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Atheist Misogyny


meda

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I thought this was interesting, a woman active in the Atheist movement was propositioned by a male conference attendee in a slightly creepy way shortly after a presentation she gave about being objectified by male activists. She then blogged about the experience. There has been a huge backlash against her, including some snark by Dawkins. I find it interesting because for me it perfectly illustrates what seems to happen to a western woman with some privilege who dares to complain about any sort of sexism. It's the same old "suck it up, because other women have it worse" canard. This also strikes me as another form of fundie-ism. I have linked to the Alternet article.

 

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/ar ... age=entire

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I think you mistyped anytime a woman dares complain that a man is being a creep. Oh, you should be flattered by the attention. :roll:

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I think you mistyped anytime a woman dares complain that a man is being a creep. Oh, you should be flattered by the attention. :roll:

That too. :angry-banghead:

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I really dislike Rebecca Watson, I find her to be very smarmy, but that probably would have freaked me out too.

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ayayayay....wow richard dawkins, you are a giant piece of shit. and pz, really dude? i loved you. and that's the best he could come up with?

this is why i only de-lurk in feminist spaces (or feminist-friendly spaces). (most) men are shits on the web.

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I've noticed that, unless you have a blatantly "female-sounding" username, the default online is male. It's funny the reactions I've gotten in the past when another poster has assumed I'm male, and I correct them. Usually positive, actually, but not always, and I always wonder if/how that affects future interactions with that person.

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I've noticed that, unless you have a blatantly "female-sounding" username, the default online is male. It's funny the reactions I've gotten in the past when another poster has assumed I'm male, and I correct them. Usually positive, actually, but not always, and I always wonder if/how that affects future interactions with that person.

My cousin told me last year that he read a study that female help staff for World of Warcraft got better ratings when they solely interacted online with a gender neutral username than when the female was interacting on the phone, but for men there was no difference. I thought it was interesting.

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FaustianSlip, I think you're right about huge swathes of the internet (and basically all MMO games) but the older I get, the more I'm in spaces where the default is female. I think FreeJinger is one of those places, and many feminist sites.

For me it carries over into other spaces; the more political blog I read is mixed, maybe majority male, and I have mistaken several male posters for female over there.

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I've noticed that, unless you have a blatantly "female-sounding" username, the default online is male. It's funny the reactions I've gotten in the past when another poster has assumed I'm male, and I correct them. Usually positive, actually, but not always, and I always wonder if/how that affects future interactions with that person.

Way back when, I used to post on a Simpsons fan forum under the name "Grandpa." We were discussing whether we were going to buy all the seasons on DVD and I said that at the slow rate they were releasing them (at the time), I'd probably get a particularly bad season as a gift after the birth of my first child, and I'd be so hopped up on medicine that the season would seem funny to me. The next person responded, "That's a very odd thing to hear from someone named Grandpa."

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My cousin told me last year that he read a study that female help staff for World of Warcraft got better ratings when they solely interacted online with a gender neutral username than when the female was interacting on the phone, but for men there was no difference. I thought it was interesting.

I can believe it. I worked in technical retail jobs for a while, and there was very much an attitude from some quarters that if you happened to have a vagina, there was no way you could help solve those individuals' computer issues or know what you were talking about when it came to cell phones and stuff. I actually had a couple of occasions where guys said that to me pretty much point blank. "Is there a guy I could talk to?" No, there isn't, asshole, and as it happens, even if there was, I have more experience with this issue than he does, anyway. Anything else? The funny thing was that these guys, when you solved their problem, would occasionally get pissed off that a girl knew enough to fix whatever they hadn't been able to. It wouldn't surprise me if some of the same dynamic occurs with the WoW thing.

Similarly, I have a gender-neutral username on Xbox Live, and I've never gotten some of the creepy/misogynistic texts or other stuff I've seen other women report, probably because I keep my mike turned off and don't have a name that broadcasts the fact that I'm female. It's stupid that that apparently matters, but then, online gaming can be kind of a cesspool, so it's not entirely surprising, either. Meh.

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ayayayay....wow richard dawkins, you are a giant piece of shit. and pz, really dude? i loved you. and that's the best he could come up with?

this is why i only de-lurk in feminist spaces (or feminist-friendly spaces). (most) men are shits on the web.

I am ok with PZ's response. Not thrilled, but ok. Yes, his original comments were weak, but they were supportive and he never backed down from that. He publicly confirmed that it really was Dawkins making the shithead comments (http://twitter.com/pzmyers/statuses/87666607261884416) so no one could mistake him for an imposter troll, even though they are friends. He continued to call out misogynist douches (who I'm sure he shares some common ground with) for their douchiness:

"[Rebecca Watson] asked for some simple common courtesy, and for that she gets pilloried. Sorry, people, but that sends a very clear signal to women that calm requests for respect will be met with jeers by a significant subset of the atheist community."

I've always been impressed with PZ's support of feminism. Even blaghag appreciated PZ's post, and she's one of the stronger feminist voices in the atheist movement.

I find Dawkins' comments intensely disappointing, and his arguments stupid. I'm not surprised by the arrogance, but I thought he was smarter than that. He has such a strong following and so many people will listen to him and support him for being a dick :(

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