Many a time I had seen this, both online and offline, in the West and in the East. I never understood the logic and reason behind it. It seems some atheists just hate feminism, though they claim themselves to be feminists.
I just happened to see this tweet this morning.
What did he mean ? His tweet is addressing feminists. He is implying that ALL feminists will criticise patriarchal religious values only if it is from Christianity. He is of the firm opinion that feminists do not and will not criticise patriarchal values seen in other religions, especially Islam.
He is supposed to be a rationalist, so before forming an opinion people will expect him to have solid evidence for his claim that feminists as a class do not criticise misogyny of Islam. But it seems he is selectively blind. I can’t believe that he has not seen this picture.
I can’t also believe that he has not heard and read atheist feminists Ophelia Benson, Maryam Namazie , Taslima Nasreen and countless others who are vocally critical of misogyny in Islam.
So why he is generalising and branding all feminists with the same brush? May be he wants people to think bad about feminism. May be he want people to think ALL feminists are hypocrites and are afraid of criticising Islam. What ever the motive, for me it is in very bad taste.
So why he is generalising and branding all feminists with the same brush?
Overgeneralizing and stereotyping only have two causes: ignorance and intellectual laziness, or politics. If you’re ignorant and too lazy to do anything about it, I can see how someone might survive without understanding why stereotyping undercuts one’s own position. But when someone understands why stereotyping weakens one’s argument, and does it anyway, then they’re using it as a propaganda technique to manipulate their listener by using vague concepts to obscure details of behaviors. That’s just lying by handwaving and really is a version of a straw-man argument.
Absolutely correct and it’s sickening to see this.