Farewell to Jen McCreight
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.)
Elipson:
April 1st, 2012 at 9:04 am
Posted on 1. of April? Yeah I ain’t buying it
JT (Generic):
April 1st, 2012 at 9:17 am
Yep not buying it.
Alethea H. Claw:
April 1st, 2012 at 10:00 am
And a happy April 1st to you, too!
tosspotovich:
April 1st, 2012 at 10:14 am
Ah, you guys are so cynical. Of course it’s true – I read it on the internet!
Sphex:
April 1st, 2012 at 10:20 am
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 1st, 2012 at 10:55 am
{ 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 1st, 2012 at 11:07 am
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.
Mike Haubrich:
April 1st, 2012 at 11:12 am
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 1st, 2012 at 11:17 am
Happy Atheists’ Day, everyone!
Stephen B.:
April 1st, 2012 at 11:21 am
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 1st, 2012 at 11:41 am
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 1st, 2012 at 11:42 am
It’ll be on Manboobz before David realizes it’s a joke
Alasdair:
April 1st, 2012 at 11:53 am
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.
josh stein:
April 1st, 2012 at 12:12 pm
hahahaha! you seriously had me for a moment! lol
Nicole:
April 1st, 2012 at 1:09 pm
My stomach sank upon reading the topic… but you expect a bunch of skeptics to fall for that reason?
Good Riddance to The Atheist Experience:
April 1st, 2012 at 1:20 pm
[...] 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 [...]
VeritasKnight:
April 1st, 2012 at 1:23 pm
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 1st, 2012 at 2:04 pm
I’m reading this after midnight on April 2 (Australia) so I really thought it was serious….
davidct:
April 1st, 2012 at 8:14 am
That will be one less blog to read. Overall if that is the way she feels, fine – goodbye.
Daumier:
April 1st, 2012 at 8:15 am
Dammit, I done been had again!
brianpansky:
April 1st, 2012 at 9:14 am
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
brianpansky:
April 1st, 2012 at 9:17 am
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’.
Melissa:
April 1st, 2012 at 9:59 am
Yes, April Fools’ Day, “ur doin’ it wrong”
Mara:
April 1st, 2012 at 11:28 am
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 1st, 2012 at 11:32 am
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 1st, 2012 at 1:00 pm
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 1st, 2012 at 1:34 pm
“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).
Daniel Schealler:
April 1st, 2012 at 1:41 pm
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*
brianpansky:
April 1st, 2012 at 6:42 pm
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.
Kaylakaze:
April 1st, 2012 at 8:54 pm
“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”
TNT:
April 1st, 2012 at 11:25 pm
@’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!
Warp:
April 1st, 2012 at 11:38 pm
I’m curious to know why. Because the whole concept of “men’s rights” is a joke?
StevoR:
April 2nd, 2012 at 3:00 am
^ 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 2nd, 2012 at 6:00 am
Burn victim. I totally bought it.
Happy Aftermath Day | The Atheist Experience:
April 2nd, 2012 at 8:52 am
[...] 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 2nd, 2012 at 10:15 am
[...] 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 2nd, 2012 at 11:05 am
[...] “Happy-quitting”?) And no, Jen McCreight is not leaving Freethought Blogs to join the Men’s Rights Activist movement. And [...]
George:
April 2nd, 2012 at 11:16 am
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 3rd, 2012 at 6:00 am
your all go to hell hehhe pizzim atheist peace