For nearly a decade, left-right politics and cultural issues were more than topics Lauren Southern followed. The fight over issues such as gender ideology, feminism, and free speech shaped her work, friendships, public identity, relationships, and understanding of the world.
Southern, a Vancouver-based conservative writer and commentator, now says she has left the world of online culture wars behind. She now warns that the battles around those divisive issues have become so ideologically rigid that they distort the perceptions of culture warriors on both sides.
Canadian writer and podcaster Meghan Murphy, a feminist who drew national headlines for her prominent role in the fight over gender ideology, arrived at a similar conclusion from the opposite end of the political spectrum. She says she now rejects political labels and the tribalism she says increasingly dominates public debate, and eventually left Canada for Mexico….