How to handle widespread delusion?
Joan Walsh has an interesting article at Salon, where she grapples with the surge in white resentment that was recorded in a recent study as white people believing they experience "racism". In fact, they seem to think white people experience more racism than black people. Joan says it's hard to guess at what's compelling this demonstrably false belief, but starts a thought experiment where maybe there's some rationale for this thinking outside of just being delusional.
One of the best, most life-affirming parts of being a female writer is that some dudes will never ever allow that you might know what you're talking about, no matter how much experience or education you have with a subject. This is doubly true when the subject is Lady Stuff like abortion rights or rape---the vagina creates a magical force field around the brain where no amount of time spent covering a subject will allow any information to penetrate that could make an opinion the vagina-holder has worth considering. This expectation that women don't know what they're talking about is one of those joyous things that gets me out of bed in the morning with a song in a heart and a skip in my step. That, or maybe it's the daily treat of freshly ground coffee I allow myself. Your choice.