The Most Influential Female Atheist of 2011

It’s the time again for top ten lists and random end of the year awards. Here at Blag Hag, it means it’s time to recognize the wonderful women of the atheist movement.

Why bother with a women-only poll? Because despite their accomplishes, women are still frequently overlooked when we acknowledge people in the atheist movement. I originally started this informal award because of end of the year “Top Atheist” lists that always seemed to exclude women. We’re certainly getting better: the gender ratio at cons is getting less skewed for attendees and speakers, and women’s issues are gaining more and more attention in the movement. But there’s still room for improvement. The main public figures of atheism are predominantly men, and calling out blatantly obvious issues of sexism results in the internet exploding (not to mention, you know, rape and death threats). And yet again, end of the year round-ups forget that women exist.

But this year we’re going to do something different. Instead of me giving you a list of women to choose from, you get to vote for whoever you want, and as many women as you want. This prevents the cries of “Why didn’t you include lady X?!” and “How am I supposed to choose between awesome person Y and awesome person Z?!” Just comment below clearly listing the names of who you vote for. Once the votes stop trickling in, I’ll make a new post announcing the results.

And of course, feel free to add why you’re voting for these amazing atheist women. What did they do in 2011 that made them noteworthy? What posts, or articles, or talks, or campaigns stuck out to you? How did they personally affect you?

Feel free to consult the Large List of Awesome Female Atheists. It’s sorely in need of an update, but I have a feeling this poll will help me with that.

Ron Paul on sexual harassment

From Joe My God:

“Employee rights are said to be valid when employers pressure employees into sexual activity. Why don’t they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem? Seeking protection under civil rights legislation is hardly acceptable.” -Ron Paul, from his 1987 book, Freedom Under Siege.

I thought it would be pretty straight forward that this sort of victim blaming is dispicable. I mean, it’s so easily to instantly find a job, you should be the one who quits when someone else does something wrong, right?! But then I got this comment on facebook:

“The next sentence from the book was “If force was clearly used, that is another story…”. The analogy I’d draw is that if a guy says to you “if I take you out to dinner I expect you to sleep with me”, then you’re welcome to decline the offer. Likewise, for employment, “if you want this job, I expect you to sleep with me”. It comes from a background belief that the right to own and use one’s property (the capital of the employer) as one sees fit is foundational to a free and productive society. You can’t take this one bit and graft it onto a socialistic/liberal world view and expect it to jive in that context. I believe that in a completely free market, this type of sexual harassment would be extremely rare, because it hurts the bottom line to hire based on sex favors rather than on job performance, a.), and b.) in the absence of government civil rights, people would take such issues into their own hands, ie., boycotts, sit-ins, etc.”

Sexual harassment is sexual harassment, whether violent force is used or not, and whether you have the ability to decline or not. My vagina doesn’t become your property because you’re my employer. And the idea that a free market will magically get rid of sexual harassment is probably the most fucking moronic thing I’ve ever heard. Do people recognize how much better the workplace is for woman now that we can actually do something about sexual harassment? Ask a secretary from the 1950s how comfortable she felt in her workplace.

And the idea that the government shouldn’t support civil rights is just fucking terrifying. You know the term “minority”? It generally means there are less of you, and you’re less powerful. No one would give a diddly if you organized a sit-in when your numbers are insignificant to them.

The idea that “hurting the bottom line” is more of a concern than violating human rights is why I hate libertarians.

What happens if you’re a woman who criticizes Ron Paul?

Your opinions and facts aren’t addressed at all, oh no. You’re called a hideous retarded man-hating bitchy cunt who can’t understand politics because you’re a chick with a vagina, and you need to have a hysterectomy/get raped/kill yourself. Oh, and you’re a Jew.

Kay.

What lovely, misogynistic supporters Ron Paul has. Not shocking, giving his anti-choice (aka anti-women) platforms. If you want to learn more about that and his other despicable traits, you really must read Ashley F. Miller’s post “Why does anyone like Ron Paul?” You know it has to be good if it inspired such bile.

My favorite piece of vitriol Ashley has received was the following comment on Vox Day, a renowned repository of conservative trash:

“This is why it’s nearly impossible to have a conversation about politics with or give any real consideration to the political sentiment of, generously, unmarried women, probably more accurately – any women who aren’t all the way through menopause yet. It’s a shame they are allowed to vote, but that’s part of the death-spiral of the republic.”

Yeah, that whole women being allowed to vote thing is such a nuisance.

It would be hilarious if it weren’t so scary how many misogynist are out there in the world. If you need to remind yourself, go read all the nasty comments Ashley has received. Some are quite…inspired. Especially the one about Dobby the House Elf.

There’s a reason Ron Paul supporters tend to be primarily young, white, straight men. Because with a libertarian like Ron Paul in office, minorities, GLBT individuals, and women (and atheists) get utterly fucked over. He’s anti-war, you say? Even a broken clock is right twice a day – that’s not enough for me to ignore his other stances. He wants to get rid of the waste involved with federal bureaucracy? It’s politically impossible that he’ll accomplish his economic libertarian goals with our Senate and House. But what he would easily accomplish is allying with the religious right to strip rights from minorities, which they’re already on the verge of doing.

If you’re young white straight man who doesn’t support Ron Paul, thank you for not being utterly selfish.

Oh Harry Potter :\

While looking at random Harry Potter merchandise at Universal Studios, I found a cart full of pins. They had a lot of neat ones, including house pins and prefect badges. Though the latter was only for Gryffindor and Slytherin, which is a constant source of annoyance for me. I want Ravenclaw stuff, dammit!

Then I spotted a Head Boy badge. I started searching for a Head Girl badge, but couldn’t find one. I asked the person working the cart, thinking they may just be out. Nope. She and her coworker said that they only make Head Boy badges, and they agreed that it didn’t make any sense. They wondered when they’ll eventually make a Head Girl badge too.

…Sigh. I know in the grand scheme of things it’s dumb and insignificant, but it’s the little things. How hard is it to include the ladies? It’s one thing to exclude houses that the majority of people (wrongly) think are stupid or boring or crappy or insignificant, but why exclude a gender that the majority of people… oh. :\

Feminist Fantasy

I’ve just finished reading Game of Thrones, the first book of George R. R. Martin’s fantasy series. I really enjoyed the HBO series, but I didn’t feel like waiting years to learn the rest of the plot. The same thing happened with Lord of the Rings – I saw the first movie, then quickly gobbled up the trilogy, the Hobbit, and even the Silmarillion. And I’m pretty sure I don’t have to point out that I’m a huge Harry Potter fan. I enjoy fantasy novels.

But it’s always a little weird reading fantasy as a feminist. I know other feminists lament the lack of strong female characters in traditional fantasy novels. I mean, does Arwen serve any purpose other than marrying Aragorn? Eowyn is badass as she slays the Lord of the Nazgul, but then she loses all her fighting spirit to marry Faramir and have babies.

Harry Potter left me similarly disappointed in the end. Hermione was such a strong female character throughout the series, but ultimately the end is all about getting married and having babies.  Rowling discusses her accomplishments in the Ministry in interviews, but in the book her future is represented only as a mother. And really, when you think about the series, it’s all about dudes. Harry, Voldemort, Dumbledore, Snape. I love Hermione, but sometimes I can’t help but see her as a useful plot device, the clever one who will serendipitously figure out all the puzzles and advances the plot.

So far, I’m enjoying Game of Thrones. There are many strong female characters. But more importantly to me, they’re not The Strong Female Character. I hate when a book or movie is so obviously trying to introduce a strong woman to the plot, that she ends up a flat caricature without flaws or weaknesses. It makes the viewer feel like there really are no such thing as strong women in the real world – otherwise why would they be so hard to write?

And that’s why I like this series (so far, at least). The strong women still aren’t perfect. Daenerys takes a terrible situation (which is an understatement) and uses it to grow into a powerful, confident woman. I think she’s one of the most compassionate characters in the series, yet that compassion is also her undoing. Cersei Lannister is powerful and recognizes how unfair it is that her power is curtailed by her bad luck of being born female – but she’s also tremendously evil. Catelyn Stark takes matters into her own hands when her family is threatened, but the same emotions that drive her also cause her to make mistakes. And do I even have to say anything about Arya? She’s stubborn and hot headed, but she’s as much as a feminist as I’ve ever seen.

But I also like the series because there are some terrible women. Lysa Arryn is… a little off her rocker. Sansa fills me with a rage that’s only surpassed by how much I hate Joffrey (or as I like to call him, Malfoy 2.0). If there are supremely flawed male characters, I want supremely flawed female ones. Women aren’t perfect.

I’ve heard some argue that the series isn’t feminist because the women, in their culture, are basically seen as second class citizens. But when you have a series that’s basically medieval Europe placed on an imaginary map, I’m not sure what you expect. It’s inspired by history, where woman were treated that poorly. I find it refreshing that the plot doesn’t accept that (like in Lord of the Rings), but rather multiple woman try to overcome it.

But I see the point. How many more fantasy novels do we need that perfectly mirror medieval Europe, with women having the roles of wives and nothing more? If it’s fiction, why not make them equal? Or why not make them the ones in charge? It would be refreshing to see that occasionally.

I’m sure it’s out there, but I’m not as prolific of a reader. What fantasy novels do you think have feminist ideals? Who are your favorite strong female characters? What do you think about the women of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and Game of Thrones? Does one do a better job than the others? Am I totally full of it with my opinions of these characters?

How clever!

The fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon at the University of Vermont was recently suspended. They circulated a questionnaire to each of their brothers that included the question “If I could rape someone, who would it be?”

I’d like to think this was actually a trick question. You know, like they were trying to filter out all the guys who didn’t answer with “This question is disgusting and I refuse to answer it. I am ashamed to be a part of this fraternity.” How clever would that be?

Sadly, I’m not that optimistic.

Of course, the Men’s Rights Activists still write this off as being just “sick fratboy humor” or worse, a “stand up against misandry” that should be “celebrated.” Sickening since the CDC just released its National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, which disturbing facts such as:

  • Nearly 1 in 5 women (18.3%) and 1 in 71 men (1.4%) in the United States have been raped at some time in their lives, including completed forced penetration, attempted forced penetration, or alcohol/drug facilitated completed penetration.
  • More than half (51.1%) of female victims of rape reported being raped by an intimate partner and 40.8% by an acquaintance; for male victims, more than half (52.4%) reported being raped by an acquaintance and 15.1% by a stranger.
  • Most female victims of completed rape (79.6%) experienced their first rape before the age of 25; 42.2% experienced their first completed rape before the age of 18 years.
  • More than one-quarter of male victims of completed rape (27.8%) experienced their first rape when they were 10 years of age or younger.

Yeah, not very clever at all.

Being a woman on twitter

Twitter makes it easy for people to spread their bile. For example, here are some recent tweets I received from @whprax222:

First:

Second:

Is it bad that I’m so used to the rape part of the threat that my first reaction is “Why Mexicans?”

But this individual wasn’t just targeting me. He aimed the majority of his tweets at female atheists, tweeting terrible things at Greta Christina, Jamila Bey,  Maryam Namazie, Melody Hensley, Jafsica, Cristina Rad, Catherine Deveney, and Angie Jackson. He also targeted a couple other female writers, including Christie Wilcox. I have screen shots of all of the threats here, which are really worth a look to get the full extent of how gruesome they are.

Why am I writing about this? Because this isn’t a rare occurence. Outspoken women are frequently threatened with rape as a way of silencing them.  But the way this individual responded once called out was also pretty telling of the mindset behind these attacks (screen cap):

“not a THREAT just a HOPE. i live nowhere near any of these people and they live all over the world. i dont have time or money to take an airplane to kill somebody! nor would i want to! just expressing my opinion, absolutely no threat intended”

Oh, well then. You just hope we’re raped and murdered, you’re too lazy to actually do it yourself. Definitely not a threat then!

“i am a gentle soul really :)”

“yep that is just my opinion. i would never rape a woman, that’s illegal!”

So you’d do it if it was legal? That certainly reassures me about your moral compass.

“i have no intention of harming ANYBODY! for all of u that are taking this seriously… grow up! its the internet!”

Ah yes, the “it’s the internet” excuse.  Leave it to the person threatening women with rape and murder to tell us we need to grow up.

Before you tell anyone “it’s the internet,” remember what kind of individuals hide behind that excuse.

Women for Herman Cain

To offset the increasing number of women who are accusing him of sexual harassment and/or affairs, Herman Cain has launched a new website: Women for Herman Cain. Female supporters can share their insights as to why they support Cain, such as:

Dear Mrs. Cain, don’t pay attention to these pathetic husbandless women who are jealous of women like you in happy long-term marriages. These vindictive women can’t find a husband or keep one. They are like stalkers who try to latch on to any man who shows a bit of kindness or attention to them. When these unstable women come out of the woodwork to make accusations about Herman just say, ‘Honey, get a life, I believe my husband.’ We want you to be our First Lady Mrs. Cain!

And

Now because of scheming women that can be swayed by money, attention or whatever else the reason may be, your reputation is at stake – not theirs as it should be. I do not believe these women are victims…I believe you are.

And

Don’t let Satan and his demons win. Stay true to the Lord’s will and stay in this race. Remember Philippians 4:13! CAIN TRAIN is chugging!

I have to wonder how many of these submissions are actually from women and not MRAs. Non-Americans, aren’t you glad you’re not a part of this political nonsense?

The cherry on top  is that the banner for his site is women from a German stock photo website. Finding real supporters was apparently too difficult.

Religion is all about peace and love

For example, Mormon prophet Spencer W. Kimball wrote this about rape:

““In a forced contact such as rape or incest, the injured one is greatly outraged. If she has not cooperated and contributed to the foul deed, she is of course in a more favorable position. There is no condemnation where this is no voluntary participation.It is better to die in defending one’s virtue than to live having lost it without a struggle.”

And what’s the result of such a statement? Mormons who say stuff like this about 18 year old girls who commit suicide after years of being sexually abused by her family members:

I don’t care what did or did not happen to her. First and foremost, I don’t believe rape exists. When there are incidents that are classified as “rape,” or names that are similar, what usually ends up happening is that the “victim” tends to “forget” to mention immodesty, flirty actions, or other conduct on their part that contributed to the matter. A woman who dresses immodestly must accept accountability for her choice of attire.

If, in fact, this girl was being molested or forced into prostitution as the media outlets say her tweets claimed, then it was her fault that it happened, and continued to happen.

My brain just exploded with rage. What a monument of evil. What’s even scarier is you don’t have to dig into fundamentalist Mormonism to see people blaming rape victims because of their immodesty, or flirtiness, or sexy clothes. Walk into a college bar. Browse reddit. Attend a Republican rally. Hell, select a random person on the street. That victim blaming is depressingly common.

If any post deserves the “I hate people” tag, it’s certainly this one.

(Via Pharyngula)