Talking Feminism in A Male Dominated Class Setting

    So on Monday, I had my English class, and we read a narrative essay called "My Hips, My Caderas" by Alisa Valdes. This essay was about a Hispanic woman's self image and how she felt torn between two worlds. She wanted to be this so she could please the white boys in her class, but she also knew how important big hips were to her Hispanic culture. As she grew up, she had white boys call her a "fatass," but she also had Hispanic men cat call her at the age of 12. She goes on about this internal conflict of who she should please, but also starts to degrade the white, American women as well as Hispanic men who she feels have objected her. In my English class, it is about 75% males and 25% females. Our English teacher points out Alisa's crude language in how she treats other and asks if it necessary. The males in the class say no because Alisa speaks of how she uses her figure to get things from guys if she is out at a bar. They say she should speak kinder words, but they were not understanding her full message. She may have said harsh things, but that is because she feels so strongly. If you have never felt self-conscious about your body or felt sexualized, then you will not understand. She uses this language in hopes that her message gets across, and it is clear that these boys in my class did not understand.
    Today, I had English again and we read another story about body image but in the males perspective. Throughout the whole narrative there was one line on women's body image but we still spent the class speaking of  women. The author wanted to make the point of how G.I. Joe is equally as influential as Barbie on how children see themselves. The boys will feel that they have to be big and strong, while the girls will feel that they have to be thin like Barbie. I thought this was a great point because I honestly never thought of that. However, this one boy did not agree because he turned it into an Anti- Feminist rant. He said feminist try to get rid of Barbie, but instead turn to celebrities and tell girls to strive to be like them "because of their beauty only." He then proceeded to say that women now say look towards the "Kardashians" and try to be beautiful and strong like them. He says we displace our image from Barbie to celebrities. I have nothing against the Kardashians, but if you are looking for a strong, powerful, and Feminist woman they would not be my example. He also says that we still only look to beauty standards instead of their accomplishments. I just can't wrap my head around the fact that today was supposed to be about male's body image, but it turned to be about female's. This boy could not handle the fact that we said boys have feeling because he kept going back to women. It was just unbelievable because he acted as if he knew what all female think, but he was the farthest thing from correct. It was just baffling, and I just tried to hold my tongue because I knew that I could not answer in a civil way.