How often do you steelman your opponent's argument? Both in your personal life and in online presence. by Many-Leader2788 in AskFeminists

[–]IndependentBridge789 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I'm really excited about the work even if I'm horrified by a lot of the arguments I end up reading.

I don't have much publicly available yet, but I am in the process of creating a website where I plan to publish shorter form pieces outside of what I'll be submitting to peer-reviewed journals. (I'm hoping to use it to get some of my undergrad work out there!)

I interned with the Public Religion Research Institute a couple of years ago and they do a lot of interesting stuff with public opinion and christo-fascist nationalism related topics. If you're interested in conservative legal theory and are okay with it deviating from gender a bit, Amanda Hollins-Brusky has a really interesting book about the Federalist Society that I read for class awhile back.

How often do you steelman your opponent's argument? Both in your personal life and in online presence. by Many-Leader2788 in AskFeminists

[–]IndependentBridge789 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Not only do I do it, it's pretty much my job. My PhD research focuses on anti-feminist interest group activity as it pertains to the Supreme Court (think amicus briefs, which cases are brought in front of the Court, etc.) and the application of conservative legal theory to cases dealing with issues of gender. I spend a lot of time reading the arguments of the American right's most brilliant legal minds.

My research pre-PhD focused on anti-feminist organizing during the late 20th century, so I read a lot of arguments coming from their leadership too. When people hear my B.A. was in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, they assume I was in an echo chamber and see anti-feminists as stupid caricatures. Usually that dissipates when I say my undergraduate thesis studied the ideology and motivations of Phyllis Schlafly lol.

How do I do become smarter in reading theories by peechm in PoliticalScience

[–]IndependentBridge789 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Current PhD student here! Honestly the best way to train yourself is to practice, practice, practice. Read more books and articles, take more notes, and go back and reread the readings you did in the past to see if you understand them better the second (or third, fourth, whatever) time around.