The More ^Than Men project launches

Watch this space. A truly excellent man, Sasha Pixlee, has thrown down the gauntlet. We as a community need to change, and change is going to take more men. And more than men.

I’m a straight, white man and the subcultures I am a part of are dominated by straight, white men. I’m a gaming and science fiction nerd. I am an atheist, and I am a skeptic. Any time you attend gatherings of those groups you see a lot of white faces, a lot of male bodies, and those dudes – like me – prefer women for sex partners. Despite the fact that I should fit right in to these groups I often feel uncomfortable in them because of their homogeneity.

We live in a diverse world and I think we can all agree that any time a group’s makeup is less diverse than the world at large there are reasons for it. Here in the United States we have more diversity than most places, but when attending nerd events, atheist events, and skeptic events I keep finding myself in the majority. Why is that? I believe it is because something about those groups is making women and racial and sexual minorities feel like the group is Not For Them or are experiencing things that make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome. I would like to change that.

I wrote a piece several months ago for this project when Sasha asked for support. It was supposed to launch at Dragon*Con, but better late than never. And it couldn’t come at a more timely juncture, when misogyny is rampant in our atheist and skeptic communities. I will be dusting off that piece and updating it so it’s relevant, and will link you when it is posted.

This is important. If I have my way, this will be a watershed moment. This is about telling men in our communities that change needs to happen — that more men need to get on board with the idea that we need more than men.

{advertisement}
The More ^Than Men project launches
{advertisement}

5 thoughts on “The More ^Than Men project launches

  1. 1

    I think this is absolutely true, and I’m pleased to see the continuing consciousness raising on blogs like this. Keep hammering at the point and it’ll sink in eventually! Oh, and to bolster the numbers, send me some tickets and travel expenses for a conference, and you can count a gay white male amidst your ranks. 😛

  2. Pen
    2

    women and racial and sexual minorities feel like the group is Not For Them or are experiencing things that make them feel uncomfortable and unwelcome.

    I think there are also economic and social reasons that statistically lead to white males having more disposable time and income for participating. But then, not even having a positive social experience after making a relatively bigger sacrifice…

  3. 3

    That’s basically privilege, Pen. The myriad ways that, statistically, benefit one class of people over another even though they are not explicitly or implicitly deserving of those benefits. You’ve described privilege beautifully. As ugly a concept as it is.

  4. 4

    I see a couple of different cases of problematic behavior. Treating someone differently (possibly better) because of his/her gender — problematic. Treating someone badly because of his/her gender – bad. Treating someone differently because of his/her gender because there is only one gender that you want to f-ck, hmm, this is a gray area and we have been bogged down in the gray area for awhile.

    My takeaway is that sometimes the reason that men at atheist events treat women “differently” is that they aren’t hitting on the other men.

Comments are closed.