Irenaeus, Siteadmin, Check users, oversight, Administrators
351,865
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 33:
Line 33: + + + + Line 41:
Line 45: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
→Women's views of Richard Dawkins
See also: [[Richard Dawkins and women]] and [[Elevatorgate]] and [[Atheism and rape]]
See also: [[Richard Dawkins and women]] and [[Elevatorgate]] and [[Atheism and rape]]
=== Majority of web visitor's to Dawkins' website are men ====
Survey data and website tracking data of prominent atheist websites indicate that in the Western World, [[Atheism and women|atheism is significantly less appealing to women]]. According to the website tracking firms [[Alexa]] and Quantcast women frequent the website of richarddawkins.net significantly less than men.<ref>http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/richarddawkins.net</ref><ref>http://www.quantcast.com/richarddawkins.net#demographics</ref> One possible explanation of many women's lack of interest in the message of Richard Dawkins is the [[abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins]]. For example, in September of 2010, Richard Dawkins became nasty towards a woman in an audience he spoke before.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/richard-dawkins-i-never-meet-people-who-disagree-with-me-2080451.html Richard Dawkins: 'I never meet people who disagree with me', ''The Independent'' by reporter Andy McSmith, Thursday 16 September 2010]</ref>
Survey data and website tracking data of prominent atheist websites indicate that in the Western World, [[Atheism and women|atheism is significantly less appealing to women]]. According to the website tracking firms [[Alexa]] and Quantcast women frequent the website of richarddawkins.net significantly less than men.<ref>http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/richarddawkins.net</ref><ref>http://www.quantcast.com/richarddawkins.net#demographics</ref> One possible explanation of many women's lack of interest in the message of Richard Dawkins is the [[abrasiveness of Richard Dawkins]]. For example, in September of 2010, Richard Dawkins became nasty towards a woman in an audience he spoke before.<ref>[http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/richard-dawkins-i-never-meet-people-who-disagree-with-me-2080451.html Richard Dawkins: 'I never meet people who disagree with me', ''The Independent'' by reporter Andy McSmith, Thursday 16 September 2010]</ref>
==== Elevatorgate scandal ====
In July of 2011, Richard Dawkins was widely criticized within the atheist community and in various press outlets for his insensitive comments made to atheist [[Rebecca Watson]] about an incident which occurred in an elevator (see: [[Elevatorgate]]).<ref>
In July of 2011, Richard Dawkins was widely criticized within the atheist community and in various press outlets for his insensitive comments made to atheist [[Rebecca Watson]] about an incident which occurred in an elevator (see: [[Elevatorgate]]).<ref>
*[http://gawker.com/5818993/richard-dawkins-torn-limb-from-limbby-atheists Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists - Gawker]
*[http://gawker.com/5818993/richard-dawkins-torn-limb-from-limbby-atheists Richard Dawkins Torn Limb From Limb—By Atheists - Gawker]
*[http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today]</ref>
*[http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 Atheists address sexism issues - USA Today]</ref>
===== Dawkins Stands by Elevatorgate remarks. Says Elevatorgate incident was rather trivial ====
On November 18, 2014, Richard Dawkins indicated that: he stands by his recent remarks about women/men relations, he feels muzzled by "thought police" and that [[Rebecca Watson]]'s experience in the elevator was "rather trivial" compared to events some Muslim women experience.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/richard-dawkins-stands-by-remarks-on-sexism-pedophilia-down-syndrome/2014/11/18/a2915cd8-6f64-11e4-a2c2-478179fd0489_story.html Richard Dawkins stands by remarks on sexism, pedophilia, Down syndrome], by Kimberly Winston | Religion News Service November 18, 2014</ref>
Specifically, the ''Washington Post'' reported on November 18, 2014:
{{cquote|“I don’t take back anything that I’ve said,” Dawkins said from a shady spot in the leafy backyard of one of his Bay Area supporters. “I would not say it again, however, because I am now accustomed to being misunderstood and so I will . “
He trailed off momentarily, gazing at his hands resting on a patio table.
“I feel muzzled, and a lot of other people do as well,” he continued. “There is a climate of bullying, a climate of intransigent thought police which is highly influential in the sense that it suppresses people like me.”
Recent criticism of Dawkins has come from women, many of them within the atheist movement, which has long drawn more men to its ranks. His online remarks, some women say, contribute to a climate they see as unwelcoming to female atheists.
“I concentrate my attention on that menace and I confess I occasionally get a little impatient with American women who complain of being inappropriately touched by the water cooler or invited for coffee or something which I think is, by comparison, relatively trivial,” he said.<ref>[http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/religion/richard-dawkins-stands-by-remarks-on-sexism-pedophilia-down-syndrome/2014/11/18/a2915cd8-6f64-11e4-a2c2-478179fd0489_story.html Richard Dawkins stands by remarks on sexism, pedophilia, Down syndrome], by Kimberly Winston | Religion News Service November 18, 2014 and syndicated to the ''Washington Post''</ref>}}
==== Other reasons why many women hold unfavorable views of Richard Dawkins ====
Another plausible explanation for many women having a lack of enthusiasm for Richard Dawkins's message is that many women who attend religious services and hold traditional beliefs and values find Richard Dawkins' [[atheism]] and [[atheism and morality|atheistic values]] repugnant. In terms of traditional values, in 2007, when asked in an interview, "If we do not acknowledge some sort of external [standard], what is to prevent us from saying that the [[Muslim]] [extremists] aren’t right?", Dawkins replied, "What’s to prevent us from saying [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] wasn’t right? I mean, that is a genuinely difficult question, but whatever [defines morality], it’s not the [[Bible]]. If it was, we’d be stoning people for breaking the [[Sabbath]]."<ref name=Hitler>http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-world/richard-dawkins-the-atheist-evangelist</ref>
Another plausible explanation for many women having a lack of enthusiasm for Richard Dawkins's message is that many women who attend religious services and hold traditional beliefs and values find Richard Dawkins' [[atheism]] and [[atheism and morality|atheistic values]] repugnant. In terms of traditional values, in 2007, when asked in an interview, "If we do not acknowledge some sort of external [standard], what is to prevent us from saying that the [[Muslim]] [extremists] aren’t right?", Dawkins replied, "What’s to prevent us from saying [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] wasn’t right? I mean, that is a genuinely difficult question, but whatever [defines morality], it’s not the [[Bible]]. If it was, we’d be stoning people for breaking the [[Sabbath]]."<ref name=Hitler>http://byfaithonline.com/page/in-the-world/richard-dawkins-the-atheist-evangelist</ref>