I work in a field where I know for a fact that there are gender differences in how women and men decide to take a stand, to own an opinion and then voice it. A ball park estimate is that women need to be 80-90% sure of their statement. Men need to be just a smidgen over 50%.

Take a moment to take that in.

I have been studying things like this for over a decade. I know it. It runs through my head when I’m in a situation where questions are asked, questions can be asked, etc. Which is one reason why I’m most likely going to ask a question or state an opinion.

Yet when it was my turn on Wednesday to present feminist theory to my class, I felt like I froze.

Even though I knew that my professor, her own admission, wasn’t a feminist theory scholar. I had read through my classmates notes and most of them understood the readings. And I froze.

And it was because I wasn’t 100% certain on the questions that were posed of me. This was bad. So very bad. I just hope my professor doesn’t think I’m a total poser.

It was also because I was TOO familiar with the readings. I had already made intellectual leaps that my classmates didn’t or couldn’t make. This was great! They helped me see the weakness in some of the materials that I felt were strong.

That’s going to help me so much. A ten minute discussion on the weakness of just one conclusion (but one I see a lot in the literature) will make me a better scholar. A + B sometimes = bias towards the masculine, but sometimes A + B = bias towards low-hanging fruit. And to know when each of those happen will be key to my future.

I’m keeping this in mind as we continue to read critique essays and then the responses to those critiques. Academic smack downs are awesome. As long as they aren’t directed in my direction…for now.