How I Unwittingly Infiltrated the Boy’s Club & Why It’s Time for a New Wave of Atheism
It’s been five years now since I first became involved with the atheist and skeptic movements. And for most of those five years, I felt like I belonged. When I started the Society of Non-Theists at Purdue University, I was relieved to know I wasn’t the only atheist on my campus. So when I realized there was an even greater national movement, I was elated to become a part of it. I had finally found people who shared my passion and values. I was welcomed with open arms.
Until I started talking about feminism.
You see, my previous atheist activism wasn’t sullied by the f-word. People applauded me for starting an atheist group on a conservative college campus. For blogging about our events and getting local media attention. For volunteering as a board member of the Secular Student Alliance. And most of all, for creating Boobquake.
I’ve always considered myself a feminist, but I used to be one of those teenagers who assumed the awesome ladies before me had solved everything. But Boobquake made me wake up. What I originally envisioned as an empowering event about supporting women’s freedoms and calling out dangerous superstitious thinking devolved into “Show us your tits!” I received sexual invitations from strangers around the country. When I appeared or spoke at atheist events, there was always a flood of comments about my chest and appearance. I’ve been repeatedly told I can never speak out against people objectifying or sexually harassing me because a joke about my boobs was eternal “consent.”
So I started speaking up about dirty issues like feminism and diversity and social justice because I thought messages like “please stop sexually harassing me” would be simple for skeptics and rationalists. But I was naive. Like clockwork, every post on feminism devolved into hundreds of comments accusing me being a man-hating, castrating, humorless, ugly, overreacting harpy. Despite the crap I received, I continued to publicly support these movements and stress that the haters were just a tiny minority. I thought this flood of sexism I had never experienced before was just a consequence of me growing up and heading out into the real world, and had nothing to do with these movements in particular. I can’t count how many times I publicly stressed that the atheist/skeptical movement, while not perfect, is still a safer place for women and other minorities.
But now I recognize that I was trying to convince myself that this is true.
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Much more at the link.
Though this piece is about feminism and egalitarianism within skeptic and atheist communities, the experiences she relates are the same kinds of experiences that so many women face once they notice the kinds of sexist things that still aren't widely recognized used as such and dare to talk about them.
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issue. it is across the board. it is a male issue, not a political party issue. the people on du really really want to make it all about the rw. it is not. we see it here daily.
second.... this is interesting. we hear people promoting this garbage repeatedly state it is just eh old nag, 2nd wavers that are dying out. that is like the repug argument that denies the reality. i am seeing more and more of our young women waking up. the 3rd wave, sex positive, lipstick feminism had its day. and like this woman and the boobquake, too many women are seeing that is not the answer.
i had always state, what does it say a woman reduces herself to flash boobs to get out message instead of using her voice and brain. we are talking being taken seriously, being heard, effecting policy and changing thought pattern. any half reasonable person can see the difference between flashing boobs, and using brain. it really is a no brainer.
i think that it has escalated so, that there may be more than just hope. i hope. 