Jun 05 2013

Racism in Sports — It’s not just the men

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Sports

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It is no secret that I am a huge fan of the US Women’s National Soccer Team.  This past weekend there was a friendly between the US and Canada and one of the American players was the subject to racial slurs while she was on the field.

Sydney Leroux was born in Canada to a Canadian mother and an American father and wanted, from a very young age, to play for the US team.  This is undoubtedly because the US team would have been by far the greatest team in the world during her formative years and has developed quite the legacy.  (I would argue that Brazil has the greatest women’s player of all time).

Sydney is also not white.

So, last year when she played in Vancouver she got greeted not only with taunts about her being a Judas for going to play for the US but also with racial slurs.  She gets these slurs on a regular basis online as well.

Anyway, she scored an easy goal this weekend in overtime and pointed to her US Crest on her jersey and got a yellow card for it.  One of the tamest actions I’ve ever seen to earn a yellow card, and really, in response to the boos she’d gotten all game long and for her entire career, it’s so tame that I am surprised it earned notice at all.  But there you are.

After the game she went to twitter to say: “When you chant racial slurs, taunt me and talk about my family don’t be mad when I shush you and show pride in what I represent. #america”

So everyone’s in a bit of an uproar about it all.  I always thought Canadians would be better about this sort of thing than the US is, and I am even more surprised to see it so prevalent in the women’s game.  But there we are.  I suppose the most important thing to get out of this is that Sydney’s twitter feed is terribly amusing.

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Jun 03 2013

Monday Miscellany

Categories:

Link Collections

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Morning! Pour yourself some coffee and click these links.

This week in really cool science: People with anorexia move as if they’re their perceived size. While it’s obviously just one study, could a test like this be used as a screening tool? It gets at the cognitive side, rather than relying on the (mostly behavioral) side of determination we use now.
-Scientific American article and podcast
-Actual research article

Speaking of science, let’s talk about false positives and unreproducible results.

Also, anti-obesity campaigns and people with disordered eating. Not always a great combination.

People who need certainty are contributing to the RUIN OF SOCIETY. Basically.

Here’s a reason the world’s tumbling into ruin: if you want to be a popular pundit, it’s far better to be certain than accurate.  That’s right; more people will listen to a person who is factually wrong but confident over a guy who’s accurate but honest.

There are days I despair for the world, because our tiny monkey brains are forever seeking out shit that’s bad for them: sugar. Sex.  And certainty.  Basically, it’s a terrifying thing to think that this universe is full of so many factors that no one, literally no one, can predict what’s going to happen next with any confidence, and so we’ll happily listen to awful pundits who fill us up with the lie that yeah, someone knows, and it’s me.

Should we seculars have man-free events? My friend Robby mulls it over.
(Embarrassing fact: The first time I read this I, admittedly, scanned it before work. Which meant that I read the intro and the bolded topics. Which meant that I concluded that Robby must be anti-women’s-spaces. Which means that it was a very good thing that Chana sent me back to read it again. I’ve packed humble pie for lunch today.)

I’m updating my reader today–post below if you have a blog :)

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Jun 02 2013

Blame Canada! USWNT liveblog

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Sports

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uswnt-canada-june-2-2013-toronto

6:37 And the game is over.  What have we learned in this rematch?

Canada are sore losers and USWNT is the best.  BAM.

6:36 Leroux, the Canadian who is now American, scores!

USA 3 – CAN 0

6:35 Camada still pushing pretty hard.  I imagine it’d be a major morale boost if they could get something out of these last few minutes, but the US is shutting them down.

6:34 A minute into 3 minutes of overtime.

6:33 Great cross from Canada leading to the only shot from Canada, but way, way off.

6:32 US basically playing keep-away with a few seconds and injury time left.

6:30 Corner comes to nothing.  But they come back at goal and earn themselves another corner.  USA has gotten so many corners this game.

But this one, like the others, doesn’t yield much.

6:28 US a bit sloppy with passes, Canada trying to be aggressive.

Corner earned for the US.

6:25 83 minutes and Canada has yet to get a shot off, much less one on goal.  They look much better than that stat would imply.

6:24 Press on for Morgan.  I guess they feel comfortable only 2 goals up with 10 minutes left in the game?

6:22 Abby gets in a tussle with Buchanan. And she’s all smiles.  Just grinning broadly.  It’s lovely.

6:21 Alex Morgan is in the top 10 scorers all time for USWNT and she’s quite young.  Fantastic.

All I could really ask for is a goal for Abby for her birthday.

6:20 Straight into the wall.  TAKE THAT, CANADA

6:18 Foul called against Mewis.  And it’s totally bullshit.  On the edge of the penalty box.  Well dove, I suppose

6:16 Leroux on for Heath.  Leroux was born in Canada but plays for the US.  So, she’s not popular with this crowd.

6:14 And on the rebound from the corner MORGAN BAMBAM

US 2 – CAN 0

6:13 Canada comes right back at the US and looking pretty dangerous.  Another sub from them and a well-earned corner for them.

6:12 MORGAN!!!

US 1 – CAN 0

6:11 Great chance for Canada, but the ball has no pace when it’s finally shot.

6:10 Another substitute for Canada.

6:09 Canada gets a little something together up front, but nothing much comes from it.

6:07 Nothing from the corner.  My TV is being annoying.  There’s a storm.

Foul means a good threatening position for a free kick, but hot damn that Canadian goalkeeper is there like BAM.

6:05 Beautiful run forward by Morgan, passes it in to Cheney, but Cheney can’t do much with it.  But!  Another corner.

Mewis is on now, which means we’re losing the awesome Crystal Dunn.

6:04 30 minutes left.  Canada subs a new forward.

6:02 O’Reilly offside.

6:01 Morgan gets up, but wastes her cross.

Pretty impressive that US has ensured that Canada has yet to find a way to get a shot off.

6:00 The pressure from the US has definitely gone up a notch.

Cheney tries from distance, but no pace, not on target.

5:58 No real threat during that corner, but it earns them a second.

Short corner, whistles goes off, retake it.

Fantastic header, great pace, but the goalkeeper is there.

5:56 Great passing, blocked, gets the US a corner

5:55 Alex Morgan gets past all the defenders, looks like a great opportunity, but the goalkeeper comes out and is stopped.  Tripped up.  Should have shot it.  Too many touches.  Come on ladies, get it together.

5:53 Morgan gets off a shot on goal with absolutely no pace on it. Easily stopped.

5:52 Can’t help but wonder how this game would look different with Pia.  Not sure they’d be playing better, Pia definitely had some weaknesses as a coach.  But whatever mojo the US had under her seems to be understated throughout this game.

5:50 Canada come forward, which the crowd gets very excited about.  Again, nothing comes from it.

Is it weird that in my mind the US is a bunch of individual players, but Canada is pretty much just a bunch of red avatars fror Canada.

Sinclair called offside. (See what I did there?)

5:48 Abby mentioned that it’s quite windy and that they’ll be playing with the wind during the second half.  So let’s hope that makes a difference for them.

5:47 Players are back on the field

5:45 Some stats for you, Canada:US

Shots: 0:3

Shots on goal: 0:1

Fouls: 7:4

5:36 From Tumblr

1st half thoughts:

  • Finally seeing the centennial kits.  Long overdue and I’m glad it’s not white shorts.
  • Those red kits are exceptionally bright.
  • Can we put something on our passes please?
  • I thought McLeod was hurt?
  • Canada is bunching in the middle on defense, if we get it outside we can make shit happen.  
  • OMG guys Tobin can get aggressive alert the press!!…Calm yourselves.
  • Stay on your feet Abby.
  • Cheney I could watch you hit long balls all day.
  • The counting is awesome, some of you need to get your panties out of your ass.
  • Missing KO’s overlapping runs.
  • The CB’s aren’t as on point as I would like, but not really detrimental either.
  • I love how Tobs and HAO can seamlessly switch sides. 
  • Yeah Dunn totally can’t hold her own against bigger players.  Hush yo moths doubters.
  • Cheney will cut you.
  • I love seeing Barnie come off her line like that, not usually her thing.
  • HAO I missed you last year, I’m glad you’re back :)

0-0 at the half

5:32 US not really playing as well as one might hope, but it’s a very hostile crowd.  They don’t look panicky, but they also don’t look as organized as Canada.

5:30 Nothing from the corner but Canada attacks again.  Not much action resulting and the US is back in solid possession.

5:28 Barnhart comes well out of the goal to stop a promising attack from Sinclair.  Very nicely done, but gives away a corner.

5:26 Good pressure near goal from the US, but they aren’t really coming close to scoring.

Canada steals it in the US half, but US gets it back quickly.  Again over-passes it forward and loses it.  Calm down ladies, strategy is just as important as aggression.

5:25 Nice series of passes from the US under intense pressure from Canada.

US gets forward, but good defense from Canada.

5:22 This is really what I like to call an Unfriendly.

Injury, Dunn kicks a ball into a Canadian’s temple.

5:21 Second corner in a row for US.  They spend a bit more time setting up for it.  Great deal of shoving.  Nothing comes of it, again.

5:19 Ooh almost a beautiful situation.  Dunn gets a great cross but the header from O’Reilly is blocked.  They earn a corner.  Nothing from that.  But they earn another corner.

5:17 This game has been very physical.  Canada has quite a few fouls already.  Their 5 midfielders are really keeping the attacks rare and not very solid.  They don’t seem to have a real offensive energy going yet.

5:16 And nothing comes from the corner.  The Canadian goalkeeper is doing quite well.

5:15 Wambach again denied.

Dunn wins us a corner.  I LOVE HER.

5:13 US free kick from midfield comes to nothing.  Canada threatens, but it’s cleared.

5:10 The ussoccer.com live coverage either is not updating correctly, or the play-by-play suffers a 5 minute delay.  That’s forever!

5:09 Another foul on the part of Canada, but the US fails to make anything of it.  Some back and forth.

US giving it away with some sloppy long passes, but tend to get it back, so I guess you can’t complain too much.

5:07 Canada apparently benefitted from the “unfair” loss and finishing with bronze.  The injustice made the nation really come behind the team.

Canada is being a little more aggressive now. Action on the US side.

I am loving this Crystal Dunn lady.  She’s aggressive, young, and fantabulous.

5:05 Barnhart easily handles the corner and the action moves quickly to the other side of the field.  Nothing from the American attack, Canada bringing it back through midfield.

The US offense looks a little sloppy in their offense.  Aggressive, but not really strategic.

5:03 Threat from Canada leads to Rampone kicking it out of danger, but giving away a corner.

5:02 Wambach earns a free kick in a dangerous area, but awkward angle.  Lots of jostling, the ref is trying to keep it calm.  O’reilly takes it.

Nothing interesting comes of it.

4:59 It’s very depressing to me that there’s no large online commentariat devoted to this game.  It’s way more exciting during the World Cup.  Come on people, what’s more fun on a Sunday than this?

Canada nicely picked off a pass, but Barnhart (Goalie) had it under control.

4:55 US a lot more offensively threatening, but not in any sort of convincing way.

Abby apparently is excited to be the enemy, according to the announcers.

4:54 Wambach threatening well again, but nothing comes of it.

4:53 Wambach gets up, but her attempt at a cross goes straight to the goalkeeper’s hands.  She and Alex Morgan seem to be connecting well, though.

4:52 It’s a shame that it takes so long for rematches to happen in the international women soccer.  I mean, rematch between Canada and USA shouldn’t take a year.

Nice cross by Canada.  They seem to be stronger in the midfield than I remember them.

4:50 And we’re a few minutes in and the teams are still warming up.  Some younger players on the field for the US which is nice to see, as our team is a bit old.  Nothing exciting happening just yet.

4:45 Info from the official blog:

  • The USA-Canada match will be broadcast live on ESPNews at 4:30 p.m. ET. It will be the USA’s first match in Toronto since May 25, 2009, a 4-0 U.S. victory at BMO Field. Fans can also follow along on ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker and on Twitter at @ussoccer_WNT.

  • Abby Wambach is on 155 goals and is just three away from tying Mia Hamm on the world’s all-time scoring list. Canada’s Christine Sinclair comes into the game with 145 career goals, meaning the duo has scored exactly 300 goals between them.

  • The USA is ranked #1 in the world. Canada is tied for #7 with England.

  • The USA is 6-0-2 in 2013. Canada is 4-3-2 in the 2013.

- See more at: http://www.ussoccer.com/social/wnt-blog.aspx#plckblogpage=BlogPost&plckpostid=Blog%3Ad64c9a0e-f4da-40cf-ab0a-d80aab1b0a00Post%3Af4b2cbe5-7ec5-4fe3-9f2b-ebc54cdee46d

4:40 So, I just finished vaguely following the US v Germany men’s game, which we won, but it served only to prepare me for the US vs Canada WOMEN’S game.  Which is starting right now.  Just as soon as they get this whole anthem situation.

Apparently the game sold out in less than an hour because Canada is pretty awesome.  And they’re pissed at being beaten by the US during the Olympics.  Isn’t it awesome that they care?!

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6 comments

May 31 2013

The Best of the Cochrane Collaboration

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atheism

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The Cochrane Collaboration is an international group of 28,000 volunteers who sit around organizing research, examining the evidence behind medicine and therapeutic techniques, writing easy to read summaries of their findings, and generally improving the state of information.

And nobody told me about it.

Guys, I’m so disappointed. There I am, at work, hunting down a specific paper and I run across this MASSIVE DATABASE OF EVIDENTIARY REVIEWS, that’s just been sitting there! Waiting for me! And nobody every told me that it was there.

So of course, I got completely sucked into it….for weeks.

Which leaves me with a series of favorite reviews.

Those ‘scared straight’ programs? They’re a horrible idea.

Exercise can have a small effect on some of the symptoms of depression…it’s better than nothing at all, but not by much.

In other frustrating news, we don’t really know how to prevent sex offenders from reoffending.

CBT for people with chronic pain or disability?

Hormonal birth control in overweight women. (BMI based, I know. Sigh.)

Go forth and investigate! (And post the interesting/relevant/surprising ones in the comments. 

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May 29 2013

Ashley’s SkepchickCON / CONvergence 2013 Panel Schedule

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atheism

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convergence2013logoI’m a little worried — these are all new topics for me to be addressing to a crowd.  But I’m also very excited because British media, YA literature, and mental illness are all things I am deeply passionate about but don’t spend a lot of time here on this blog discussing.  So!  I hope you will be at CONvergence and come see my panels.

Thursday, July 4

11:30pm

 It seems like the villain is British way too much for coincidence. What is it about being British that makes it appealing to have villains British? Panelists: Emma Newman, Ashley Miller, Lee Harris, Emma Bull, Derek Mahr

Friday, July 5

9:30am

It’s a fantasy novel for atheists! How does that work? Panelists: Ashley Miller, Ruth Berman, Heina Dadabhoy, Sasha Katz, Chris Stenzel

2:00pm

Although much YA literature with female main characters has become best-selling in the last few years, the portrayal of the heroines of these stories is problematic. What are examples of good portrayals, both recent and old. Panelists: Michael Levy, Kathy Sullivan, Joan Sullivan, Jody Wurl, Ashley Miller

Sunday, July 7

11:00am

 Stigma of Mental Illness 

 Many of the people you know (and some of us!) are mentally ill by the standard medical definition. How do we cope? How can it be that people with mental illness are still happy, productive members of society? Panelists: Emma Newman, Ashley Miller, Kate Johnson, Steve Bentley, Molly Glover

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May 28 2013

How Not To Be a Jerk to the Future of Your Movement

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atheism

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(This post could be more accurately titled How Not To Be a Jerk To, Like, Anyone Younger Than You, but the skepto-atheist movement is actually one where we can directly see how young students and activists are making waves. Also, they’re the ones reading this.)

These guys make it possible. (And make funny faces.)

These guys make it possible. (And make funny faces.)

It’s no secret that the secular movement has grown into a movement full of students, enthusiastic young people who go and do and write and organize cool conferences. SkepTech, Skepticon, Secular Student Alliance anyone?.

And that means young people are watching what the secular movers and shakers are saying. They’re blogging about it and retweeting and memeing and quoting. These, secular leaders, are the future of your movement. They’re listening to you.

And honestly, we’re a little tired of being the punchline.

At Women in Secularism last weekend, one speaker described young activists as annoying. Of course, being annoying get things done, she clarified, over the laughter of the room. But you have to grow up to have perspective, she continued, and went on with her message. From my perspective in the fourth row, watching two-thirds of the room agree that my demographic was annoying and nearsighted didn’t exactly have me leaping to volunteer my time.

“You’re so young for an activist!” Look, this one doesn’t even make any sense at all. Students have always been integral to activist movements. If it would be weird (though more accurate) to tell you “but you’re so old to be interested in social movements!” then I’d strongly suggest avoiding the reverse. Besides, what does one say in response? Why yes, I am young! Thank you for noticing!

Watch your language. The Secular Student Alliance has all my love for getting this one consistently right. Student activists, young activists, teens….all great! Kids? Less so. For one, it’s simply less descriptive: kids doesn’t tell you what someone is doing as much as it conveys tousled hair and sneakers. Unless your subject is under say, 13, you’re picking a word that’s both inaccurate and dismissive.

Don’t qualify our achievements with our age.  This part is complicated, because sometimes, it negates part of the previous. Say someone blogs or does activisty things as a result of their studenthood, or for a student organization (Like the MU SASHA Blog!). Congratulations–you’re completely correct in calling them a student blogger. However, if someone does activism whilst simultaneously happening to be a student…not so much. Go for “blogger and student”. And ask yourself why you need to point out their studenthood in the first place. After all, both my co-blogger Ashley and #FtBully Ian Cromwell are students. Would you describe them as student bloggers? Why not? Why do you need to point out the student part for young collegiate or high school students, but not graduate students? Why is it relevant to their blogging? [CFI On Campus has been great about this.]

A word on facebook friending those same young activists:

Facebook is wonderful, and social media has been a huge asset to this movement. And, speaking from experience, it’s just exciting to friend and be followed by those people whose writing you’ve read, whose speeches you’ve followed on YouTube. And it’s horrifying to watch those people you’ve looked up to for long stop by your status to tell you that you just don’t get it yet. To wait five years–you’ll understand better.

For many of us, this was the first thing we got involved in, the first time we felt part of a movement bigger than ourselves, like we could make a difference and change the world. I bet you felt like that too. And I bet you heard it was silly, that you didn’t get it, that the world didn’t work that way.

So, if you find yourself considering telling that young whippersnapper about how you remember that time in your life, and really, they’ll know better later, I encourage you to continue to harken back to your teenagerhood. Can you recall, also, exactly how helpful it was for everyone older than you to inform you how little understood about the ways of the world?

Yeah, me either.

Shoutout to Chicago Skeptics, a group that responded wonderfully to suggestions and has been bringing in new and young speakers, noted when locations were age-restricted, supported the ventures of secular groups at universities, and generally have been my favorite way to get involved in the secular community. 

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May 26 2013

[Monday Miscellany] Accessibility, Mental Health, and Atheist Churches?

Categories:

Ableism/Accessibility, Link Collections

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It’s Monday, and I don’t have work! I’m celebrating by refusing to get out of bed.

Chris Hofstader wrote about his experience as a blind man at Women in Secularism. This community has quite a ways to go in providing accessibility for all.

I cannot blame the conference coordinators for the behavior of the attendees but this was also a downright surreal experience for both me and my blind friend. Lots of people approached us but, with very few exceptions, they talked to our dogs and not to us humans. A lot of people asked our dog’s names but not ours. Those who actually engaged us in conversation talked only about dogs. I don’t like telling people that I’m smart or whatever but my friend graduated from Princeton, works for the government in software accessibility, has been involved in feminism for a long time, is a humanist/atheist and would have all sorts of interesting things to talk to people at a secularism conference about if they showed any curiosity. This did not happen with anyone at the QED conference in the UK. Maybe the british public education system does a better job of teaching people about diversity in general or disability in specific, I don’t know but I felt like a dog walking bot and not a human at WiS.

Hayley Stevens, though not at WiS, also has some thoughts.

Want to make your event more accessible? Cornell University has a handy checklist.
You can also listen to SB Morgaine’s talk from SSACon 2012 about making your events better.
Want your website to be less suck? Check to make sure that it is compatible with screen readers. I use this open source one. Download the reader, open your page, and see if it can read the text. Also, commenter chippanfire has this excellent remark. 

This is a new periodic table song. It’s stuck in my head. Send help.

Old, but sadly necessary:  stop hitting on the waitress.

See that cute person behind the counter who smiles at you every day as you buy your (lottery ticket/breakfast/liquor/condoms/razors/newspaper/coffee)?

That person HAS to be there and HAS to be nice to you.  It doesn’t mean anything.  You don’t have a deeper connection.  Your daily transactions are not meaningful.

Fortunately, there is a way to show your appreciation for the person who brings you your meal or fixes your drink.  It’s called tipping.  And there is a word for entitled customers who try to use the inherent power imbalance to bully customer service people into unwanted personal interactions, and that word is “douchebag.”

Ally writes about church.

A few people have asked for my feels about the very existence of an atheist church, whether it’s viable, valuable, or even possible. But despite my skepticism, there is a piece of me that really wants this to catch on, and it doesn’t have much basis in rationality or cost-benefit analysis. Granted, I have a problem with the kind of logic that argues that emotion necessarily negates rational thought. I won’t go there now, but I know the desire to cheer them on is coming from a part of me that only seems to show its face when I drink.

For anyone who doesn’t know me outside the skeptic blogosphere, I’m a social dancer, mostly swing and blues. This hobby/sport/art form attracts every brand of human being, from well-mannered seminarians to radical secular humanists like me. There are dancers who claim that you don’t need to drink to enjoy it, but I’m here to tell you that that’s only half true. Sometimes, after a night of dance scene drama, beer has a way of holding the community together.

So after a long night of dance, my good dance friends and I end up at a little local place, and one of my secular dance friends mentioned the Sunday Assembly. We discussed our respective religious backgrounds, casually and anecdotally at first, but I felt a familiar emptiness that usually accompanies stories about my seven years as a wannabe Presbyterian. Before I could stop myself, I said it.

“I miss church, too.”

Wait. Shit. What?

Small things you can do to improve mental health in your community. I’d also add respecting any and all boundaries. If someone tells you they can’t go out tonight, or that they just really don’t like hugs or loud noises or spontaneous activities, respect that. Do not push, do not force.  Treat them as normal people who’ve done the equivalent of ask for chocolate instead of vanilla ice cream, not four headed monsters who DON’T LIKE PARTIES HOW COULD YOU NOT LIKE GOING TO A PARTY.

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4 comments

May 23 2013

[Archive] Why Atheism Inspires Me to Seek Social Justice

Categories:

atheism, feminism, Posts Worth Going Back and Reading

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Today, a repost. Last year, Ian Cromwell started a series asking atheists at large to contribute what being an atheist has done to improve their lives. Though I was not raised in a particularly religious fashion—a progressive take on Catholicism, followed by the epitome of spiritual-but-not-religious—my involvement in the secular movement and active identification as an atheist and a skeptic have enriched my experience. The piece has been slightly edited to correct for last year’s enthusiasm for awkwardly constructed sentences. 

[Piece originally appeared at The Heresy Club]

I have but this one short life. Though it would be nice to plan to live to a ripe and grouchy old age, it could end tomorrow. Or next Tuesday. Life has this terrible habit of behaving unpredictably, you know.

Though I am extraordinarily clumsy, I will likely, as do the vast majority of people, fade out of existence quietly. Five, ten, fifty years from then, I will have become nothing but curled pictures and retold retellings of stories.

These are facts, and they are cold. We atheists hear a lot about the chill of disbelief, about what we miss without a sense of the supernatural, the oceans of unseen, unmeasured universe we just have to have faith in. We are asked if it isn’t just a little bit lonely, to have nothing but ourselves and the neurons between our ears? With so little meaning to our lives, what motivation can we have?

Quite a bit, really.

I’ve but this one life to live. That means when I see homophobia, when I see sexism or littering or injustice in the world, I must act. I must act because now is all that’s guaranteed  But most importantly, I must act because the person who is suffering, like me, only has this moment for themselves. There isn’t any other happy alternate life for them either.

I’ll play devil’s advocate to your Pascal and his wager—in the vast infinity of beliefs, are you willing to let the unhappiness of your fellow human hang in the balance against the existence of a paradise for them in the afterlife?

I believe there is nothing to death but the winking out of one flame against the backdrop of an unending candelabra; I must do all I can in this life.

I have only this time, and if the only contribution I can leave as memory of own my existence is my actions, I must make them count. I must say what I mean. I must tell those I love that I love them now, because tomorrow is uncertain. I must share my happiness, and do what I can to give everyone else an opportunity to leap about in joy.  Sometimes this will come before my homework.

Because I am an atheist, I must act and care and speak and do. And, you know, occasionally shut up and listen.

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5 comments

May 22 2013

WiS and Liveblogging Wrap-Up

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atheism

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I’m back! Women in Secularism was excellent. I’m catching up on everything I left alone while I was gone and have a bigger post in the works, so you’ll have to forgive me for the short summary and links.

PROOF: We're not actually the same person.

PROOF: Not actually the same person.

Liveblogs:

Opening Remarks
Faith-Based Pseudoscience. [Another from Jason]
Amanda Marcotte [Jason]
Rebecca Goldstein [Jason]
Women Leaving Religion
Gender Equality in the Secular Movement
Susan Jacoby [Jason]
How Women’s Concerns Can Best Be Advanced within the Context of a Secular Agenda [Jason]
Jennifer Michael Hecht [Jason]
Maryam Namazie [Jason]
What the Secular Movement Can Learn from Other Social Movements [Jason]
Who Speaks for Feminism?

946752_10152794524640214_1949141506_nIn Which People Wrote About Those Opening Remarks

If you haven’t actually heard or read the original talk by Ron Lindsay, I strongly suggest you read the transcript first.
…and follow that with Lindsay’s second post, where he responds to calls for examples.
Rebecca responded briefly.
Ron Lindsay…appears to have forgotten that he co-wrote this letter, and writes this.
PZ : People are not pleased. (I particularly appreciate how charitable and even-handed PZ was here–I’d be quaking in my boots right now.)

Digital Cuttlefish has a poem.
Ashley has some thoughts.
So does Amanda Marcotte.
Adam has some remarks.
Secular Woman has a statement.
PZ would like to remind everyone of the excellent work done by CFI’s Michael De Dora. Though I haven’t met Michael, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the interactions I’ve had with CFI staff. In particular, it was wonderful to meet Sarah Kaiser of CFI On Campus.

I want to emphasize that I had fun at WiS and lots of it. The conference was impeccably organized, the people were friendly and positive and gave excellent hugs, and I was happy to be there. I’m mightily sorry that the other employees are dealing with the conflict as a result of Dr. Lindsay’s opening remarks. At the same time, I’m okay with the growing pains and the ways the community has reacted to this. We can do better, and constructive criticism is part of this.

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May 19 2013

Taking it Personally: Privilege and Women in Secularism

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atheism, feminism

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Illustration by Tom Gauld for The Guardian

Illustration by Tom Gauld for The Guardian

There is a tendency for people to take criticism of ideas personally.  It’s true of all people, though I noticed it particularly this weekend at the Women in Secularism conference.  People also have a bad habit of criticizing individuals rather than their ideas.  I do not claim freedom from this tendency, although I do work very hard to try to be clear in that distinction.  I do not like the speech that Ron Lindsay used to open the conference with, but this doesn’t mean that I do not like Ron Lindsay.  I don’t know him, he is quite probably a pretty cool guy generally speaking.

Of course, I am not the only person who took umbrage at his opening speech.  I wasn’t particularly upset by it, I just felt it was wrongheaded as an opening speech for this event in particular and demonstrated poor understanding of the cultural theory behind the terms of “privilege” and the intent of “shut up and listen.”   I think it’s inappropriate to use the opening speech to criticize the conference goals rather than introduce it. I also think that the way he talked about critical theory indicated a lack of familiarity with the scholarship on the subject and the power dynamics at play. At best it was terrible tone deafness which was then exacerbated by his position of power in the organization, his race and gender and socioeconomic status, and the fact that he was giving the opening address not a lecture.

I also agreed with Rebecca Watson that it was particularly bad for these apparent misunderstandings to be delivered by a wealthy white man who was part of the organization in charge of the Women in Secularism conference.  In other words, it was a poorly expressed, poorly timed message delivered by exactly the wrong person for the message.maiself

For stating that, I have been accused of being sexist, of having it out for men, for having it out for Ron Lindsay, of quote-mining, of being dismissive, of shutting down dialogue by calling people names, and just good old “fuck you” and “fuck off” from strangers. I am dogmatic and hateful and trying to tear people down.

Rebecca Watson has also gotten this kind of response, but far more intense, for level-headed criticism of the talk.  In response, Ron Lindsay felt the need to make it about how Rebecca Watson is a Bad Person.  (At least further accusations of quote-mining will be justified by the use of quotes):

Rebecca Watson inhabits an alternate universe.  At least that is the most charitable explanation I can provide for her recent smear.  Watson has posted comments on my opening talk at Women in Secularism 2.  It may be the most intellectually dishonest piece of writing since the last communique issued by North Korea.

Perhaps Watson was too busy tweeting about how “strange” it was to have a “white man” open the conference to pay attention to what I was actually saying

I’m just glad Watson didn’t notify security: “white man loose on stage, white man loose on stage!”

There are also places where it continues to be clear that he doesn’t understand the “shut up and listen” suggestion, but at least those aren’t unnecessary and unprofessional attacks on someone who has criticized something he said.

Now I’d like to offer some advice to Ron Lindsay: Shut up and listen.

  • Shut up because you’re just making this more and more of a PR disaster.
  • Shut up because you’re hurting Melody Hensley and the amazing event she put together.
  • Shut up because if you’re so busy coming up with ways to defend yourself, you’re failing to understand why people are upset.
  • Shut up because it is so very clear that you are not listening.
  • Shut up because you can’t talk and listen at the same time.
  • Listen to what other people in your organization have to say.
  • Listen to what other people in the cause have to say.
  • Listen to women and men who are upset about the opening speech.
  • Listen to criticism of what you said and remember that it’s not about who you are as a person, but the argument that you’ve made.
  • Listen because it’s the right thing to do.

I appreciate that there are those who somehow think that this “shut up and listen” thing means don’t use critical thinking, but it’s actually about defensiveness.  People always take things personally.  When someone says, “You’ve got privilege,” most of us want to yell, “I worked really hard to get what I’ve got.”  And most of us have worked really hard, but it doesn’t mean we aren’t privileged — learning to see the privilege is difficult, and to see it we’ve got to be willing to shut up for a little while and recognize the possibility that there are things that we didn’t know before.  In other words, if you’re not prepared to just listen for a little while, you’re going to spend the entire time trying to prove someone wrong instead of considering the possibility that they may have a point.

Ron Lindsay presents this as a war where either you “believe reason and evidence should ultimately guide our discussions, or you think they should be held hostage to identity politics.”  This negates the possibility that this is a fight between factions who think that reason and evidence point to the necessity of identity politics and those who refuse to listen.

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