Why do people assume discussing something means justifying it?
I’ve noticed that when people bring up a topic for discussion, especially historical or social topics—others sometimes assume they’re trying to justify something rather than just explore it.
For example, i recently asked whether lead poisoning could have unintentionally reinforced sexist stereotypes in history. My question wasn’t about justifying sexism, just about whether environmental factors might have played a role in how people perceived gender. But i got accused of trying to justify sexism, even though i explicitly said multiple times i wasn’t.
Why does this happen? is it just because the topic is sensitive? or do people have a hard time separating ‘asking about something’ from ‘supporting it’? i’d love to hear thoughts on this.
Interesting perspective! I get why people are wary, but it’s frustrating when that leads to unfair assumptions about genuine questions. Thanks for sharing this!