Written by Kylie Akins
Ihave never written an opinion article.
At first, I thought, “Maybe I don’t have an opinion. Maybe I just live a bland life of neutrality.” I’ve never really felt compelled to express my feelings in black print across the opinions pages before. But now I realize the problem goes deeper than that. I am scared of my own opinion.
I’ve managed to dodge the opinion bullet for three years now, but now I’m forced to examine my aversion as I write a research paper about the absence of a large group of Americans from opinion pages across the nation. For the past 25 years, the presence of female contributors in the opinion pages has remained steady at about 20 percent in top U.S. papers, according to the Op-Ed Project.
The core of my research is “why?” Why does half the American population only contribute less than a quarter of the nation’s opinion articles? For years, many attributed this disparity to some sexist male editor-in-chief tossing the majority of female-written opinion articles in the trash; but a recent attack by a reader on The Washington Post for its lack of female-written opinion articles brought out the truth. The reality was that there was not a gender gap because of a bigoted editor; the problem was with the women themselves.
I read the same excuses online over and over as I attempted to understand the lack of femalecontributors: “I’m not an expert in anything; I don’t want to seem pretentious; why would anyone want my opinion on this?” And now I find the same phrases coming out of my own mouth. As proof, my first attempt at an opinion article crumpled in the trash that would have printed today if I hadn’t snatched it from the copy editors’ desk hours before deadline night.
Now the doubt of my opinion’s validity is staring me in the face.How could I research the gender gap in the opinion pages if I was just part of the problem?
I’ve never attended a bra- burning rally, but I suddenly feel a calling to address the problem of insecurity among women, a problem I’ve struggled with my entire life. Writing this article has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done during my work with the Bison, and I will still probably attempt to wrestle it from Jessica Ardrey’s hands before she places it in the opinion pages.
This year I’ve read the opinions pages more than I ever have during my time at Harding, and the number of female contributors has encouraged me to address my insecurity now.
So here I am, facing one of my worst fears as I open my opinion up to public criticism. At the end of my Bison employment and my undergraduate career, I am suddenly afraid of my own words. But I hope they can encourage others. I’m blessed by the voices I find on the opinion pages each issue, and I hope no one continues to feel the insecurity about his or her own voice like I do now.
Your opinion is valid.
KYLIE AKINS serves as the news editor for the 2010- 2011 Bison. She may be contacted atkakins@harding.edu
