I would like to begin by saying that everyone is entitled to their opinion, and should exercise their freedom to voice it. However, the question of whether the voicing of these opinions are hypocritical or in poor taste is an entirely different issue. 

Last Monday, the Archdiocese of Miami organized a pro-life rally with students from different Catholic schools. Demonstrators assembled at a designated location and held up signs containing pro-life propaganda and messages like “Men for Others, Men for Life,” “Abortion Kills Children,” and “Abortion Hurts Women.” An all-male Roman Catholic high school was one of the schools attending the event. 

Controversy ensued when the official school Instagram posted photos depicting some of the students who attended the rally holding up anti-abortion signs. This generated a great deal of backlash, particularly among young women from other schools in the county. From my standpoint, based off the posts that I saw and the statements written in response to the rally, a great deal of female students from schools across the county saw this all boys school’s participation in the pro-life rally as hypocritical and misogynistic. This is because of the fact that many people, including myself, see abortion as an issue that pertains mainly to women. 

It is common for parochial schools, especially one that is all male, to be seen as close-minded and misogynistic, but in this particular case there is more to it than what people think. 

I spoke with a junior who attends the school to gain more insight as to how they approach the pro-life versus pro-choice issue and I walked with a new perspective. It turns out they’re not necessarily as misogynistic as people made them out to be on social media, and they certainly did not deserve the criticism and backlash they received. 

This is what is wrong with society today. We complain about being polarized, but we keep perpetuating the problem. When we take to social media to air out our grievances in a reactionary manner, but we’re not acting in ways that would be conducive to opening dialogue and to personal growth.

Overall I would say although each and everyone of us are entitled to our opinions and the right to express them,  we should be more informed before publicly stating them. It should also be noted that generalizing an entire group based on an impression from a few of its members is counterproductive.