Hi folks,
As you probably already heard elsewhere, Jen McCreight, the author of Blag Hag, will no longer be with us at Freethought Blogs after the end of this month.
Jen has been a great voice for the skeptic community for many years. You may know her from her excellent speeches such as the one she gave at Skepticon, or her spearheading of the satirical “Boobquake” event from 2010. Naturally I was extremely surprised by her announcement. As far as I could tell, she seemed to fit right into the culture here at FTB, and nobody was expecting her to walk out on us at this point.
[...]
Update 4/2: Yes, obviously this was an April Fool post. Aren’t you the clever one.
Jen was pretty curt when she announced her departure, so I messaged her on Facebook to see if I could get any more information. I was actually a bit shocked by her reply, but she told me it’s okay if I share it with you, so here is her message to me. I think it speaks for itself.
Russell,
I’m sorry to tell you this, but I’m kind of sick of the ridiculous extremes to which the other Freethoughtblogs participants have taken feminism since I joined up. In fact, thanks to the ham-fisted handling of that whole “Amazing Atheist” incident, I’m seriously reconsidering the feminist label myself.
Do you guys even understand that women aren’t the only ones who are oppressed? There’s this whole movement that’s based on supporting Men’s Rights and I’m totally sympathetic to their concerns. Do you think it’s fair that women like me can’t be drafted for the military, but men can? Do you know how many innocent men are roped into paying child support for children they didn’t intend to have?
As an advocate of equality and fairness for everyone, I can no longer associate myself with a group of people who dismiss so many important issues like that. Even though I was initially critical of Penn Jillette’s friend Mallorie, now I completely get what she meant when she said, “By forgetting to see me as a woman, you have treated me as an equal, as a comrade, as a friend.”
That is something which is completely lacking at FTB. There’s too much focus on gender, too much deference given to Rebecca Watson of all people. Who cares if some guy talked to her in an elevator? All he wanted was some coffee anyway. I’d rather work with Men’s Rights groups to achieve a less uptight atheist movement.
Besides, everybody knows that women in Islamic countries have it much worse than we have it here. These are just first world problems that we’re talking about, they pale in comparison. Actually we should all just agree never to talk about women’s issues in the United States again until every other social problem we have is solved first.
Good luck with your little blogging network anyway. I’m joining the group at avoiceformen.com to show them my support. Hope I’ll see the rest of you there soon.
Also, they promised me a pony.
Cheers!
Jen
What else is there to say? I thought I knew Jen better than this, but I guess we have to respect her wishes. We’ll all miss her.
(To learn more about the FTB mass exodus of 2012, read this.)
35 comments
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Elipson
April 1, 2012 at 9:04 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Posted on 1. of April? Yeah I ain’t buying it
JT (Generic)
April 1, 2012 at 9:17 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Yep not buying it.
Alethea H. Claw
April 1, 2012 at 10:00 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
And a happy April 1st to you, too!
tosspotovich
April 1, 2012 at 10:14 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Ah, you guys are so cynical. Of course it’s true – I read it on the internet!
Sphex
April 1, 2012 at 10:20 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Wow.
I was actually breaking into a cold sweat of frustration, sadness, and rage… And then I noticed the date. Once my heart-rate returns to normal I might laugh.
Which makes me realize that all of the atrocities in the world are messing with my sense of humor.
DLC
April 1, 2012 at 10:55 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
{ once again, handing out the nose-shortening kit } good thing I have plenty of them to go around.
But wait until later, when PZ announces… erk! he made me swear not to tell! :-X
'Tis Himself, OM
April 1, 2012 at 11:07 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
One of the requirements for a successful joke is to make it funny. You might consider incorporating this concept into your next attempt at a joke.
Melissa
April 1, 2012 at 9:59 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Yes, April Fools’ Day, “ur doin’ it wrong”
TNT
April 1, 2012 at 11:25 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
@’Tis Himself, OM
April Fool is about duping people, be if funny or not. The fun is in the power of the dupe, not its funniness! Obviously you missed that point entirely!
Mike Haubrich
April 1, 2012 at 11:12 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
At first I was thinking that this is a bit out of character for Jen. Then I looked at my calendar and thought to myself “This is going to be a long fucking day.”
JT (Generic)
April 1, 2012 at 11:17 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Happy Atheists’ Day, everyone!
Stephen B.
April 1, 2012 at 11:21 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Ha^100, guess she will be joining JT not writing any more. My lawyer, Lirpa Sloof, will represent both of them in this matter.
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
April 1, 2012 at 11:41 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
If it weren’t for the horrible out-of-character post, you had me.
You know what you could’ve done? Used her recent grant opportunity as a backdrop – with a whole “I’ll be too busy to blog” idea – and a more sad “I’ll miss you” idea.
But that’d be horrible and you’re a horrible person
Steven
April 1, 2012 at 11:42 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
It’ll be on Manboobz before David realizes it’s a joke
Alasdair
April 1, 2012 at 11:53 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Poe’s Law: it’s impossible to create a parody so dumb it can’t be mistaken for the real thing. I’ve seen enough stupid antifeminist screeds that I actually took this one for real until I read the comments.
brianpansky
April 1, 2012 at 9:17 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
me too, especially since I always wonder what draws people to actually side with MRA etc. (also I have not read blag hag very frequently) This kind of ‘being pushed away’ stuff is exactly how I imagine it works. Which is why I worry about my ability to convince people of things, it is the ‘backfire effect’.
josh stein
April 1, 2012 at 12:12 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
hahahaha! you seriously had me for a moment! lol
Nicole
April 1, 2012 at 1:09 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
My stomach sank upon reading the topic… but you expect a bunch of skeptics to fall for that reason?
VeritasKnight
April 1, 2012 at 1:23 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I lol’d. I’m just tired enough to have taken it seriously until halfway through the first paragraph of Jen’s “response”.
ApHeX
April 1, 2012 at 2:04 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’m reading this after midnight on April 2 (Australia) so I really thought it was serious….
davidct
April 1, 2012 at 8:14 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
That will be one less blog to read. Overall if that is the way she feels, fine – goodbye.
Daumier
April 1, 2012 at 8:15 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Dammit, I done been had again!
brianpansky
April 1, 2012 at 9:14 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
This just in: John Loftus has decided to rejoin freethought blogs!
http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.ca/2012/04/do-people-with-no-faith-have-to-take.html#disqus_thread
Mara
April 1, 2012 at 11:28 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Hee. You have the honor of having been the only person to fool me so far today! I mean, right about the “what about the menz???” stuff I suddenly realized what today was, but damn if you didn’t have me for a minute
davidb
April 1, 2012 at 11:32 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
One cannot help but wonder if this post and the one about the Atheist Experience have something to do with the date.
David B
Stephen Foster
April 1, 2012 at 1:00 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’ll have to wait and see, but I’m laughing. Some of you amateur weisenheimers are pretty good. Perhaps it’s time to go pro.
paul
April 1, 2012 at 1:34 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“Do you know how many innocent men are roped into paying child support for children they didn’t intend to have?”
I know this is supposed to be satire, and I don’t know how many men actually have to do this (though I know one IRL), but this is still an injustice. Granted, smaller than pretty much any problem women have re: reproductive rights since it doesn’t involve men’s bodies and the system is set up such that it’s not TOO hard to get out of paying child support.
I remember there was a long Godless Bitches discussion on the subject and Tracie brought this up: that there is no sort of “abortion” for men wherein they can sign off on any and all legal responsibilities before the 2nd trimester (or whenever the woman would be able to choose depending on state).
brianpansky
April 1, 2012 at 6:42 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
The reason this is satire is because it’s a non-sequiter when used as an argument against feminism. Plenty of feminists *do* care genuinely about teh menz.
This is an interesting problem, I would be very interested to see solutions to it. However, if every solution leaves one member with the short end of the stick, then I’m wondering which imperfect system is the lesser of the two evils. I keep thinking that the injustice done to men occasionally with this system is far less than the injustice that would be done to many women in other solutions.
Daniel Schealler
April 1, 2012 at 1:41 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Damn you Kazim!
I mostly read up on FtB on Google Reader, so the date stamp didn’t explicitly say ‘April 1st’. So I got all worried until I clicked through to here to comment.
>.<
*shakes fist*
Kaylakaze
April 1, 2012 at 8:54 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
“There’s this whole movement that’s based on supporting Men’s Rights and I’m totally sympathetic to their concerns.”
That’s the line where I was like “Oh, yeah, April Fool’s”
Warp
April 1, 2012 at 11:38 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I’m curious to know why. Because the whole concept of “men’s rights” is a joke?
StevoR
April 2, 2012 at 3:00 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
^ Not necessarily but the “Men’s Rights Activists” more properly known as Male Supwemaciwsts certainly are.
But speaking of jokes. Hah. Okay. Yeah, I came here to find Greg Laden telling me Crommunist is leaving having realised there’s no such thing as “colour” and Crommunist telling me he and Lousy Canuck have fought and LC is leaving and Assassin Actual telling me that Justin Griffith is leaving and, yep, I know what day it is. And I don’t believe a word .. Well not after the first one anyone. Okay, y’all had me going just a little for just a while.
LP
April 2, 2012 at 6:00 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Burn victim. I totally bought it.
George
April 2, 2012 at 11:16 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
For some reason, I decided to follow the entire daisy chain – i.e. each blog posted on the following blog as to why it was leaving FTB. I thought the RBB post on the loss of the AE was the most creative, so I will start with him:
Rock Beyond Belief
Atheist Experience
Blag Hag
Greta Christina
WWJTD
Almost Diamonds
En Tequila es Verdad
Camels with Hammers
Richard Carrier
A Voice of Reason
The Incredible Hallq
TW in Christian Nationalism
Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Butterflies & Wheels
Maryam Namazie
Biodork
Blue Collar Atheist
Xblog
Crommunist Manifesto
Lousy Canuck
Assasin Actual
back to the start with Rock Beyond Belief
21 of the 32 FTB blogs participated.
cris
April 3, 2012 at 6:00 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
your all go to hell hehhe pizzim atheist peace
Good Riddance to The Atheist Experience
April 1, 2012 at 1:20 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
[...] found a way to make money off of being atheists and don’t care who that money is coming from. What a bunch of losers! For great justice:ShareShareEmailPrintDiggPress This Posted in Atheist « Foxhole atheists [...]
Happy Aftermath Day | The Atheist Experience
April 2, 2012 at 8:52 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
[...] you stopped by the blog yesterday, and said to yourself “Hah! Jen McCreight obviously wouldn’t join the Men’s Rights movement! I am not fooled at all!”… and then you patted yourself on the back and closed the [...]
Happy April Fools | Blag Hag
April 2, 2012 at 10:15 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
[...] some things for you. Greta isn’t leaving Freethought Blogs due to lack of rage. I’m not leaving Freethought Blogs because I’ve become an MRA. And the rest of Freethought Blogs is sticking around [...]
No, JT Is Not Leaving Freethought Blogs | Greta Christina's Blog
April 2, 2012 at 11:05 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
[...] “Happy-quitting”?) And no, Jen McCreight is not leaving Freethought Blogs to join the Men’s Rights Activist movement. And [...]