GET OFF THE FENCE: Sexism in the atheist community.

[rug]

By Robin Marie on June 5, 2013

In 1965, two women of Students for a Democratic Society, Casey Hayden and Mary King, wrote an essay bringing attention to the problem of sexism within SDS. In their essay, the authors cautiously raised the issue of sexism in the student movement (indeed, the subtitle of the essay, “A Kind of Memo,” suggested just how cautious they were), arguing that women engaged in movements for social justice needed to start communicating to both each other, and their fellow male activists about their experiences. Deeply involved in the Civil Rights Movement, Hayden and King went out of their way to be clear that they were in no sense equating the discrimination and oppression they experienced as women with the oppression experienced by African Americans in the United States. Nonetheless, it had become increasingly clear to them that sexism did not stop at the door of the radical meeting house – it was a very real problem in the New Left community, and it had to be dealt with.

Two years later, frustrated by the tepid and insulting response of many men in SDS to their call for gender equality, the women of SDS again penned an essay which attempted to explain why attacking sexism was so important to the overall struggle for social justice. As they wrote:

“We seek the liberation of all human beings. The struggle for liberation of women must be part of the larger fight for human freedom. We recognize the difficulty our brothers will have in dealing with male chauvinism and we will assume our full responsibility in helping to resolve the contradiction. Freedom now! We love you!”

The journal New Left Notes published the essay, but it ran accompanied by this image:



http://anamericanatheist.org/2013/06/05/get-off-the-fence-sexism-in-the-atheist-community/

[cbayer]

1. Very few comments on this - 2 to be exact and one makes no sense at all.

But I am glad to see it being addressed and, hopefully, resolved.

The same thing did, indeed, happen in the anti-war movement, but I am not sure it ever got resolved. But it's divisive, hurts the movement overall and weakens the groups in which it occurs.

[rug]

2. That was indeed a big problem in the antiwar movement.

http://articles.philly.com/2000-04-22/news/25590259_1_women-s-international-league-antiwar-movement-feminists

Fractions also formed around class and race, nationalism versus internationalism. These divisions are toxic and the most effective tool to split, hinder and ultimately truncate any progressive movement. I hope belief versus non-belief is not brought into the mix this time around.

[cbayer]

4. I remember it well and I believe it hurt the movement.

It did, however, contribute to the explosion of the women's movement.

In terms of the belief vs. non-belief split, I think there is more unity and coalition building than there is division. While not perfect, I am hopeful that those pursuing this unity will prevail.

[Bad Thoughts]

8. Shouldn't the familiarity of this problem give pause to atheist feminists?

I would say that this is a familiar pattern: feminists concerns are subsumed under in a different ideology, with the hope that the ideology will lead to a greater liberation that will answer most (if not all) feminist concerns. Should it become successful, the movement finds a means of reconstructing patriarchal relations: republican motherhood follows in the wake of the Rights of Man. It seems that the feminists at these conferences should not expect agreement with the atheist movement, but should apply feminism to the movement itself. They should not sacrifice feminism for atheism.

[cbayer]

9. This happens in most (all?) male dominated groups, in my experience.

The women are right to push the feminist agenda, but there has been a lot of dismissing of their concerns. In fact, there has been a significant backlash in some quarters.

[niyad]

5. you are correct--the first comment made no sense whatsoever.

[cbayer]

6. I'm surprised at the lack of response, as this has been a very

hot topic on other sites. I'm not really familiar with this particular site, but maybe it just has really low traffic.

[niyad]

3. k and r--thank you for posting this.

[LostOne4Ever]

7. It surprises me

That a group as reviled as we are can not see the same vestiges of privilege in our thinking about sexism.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. We do. Read the essay. While the author is expressing some frustration,

she explicitly notes that there has been considerable progress within the community to create awareness of the issue and to work on changing the status quo.