Empathy is a hotly contested keyword for educational purposes, with the field of counseling recording over 27 different definitions. The term has its roots in aesthetic appreciation of artistic endeavour, although it has evolved into an appreciation of matters from another's perspective. As such, it is a powerful tool for anti-bullying and anti-oppression pedagogical discourses. As "empathy" involves a potentially non-consensual gaze on another individual, the term continues to be contested not only from its possible and potentially asymmetrical applications in teaching to a potential for gendered, racial, or cultural bias in what groups or people are seen to be empathic or worthy of empathy.