Aggies should be outraged

To the editor:

In light of the recent events surrounding Anita Sarkeesian, you as a member of the Aggie community should be angry. It should frustrate you to no end that someone had the audacity to threaten not only our guest, Anita, but many of our fellow students who identify as feminists. I hope you’re angry that an intelligent and empowering woman did not feel safe on our campus. I hope you’re angry that a single individual ruined one of USU’s most important lectures of the year. I hope you feel the sting of the national media and those on social media who will pre-emptively judge the character of our university. Why do I want you to feel this? Because we often isolate ourselves from the serious concerns in the world, and hopefully it will serve as a wake-up call for our community.

I have yet to see any evidence that says this individual is a student at USU (despite his claim to be such). It’s entirely possible law enforcement won’t be able to trace this email to a single person. Whether or not this is an empty threat, we need to take it seriously and act accordingly as a student body. We need to be aware that this is all too common in the world; we need to accept that Logan is not immune to problems that are common in our modern society.

Nearly everyone you pass today is going to be dealing with struggles that they feel they can’t share, be it issues of domestic violence, depression, expressing sexual orientation, religious doubts, financial troubles, family concerns, health issues or other difficulties. Everyone is trying to handle their lives in the only way they know how. Rather than sanitizing our interactions, we need to be mutually supportive, empathetic and hold people in unconditional positive regard.

You should know that other people are going through something similar and hold the kind of trust that allows you, and others to be vulnerable among each other. We need to be willing to act with concern and empathy and accept that the best thing we can do today is care enough to listen. Even if lifestyles, opinions or appearances don’t match, we should still make a strong effort to be inclusive.

A response like this is indicative of a topic that should be addressed very seriously. Rather than shying away from future engagements with controversial topics, we should look to promote the important values that we hold in common. Anita has inadvertently raised concerns in other areas of our community, and I hope you take heed.

When it comes down to it, I support equal treatment for all, regardless of stereotypes or physiology. I support efforts to raise awareness of these issues that are ubiquitous in our local and global cultures. Domestic violence, rape and sexism as a whole are real issues that should be addressed, and Anita has proven that to me in a way more powerful than any lecture. I refuse to passively allow others to be threatened, mistreated or otherwise disenfranchised. This makes me a feminist, and I hope it makes you one too.

— Kenny Fryar-Ludwig