Watson, elevator, Dawkins, Jacoby, Gaylor, CFI “Women in Secularism” conference, Hensley, Myers, things getting better.… Read the rest
All entries by this author
Women hardest hit by poverty but it’s a secret 
Sep 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Neither The New York Times nor The Wall Street Journal even mentioned women in their front-page stories about the rise in the poverty rate.… Read the rest
Even more dialogue with William Hamby
Sep 15th, 2011 4:08 pm | By Ophelia BensonSeptember 15: I somehow overlooked Bill’s last entry so here it is now, six days after it was written.
September 5 or whatever it was: We had an interesting discussion over the past couple of days about atheism and feminism and how to reach the mainstream, so I invited him to do a dialogue here. OB
William Hamby
Ophelia, you’ve brought up something that’s been near and dear to me, but which I’ve kept largely under my hat for a couple of years now. What you called your “branch of the movement” – the nerdy bloggy type – is the branch most directly responsible for the entirety of the movement so far. The iconoclasts, scientists, coffee house philosophy geeks, Aspies … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Attack of the male-blaming biases
Sep 15th, 2011 11:41 am | By Ophelia BensonTom Martin tells us about the tragic misandrist sexism at LSE and in feminism generally.
…a close analysis of the core texts shows all the old, male-blaming biases are still there.
Patriarchy theory – the idea that men typically “dominate” women – is omnipresent, when research shows women tend to boss men interpersonally.
That’s an idiosyncratic and wrong definition of patriarchy. Patriarchy is a system, not a description. It’s a system by which men have authority by right and women are subordinate. It’s not about what happens “typically”; it’s about what it supposed to happen: it’s a web of laws, customs and traditions.
… Read the restTexts highlight misogyny but never misandry, its anti-male equivalent – despite research finding that women verbalise four
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
The normalisation of misogyny is commonplace
Sep 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The objectification and dehumanisation of women is such an inescapable part of popular culture that it necessarily plays a part in the daily interactions of men and women.… Read the rest
Tom Martin replies: men are too so the victims
Sep 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“In a world which verbalises four times more sexism against men than it does against women, it’s high time gender studies set a better example.”… Read the rest
Jonathan Dean defends LSE’s Gender Institute
Sep 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
If a gender studies scholar were to put forward a crude “women good, men bad” analysis, it would never stand up to peer scrutiny.… Read the rest
Johann Hari offers a personal apology
Sep 15th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Admits editing Wikipedia entries “of people I had clashed with in ways that were juvenile or malicious.”… Read the rest
Men are being silenced
Sep 14th, 2011 5:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonA guy is suing LSE for sexism.
The man, 39-year-old Tom Martin, based in London, began pursuing an MSc degree in gender, media and culture at the LSE’s Gender Institute in October 2009. He withdrew six weeks later, citing “anti-male discrimination” in the coursework.
“Its programs actively block men’s discourse and perpetuate the men-bad, women-good dialogue,” Martin told me by phone yesterday. “I want gender studies to be more inclusive for men.”
Its programs block men’s discourse?! Oh.my.god. That’s so terrible, when men have been silenced for so long. What’s that men-bad, women-good dialogue though? I’ve never heard of that. It sounds like a hell of a boring dialogue, as well as kind of stupid.
… Read the restMartin, who calls himself
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Man sues LSE for “sexism”
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“Its programs actively block men’s discourse and perpetuate the men-bad, women-good dialogue.”… Read the rest
You could tell the story in your sleep
Sep 14th, 2011 3:33 pm | By Ophelia BensonAnother familiar story. Religious men walk out of official ceremony in protest because women ___. Their bosses dismiss them. Clerics say it’s an outrage.
The details barely matter; they’re interchangeable. In this case the men were military cadets in Israel; their bosses are their superior officers; the women were singing; the clerics are rabbis.
At some point during the evening, two female soldiers got up to sing. When one
of them began singing solo, dozens of religious soldiers got up and turned to
leave the auditorium.
Pointedly sending the message that the female soldier was a harlot. That should be good for morale.
H/t Ezra Resnick.… Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Anointing the sick with oil
Sep 14th, 2011 3:14 pm | By Ophelia BensonFamiliar story. Couple belong to church that “preaches faith-healing and rejects modern medicine in favor of prayer and other spiritual practices such as anointing the sick with oil.” Couple lets infant die instead of getting medical help.
David Hickman, the couple’s infant son, died in 2009 from a bacterial infection in his lungs. Born two months premature, weighing only 3 pounds and 5 ounces, David only lived for an agonizing nine hours. David, slowly succumbing to the infection in the Hickman’s home, was surrounded by female church members who are considered midwives, although there is no evidence these unlicensed, supposed “midwives,” have any medical education.
Couple goes on trial. Defense is expected to argue that the infant’s death was … Read the rest
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
Couple on trial for letting their baby die
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
The Oregon medical examiner’s office estimates that in the past 30 years, more than 20 children of church members have died of preventable or curable conditions.… Read the rest
Israel: cadets protest women singing at ceremony
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Four of the nine religious cadets who walked out of a military event as a female
soldier began singing solo will be dismissed from their officers’ course.… Read the rest
Jacques Berlinerblau says how to do secularism
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Do it his way.… Read the rest
Why is US TV losing women writers?
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Women who hear that the television industry is not welcoming to them may be less
likely to become part of it in the first place.… Read the rest
Sexism alive and well in TV land
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
Only 15% of the writers of broadcast network, prime-time programs were women in 2010-2011 season, less than half the number in 2006-2007.… Read the rest
Bachmann’s breathtaking ignorance about HPV vaccine
Sep 14th, 2011 |
Filed by Ophelia Benson
“To have innocent little 12-year old girls be forced to have a government injection through an executive order is just flat-out wrong,” she proclaimed Monday.… Read the rest
Training dominion-oriented daughters
Sep 13th, 2011 5:29 pm | By Ophelia BensonLibby Anne spotted another deeply sinister picture of a female human being on a Vision Forum DVD.
Will you look at that?
It’s all the more sinister because it’s so effective – the colors and patterns are pretty, and they pull us in.
Libby Anne is scathing.
… Read the restIt appears from the cover of this DVD that daughters take dominion by doing laundry. Nice. I mean seriously, thought goes into cover images like these (we hope), and someone really truly honestly decided that the best image to represent dominion-oriented daughters is a little girl doing laundry. Because, you know, that’s how women take dominion. By doing laundry. Interesting.
This made me wonder. What pictures do they put on DVDs on raising
(This is a syndicated post. Read the original at FreeThoughtBlogs.)
