I wish I could have attended the conference but I don't have the funds to fly all over to meet skeptics and atheists. Fortunately, internet people put their stuff up on the internet, for example, this panel about harrassment on the internet:
Women and a few men talking about sexist attacks on the internet and especially in the Skeptical & Atheist realms. If you think they're exaggerating, check out the comments people have posted.
Some of my graduate school professors had to deal with a lot of dirty tactics by their male "colleagues" and of course I have known women who have been victimized in a variety of ways. So... I'm a bit shocked but if you are a guy who hasn't been the confidante of a woman who has dealt with abuse, you may be seriously shocked by what these people have to say:
- Women who blog on the internet get rape threats
- Women on the internet get death threats
- Women do indeed get raped in elevators
- Women get stalked by "trolls" who turn out to be dangerous
Men who find women threatening want to shut us up, and we who don't shut up have known this for years. We deal with it in ways that most men would never imagine.
Personally, I don't want to deal with that shit so you won't see my picture and real-life name here.
2 comments:
I've read of enough cases of such threats and abuses to know that it's a serious problem on the net. Very disappointing to find out that it's apparently a big problem specifically at some atheist conferences. At least some of them have started putting policies in place to address the problem, but I would have hoped there weren't so many clueless males among atheists.
Yes, very disappointing. Gatherings of nonbelievers have such a noble cause it's a shame for it to be dragged down this way. I had wanted to go to TAM some day because Randi is such a hero for me, but I have never had the money or time to go. Maybe next year.
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