“Keep up the good work”: Fighting sexism helps

I got this email a few days ago from Shane, which I’m quoting with permission, responding to my post, A Woman’s Room Online: Misogyny, and the Idea That the Internet Isn’t Real.

Ouch and thanks.

I’ve been reading your blog for a long time. You have opened my eyes on a lot of issues, especially LGBT and women’s issues. I have room to grow. The Woman’s Room Online post hit me in the gut and then I realized, that’s what it feels like for a white straight male. Holy shit. For me, it’s terrible. For a woman, it’s got to be terror. How fucking awful we people manage to be. Anyway, thanks.

Keep up the good work.

Keep up the good work.

I get emails and comments like this every week. I used to get emails and comments every week saying, “I am now an atheist, in part, because of you.” I do still get those, although not quite as often, since I’m not spending as much time writing about 13 More Reasons God Doesn’t Exist. Now I get emails and comments every week saying, “I am now a feminist, in part, because of you.” And every feminist writer, speaker, podcaster, organizer, activist of any stripe that I know gets these comments as well.

So keep up the good work. All of us. All of us who are working to change people’s minds about sexism, about racism, about all the awful shit that happens in the world. Keep up the good work. It’s working.

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“Keep up the good work”: Fighting sexism helps
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5 thoughts on ““Keep up the good work”: Fighting sexism helps

  1. 1

    Just going to leave a comment here basically saying “Yeah, what Shane said”.

    I’ve learned so much from you, from others at this site, and from so many others in other forums. I expect to learn more, so you better post more frequently! 🙂

  2. 2

    Yeah, another one here. You, Ally Fogg, Ophelia Benson and PZ. And Anita Sarkeesian. And Rebecca Watson.

    Thanks also Richard Dawkins, Michael Shermer and James Randi, people I had never met but previously admired, for demonstrating what not to do.

  3. 4

    I can thank many of the FTB blogs, including yours, for introducing me to Feminism. I learned that I’m sexist (I’m working on that), I learned about privilege, and I got some idea of what women go through day after day. Keep up the good work!

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