they haven't experienced does not truly see all the pros and cons of a situation and therefore can't make a sound decision on the issue and that just creates more ignorance. You can sit here and try to imagine what it would be like to be x or y, but at the end of the day if you're not actually x or y you're not going to be able to fully comprehend what living that type of life is like.

Some things are obvious, other things are not.

or the emotional aspect.

But you can research. You can talk to people who are experiencing those things to get their perspective. Speaking on what you haven't researched is dumb, but you can learn about the issue like you can learn about anything else.

If only the rest of atrl thought like you.

this is not what the OP is about
being against killing animals when u havent killed an animal is just being a good person who is true to their beliefs


OT: ignorance
like the poster i quoted above is portraying for us

and by the same token people can stop talking about that "white privilege".

Not quite, Pocs experience the effects of White Priviledge, therefore you can tell them it's not real. Cute attempt though. Xoxox

If you have an open mind and see things for what they are you will see white privilege all around you. Even if you are a person of colour or not

probably not the best example but okay sis

Sometimes we just feel the need to express our opinion and let everyone see we exist I guess.

Whenever I talk about issues that don't pertain to me (such as the problems women face), I try not to act like I understand what they go through (obviously, I don't), but I try to empathize and be as supportive as possible. Sometimes I just decide not to say anything though. I guess it's better that way.