Atheist feminism is a type of feminism whose advocates are atheists.
Feminists who are theists often belong to religious bodies which practice liberal theology. In addition, some feminists practice goddess worship. Since atheism rejects theism, atheistic feminism rejects/disbelieves in the existence of God or gods (see: Definition of atheism).
Ernestine Rose was a feminist and an she was also an atheist - well before today's label of "atheist feminist" existed.
An example of a modern atheist feminist is Annie Laurie Gaylor. She is co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. Gaylor’s husband, Dan Barker, who is co-president of the organization along with her, is usually the one invited to speaking engagements, despite her longer tenure as the organization’s leader and her many books on atheism.[2]
Atheism plus
See also: Atheism plus
Atheism plus is a largely defunct faction of atheism which holds to a liberal/progressive political agenda. It developed out of the atheist and political ideology of Freethought blogs and was partly a response to the New Atheism and to the Elevatorgate controversy.
Atheism, women, men and atheist feminism
Since most atheists lean left politically (see: Atheism and politics) many atheist women are feminists. However, atheist feminism is rejected by a large segment of atheist men given that a significant majority of atheist are men and that the men's rights movement has many atheist men within it (see: Atheism and women).[3] Reddit is a popular place for atheists and a Reddit survey found that 94% of Men's Rights Movement supporters indicated that they had no religion (see also: Reddit atheism).[4] YouTube's most popular atheist is TheAmazingAtheist who is a men's rights activist. Another popular YouTube atheist Thunderf00t is very critical of feminism within atheism (See also: Atheism plus).
Atheist feminism and sexism within atheist population
Atheist feminism criticizes the widespread sexist beliefs/behavior by atheist men (See: Atheism and sexism and Atheism and rape and Atheism and social skills).
Atheist feminism and its commonalities to feminism in general
Atheist feminism, like all feminism, denies or downplays differences between men and women. Most atheists support abortion (see: Abortion and atheism). In addition, like all feminism, it is an ideology that causes an alienation in affection by women for men.
Elevatorgate and friction between atheist men and women
See also: Elevatorgate and Atheist conferences
Elevatorgate is a term commonly used to describe a scandal involving new atheist Richard Dawkins' 2011 comments made to atheist Rebecca Watson which are perceived to have been inappropriate by a sizable portion of the atheist community and to the public at large.[5] Watson is a feminist.[6]
Within the atheist movement post New Atheism and the Elevatorgate controversy, there has been a lot of conflict between atheists concerning feminism. One of the results of the conflict was Richard Dawkins losing a lot of public support and support among the irreligious (see: Richard Dawkins' loss of influence).
The new atheist Sam Harris has also angered many feminists. In 2014, Harris said that atheist activism lacks an “estrogen vibe” and was “to some degree intrinsically male”.[7]
See also: Atheist factions and Atheists and antisocial behavior
The forerunner of the feminist Atheism plus movement was the online Elevatorgate controversy.
The Guardian wrote about Atheism plus and the reaction of many atheists on the internet:
“ | In the passionate world of American atheism, the venom usually directed at believers has now been turned against the wrong kind of atheists...
It took 700 years from Constantine renaming Byzantium in his own honour to papal legates circulating letters of anathema that split the Roman and Orthodox churches. Atheism, in its public, online life, has started exchanging internet anathemas – perhaps we should call them inathemas – in little more than a decade.[8] |
” |
Post Elevatorgate and Atheism plus, the conflict between atheist feminism and anti-feminism atheists continues. Two of the most anti-feminism atheists are YouTube atheists Thunderf00t and TheAmazingAtheist.
Atheist feminism and its view of religion
It is extremely common for atheist feminists to see religion as the main source of sexism and oppression in the world despite: the widespread sexism within the atheist population/atheist movement; irreligious men engaging in more domestic abuse than religious men (See: Irreligion and domestic violence); the most secular countries of Europe have significant domestic violence problems (see: Secular Europe and domestic violence); and atheistic communists regimes have been the most murderous and repressive regimes in world history (see: Atheism and communism and Atheism and mass murder and Atheism and forced labor and Communism and religious persecution and Mass rape of German women by the Soviet army).
Many atheists have a poor knowledge of atheist history and/or engage in historical revisionism (see: Atheism and historical illiteracy and Atheism and historical revisionism).
Atheism and mass rapes
Books
- Atheist Feminism by Cara Collins, ISBN-10: 131238493X
See also
External links
- Atheism and feminism, Oxford University Press
- Do Atheism and feminism go hand and hand?
- Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement? by Mark Oppenheimer
- Richard Dawkins has lost it: ignorant sexism gives atheists a bad name, The Guardian
Notes
- ↑ Bekiempis, Victoria (Summer 2011). "Why the New Atheism is a boys' club". Bitch Magazine, no. 51. Retrieved from September 26, 2011 edition of The Guardian/CommentaryIsFree.
- ↑ Bekiempis, Victoria (Summer 2011). "Why the New Atheism is a boys' club". Bitch Magazine, no. 51. Retrieved from September 26, 2011 edition of The Guardian/CommentaryIsFree.
- ↑ Confirmed: “Men’s Rights Activism” Is For Misogynists Without God, Raw Story
- ↑ Confirmed: “Men’s Rights Activism” Is For Misogynists Without God, Raw Story
- ↑
- Richard Dawkins: Skeptic of women? - Salon, July 8, 2011
- Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins by David Allen Green - New Stateman - 06 July 2011
- Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists - Gawker
- Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today
- Richard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women by Emily Band, The Guardian, July 24, 2011
- Richard Dawkins and male privilege By Phil Plait, Discover Magazine, July 5, 2011 10:30 am
- Is Richard Dawkins destroying his reputation? by Sophie Elmhirst, The Guardian, June 9, 2015
- ↑ Rebecca Watson (July 5, 2011). "The Privilege Delusion". Skepchick
- ↑ Atheist writer Sam Harris faces backlash over 'estrogen vibe' comments by Heather Tomlinson, Christianity Today, September 17, 2014
- ↑ Is American atheism heading for a schism? by Peter McGrath, The Guardian
- ↑ Roberts, Andrew. "Stalin's army of rapists: The brutal war crime that Russia and Germany tried to ignore", Daily Mail, 24 October 2008.