The 8 ‘Don’ts’ Of Having An Opinion

Don’t: Assume you know what offends or does not offend a group you do not belong to (throwing shade at you male feminists and straight allies).

Don’t: Assume your opinion will never change. I used to think boys were yucky and I felt very strongly about it. I also used to be a republican. Things change–and they are supposed to. You should evolve as you grow.

Don’t: Make the obnoxious observation that because you don’t like a particular opinion, that opinion should not be allowed to be expressed. I hate seeing comments on articles like, ‘I don’t agree with this, please remove it.’ Seems like a very North Korean thing to do, tbh.

Don’t: Attack a person instead of the thing they stand for. Not only is this a logical fallacy, it’s just plain mean.

Don’t: Make generalizations. Just because something is bad, doesn’t mean there’s not a single good thing about it. For instance, on The Pros And Cons Of Sleeping With A Married Man and The Pros And Cons Of Having An Eating Disorder, so many of the comments were “there are no pros.” This is incorrect. If there were no pros to sleeping with a married man, no one would ever do it. Learn how to separate your emotions about a negative thing from being able to evaluate it intellectually.

Don’t: Make assumptions about what people’s intentions are. If you bite into an apple expecting it to taste like an orange, you are going to be unhappy. This does not reflect the quality of the apple, it reflects your dumbass assumptions.

Don’t: Think that winning an argument means you are right. It means you are a better arguer, not that your opinion is factual.

Don’t: Have an opinion about other people’s life choices. I mean, do this all you want to but realize that it doesn’t affect you and your time and energy might be better spent getting a hobby or something.