Atheist feminism

Atheist feminism is a branch of feminism that also advocates atheism. Atheist feminists hold that religion is a prominent source of female oppression and inequality, believing that the majority of the religions are sexist and oppressive towards women.[1]

In addition, atheist feminism opposes sexism within the atheist population. For example, Victoria Bekiempis wrote in The Guardian:

But other female atheists are blunt in their assessment of why the face of atheism doesn't necessarily reflect the gender makeup of its adherents. Annie Laurie Gaylor, who founded the Freedom From Religion Foundation with her mother, Anne Nicol Gaylor, in 1978, sums it up succinctly: "One word – sexism." Gaylor's husband, Dan Barker, who helms the organisation along with her, is usually the one invited to speaking engagements, despite her longer tenure as the organisation's leader and her numerous books on atheism.[2]

The atheist Sikivu Hutchinson wrote about the hiring of David Silverman by Atheist Alliance International:

The recent decision by Atheist Alliance International (AAI) to hire the former leader of American Atheists, David Silverman, to its executive director position is yet another indication that this business-as-usual rehab strategy also applies to movement atheism, which can be just as corrupt, cronyistic, and swaggeringly hostile to women as corporate America.[3]

Silverman resigned his position as Executive Director of Atheist Alliance International in December 2019.

At the June 2011 World Atheist Convention, on a panel that also included the new atheist Richard Dawkins, the atheist Rebecca Watson spoke about sexism within the atheist movement. Among the various topics in a vlog posted following her return from her trip, Watson wrote about how after the talk around 4 am after leaving the hotel bar, a man from the group followed her into the hotel elevator and said to her "Don't take this the wrong way, but I find you very interesting, and I would like to talk more. Would you like to come to my hotel room for coffee?" Watson cited contextual reasons why she believed this was inappropriate, and advised, "guys, don't do that."[4][5] The ensuing discussion and criticism across several websites, including Reddit and the Pharyngula blog, became highly polarized and heated to the point of name-calling along with some personal threats, including rape and death threats.[6][7] The controversy further increased when Richard Dawkins joined the blog discussion later in 2011, describing her response as an overreaction since a man had merely conversed with her, "politely". Dawkins contrasted the "elevator incident" with the plight of women in Islamic countries.[8][9][10] The result of this exchange led to an extended internet flame war that several reports dubbed "Elevatorgate".[11][12][13] Although Elevatorgate controversy was covered or mentioned by several major media outlets with a wide audience,[14] most of the considerable controversy occurred in the atheist blogosphere.[15]

  1. ^ "Does God Hate Women?". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 2010-12-31. Retrieved 2010-07-26.
  2. ^ [Why the New Atheism is a boys' club] by Victoria Bekiempis, The Guardian, Mon 26 Sep 2011 09.30 EDT, First published on Mon 26 Sep 2011 09.30 EDT
  3. ^ Hiring of Accused Atheist Leader Is Reminder That #MeToo Is Still Needed in Organized Atheism Archived 2019-12-08 at the Wayback Machine by Sikivu Hutchinson, Rewire.News
  4. ^ Rebecca Watson (2011-06-20). About Mythbusters, Robot Eyes, Feminism, and Jokes (YouTube). Event occurs at 5:06. Archived from the original on 2019-12-28. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
  5. ^ Watson, Rebecca (24 October 2012). "It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too". Slate. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  6. ^ Miller, Ashley F. (June 2013), "The non-religious patriarchy: why losing religion HAS NOT meant losing white male dominance", CrossCurrents, 63 (2): 211–226, doi:10.1111/cros.12025, S2CID 170686171
  7. ^ Winston, Kimberly (September 15, 2011). "Atheists address sexism issues". USA Today. Religion News Service. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  8. ^ Taranto, James (July 7, 2011). "Commander in Tweet". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  9. ^ Staff Reporter. "Dawkins, Watson and the elevator ride". The M&G Online. Archived from the original on 2018-03-29. Retrieved 2018-03-29.
  10. ^ Cailtin Dickson (July 6, 2011). "Richard Dawkins Gets into a Comments War with Feminists". The Atlantic Wire. Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
  11. ^ Rousseau, Jacques (2011-07-14). "Elevatorgate and the power of words". Synapses. Archived from the original on 2019-12-15. Retrieved 2019-12-15.
  12. ^ "Dawkins, Watson and the elevator ride". Mail & Guardian. 2011-09-02. Archived from the original on 2018-12-04. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  13. ^ Band, Emily (2011-07-24). "Rihard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2018-08-24. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  14. ^ *Richard Dawkins and male privilege Archived 2019-06-10 at the Wayback Machine By Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, July 5, 2011 10:30 am
  15. ^ Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins Archived 2019-12-19 at the Wayback Machine by David Allen Green - New Statesman - 06 July 2011

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