The Bitchin’ Table: Teach Us the Ways of the Secular Flesh

(Or Maeby I could just become an atheist instead…)

For this week’s Bitchin’ Table, Katie O. and Femistorian have decided to take a brief respite from the super-duper-political and move into the (slightly, until the GOP has their way and America becomes a theocracy) less political realm of religion-or lack thereof. That’s right readers, this week we’re talking about sexism in the New Atheist movement!

Femistorian: Hi there Katie O.!

Katie O.: So I’ve been meaning to ask you… I was raised Catholic and being Catholic and female and not straight can be pretty rough. So how’s atheism working out for you?

Femistorian: You know, most of the time I love atheism. Being a former Catholic myself, it’s definitely been a huge relief for me to find a good community of freethinkers here at college to help foster my growth. But to be honest Katie, I’m a little concerned about what’s going to happen to me when I hit the real world and leave my JMU atheist bubble.

Katie O.: Why is that? I’ve always expected atheist communities would be so open and liberal, you know, a safe place to be a woman.

Femistorian: Well that’s what I had heard as well. But I did a little reading, and it turns out, the atheist community at large is almost as rife with sexism as a Rick Santorum rally.

Katie O.: I don’t know what you’re talking about, I felt super welcome and… one could say blessed last time I was at a Rick Santorum Rally. What have you heard though?

Femistorian: Well, this past summer I read a great article in Bitch magazine about the lack of recognition women were getting in the New Atheist movement. See, when you ask most people to name an atheist, they usually think of Chris Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, or Bill Maher. Even I’m a little guilty of it. But it turns out that there are a lot of women involved in the New Atheist movement, such as Jennifer Michael Hecht, who wrote Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas Jefferson and Emily Dickinson. Sadly, most of the media coverage the movement receives focuses on the men. Any guess as to why that is?

Katie O.: I could imagine it’s because women have to space to have a voice in the atheist movement. It’s interesting too, because you list Christopher Hitchens, who’s notorious for having written an extremely sexist article on why women are just inherently less funny than men… somehow, despite atheism supposedly disliking religion because it is sexist, men in the atheist community seem to be pretty hostile towards women too. I guess we’re not fucking welcome anywhere!

Femistorian: Very (unfortunately) true. It seems that liberal men tend to be under the delusion that because they have more “progressive” beliefs, their sexism is more tolerable or excusable than that of their conservative counterparts. Amanda Marcotte, one of my favorite female skeptics, discusses this in an article from Pandagon. She notes that it’s incredibly unfortunate that someone as blatantly misogynistic as Bill Maher, who has actually made jokes about domestic violence and has said some awful things about my #1 ladycrush Hillary Clinton, is considered a leader of the movement and has even received the Richard Dawkins Award. If anything, it’s really holding the movement back.

Katie O.: How dare someone talk shit about Hill C?! Not. Acceptable. But see, this is something I really hate about (some) progressive dudes… they think they’re exempt from sexist and racist beliefs because they voted for Barack Obama and they don’t think abortion should be totally illegal or whatever. And, honestly? I don’t have the fucking time to get involved in another cause where I’ll be marginalized and silenced. I stopped being religious to get away from that oppressive shit, and I don’t need to deal with it in a supposedly progressive space. Fuck, no.

Femistorian: See that’s what is so frustrating about sexism in the movement. We’re missing out on having great atheist/feminists like you get involved! Personally, I really enjoy my activity within the atheist community though. Groups like JMU Freethinkers promote open discussion and dialogue about all kinds of issues, from pseudoscience to morality. Last semester they even hosted a great discussion about abortion.

Katie O.: Yeah, it seriously sucks when progressive movements — atheism, Occupy Wall Street — tell women to step aside and wait. Like, with OWS, I feel like it’s you (women, people of color) get your rights when we (white men) get ours. It was like that with feminism regarding women of color and queer people, and still is to a certain extent, and I just think that’s a serious problem.

Femistorian: The funny thing is-sexism is neither rational nor scientific (something that’s supposed to be of importance in the New Atheist movement).

Katie O.: Ah, the irony. So, femistorian, what’s a feminist atheist to do?

Femistorian: Well, the BEST thing you can do is talk to other atheists. Show them that women have a lot to offer to the secular movement, that free thought isn’t a boys club anymore. Second, learn more! Listen to podcasts like Godless Bitches from the wonderful ladies the Atheist Community of Austin, or read Skepchick, an amazing blog run by lady skeptics!

Katie O.: Well that certainly sounds like a way better option than the GOP’s proposed United Christian States of Jesusland! (Turn your uterus in at the door).