Trials of a confused feminist (in an internet governance school)

As I sit at the Internet Governance School in perhaps the lushest hotel I have ever stayed in, I am struck with the somewhat unwelcome (but certainly not unfamiliar) feeling of being way out of my depth. I have always paid lip service to this whole “exposing myself to new experiences, new ideas” thing. After all, that’s how we grow, isn’t it? It’s exciting! Fun! Awesome! It’s how we learn. It’s how we sharpen our analysis against the whetstone of other people’s ideas, thoughts, approaches — the more contrarian and different from our own, the better. Because we all know that bubbles are dangerous and staying in them can often encourage a hardline fundamentalist way of thinking that is unhelpful at best and downright insufferable at the worst.