Sexism Among Skeptics

Last updated on: October 13, 2012 at 6:03 pm by Leah Libresco

Sexism Among Skeptics 2012-10-13T18:03:21-04:00 Leah Libresco

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

If you follow the atheist blogosphere, you’re probably aware of an internal debate about sexual harassment and the appropriate way to respond to it. Very briefly: skeptic activist Rebecca Watson gave a speech about religion’s “War on Women” at an atheist conference. During the conference, she and a group of people hung out in the hotel lobby sharing stories until around 4am. When she left to go to bed, one man followed her and buttonholed her in the elevator, asking her to come back to his room for some coffee. She demurred and returned to her room, but the man’s conduct had made her uncomfortable.

She discussed her experience on her blog and caught a lot of criticism for being over-sensitive and unreasonable. In another keynote, she called out some of her critics in the atheist blogging community by name and accused them of perpetuating the same kind of misogyny that she had identified in her talk about organized religion at the first talk. And then the atheist blogosphere blew up.

There are two issues that have gotten tangled during the arguments, so I’m splitting them off into two separate posts. I want to start by addressing the idea that Ms. Watson, and other women in the same situation, are being thin-skinned or shrill when they speak up. Later today, I’ll have another post up on the way the atheist community has been responding to this particular incident.

I completely endorse Jen McCreight’s post on this issue (“Richard Dawkins, Your Privilege is Showing“) where she did a great job explaining why creepy come-ons go beyond simple rudeness and awkwardness for women. It does not make sense to treat harassment and coercion as the expected price for participating in society, a nuisance, but no more troubling than any other social danger like dinner party bores. This attitude bullies women into keeping silent and legitimizes abusive behavior (the lovable lech archetype should be taken out back and shot).

Jen covered the issue well, so I just want to add a personal reflection. When I moved to DC a few weeks ago, it was a relief to know that I would be within safe walking distance of my local metro, even late at night. Last summer, I interned in DC and had been so persistently sexually harassed by cab drivers that I was starting to decide if I’d be better off taking the half hour walk on my own in the dark. Drivers commented on my appearance, repeatedly asked for my phone number (handing back my receipt and demanding it when I didn’t give it up), and tried to get me to consider accompanying them to a party in the future.

I went into more detail when I wrote about the experience for the Yale Daily News (“Out of the Driver’s Seat“), but suffice to say my experience was not dissimilar to Watson’s. I was never threatened or physically threatened, but I was propositioned by men I didn’t know in a situation where I was isolated and uncomfortable. And because men’s advances are treated as “all in good fun” and women who complain are pilloried for being too uptight to take a compliment, it was hard to figure out what to do, so I settled on a defensive silence.

The whole situation felt horribly unfair. Yes, I was getting a cab after 11 p.m., but I was sober; I was wearing pants, not a short skirt and my hair was in a ponytail, for heaven’s sake. Hadn’t he seen that I had a math book by Martin Gardner under my arm? I glanced down at my top, trying to work out if a polo shirt rather than a T-shirt qualified as showing too much cleavage.

It wasn’t after I got out of the cab that I realized that, for the entirety of the ride, I had been operating under the assumption that something in my own behavior must have provoked the driver. I had been imagining that I had earned the right not to be harassed because I wasn’t wearing make-up — instead of remembering I deserved to be respected because I was a person. A miniskirt wouldn’t have been an open invitation to harassment.

Letting these incidents pass in an effort not to be perceived as touchy requires that we blind ourselves to the way women are objectified and victimized. Harassment that does not result in physical assault still comes across as punishment for having the temerity to be a woman in public.

I’m glad to take questions in the comments, but I hope this example, Jen’s post, and this still-excellent essay on privilege make it clearer why the actions of the guy at the conference even if innocent in his own mind can be threatening and why they need to be called out, not ignored. As to the how of addressing them, I’ll get to that in part 2.

Atheism

feminism and the family

Previous Post

July 2, 2011

Turing Test Teaser

Next Post

July 3, 2011 Handling Sexism Among Skeptics

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 Quick Takes Apologetics Atheism Book Conversion Debate Tactics Debates Epistemology/Philosophy Housekeeping Ideological Turing Test Marriage Morality in Practice Parsing Catholicism Possibly Heretical Radio Reviews/Recommendations Sequence Index Spiritual Practice Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2017 March 2017 January 2017 December 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What happened when Jesus touched the coffin of the widow's son at Nain?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The coffin broke The crowd dispersed Rain fell The son came back to life