Irenaeus, Siteadmin, Check users, oversight, Administrators
351,458
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 176:
Line 176: + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
Demographics of atheism (view source)
Revision as of 00:40, February 12, 2017
, 00:40, February 12, 2017→Cultural diversity of the atheist population
*[[Social Darwinism]]
*[[Social Darwinism]]
== Atheism and women ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and women]]
[[File:2404429188 ea8f1fc48b.jpg|thumbnail|right|200px|Studies indicate that women in the Western World tend to be more religious than men.<ref>Multiple references:
*Kosmin, Barry A., et al. (2008). [http://web.archive.org/web/20110904110346/http://www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/NONES_08.pdf "American nones: Profile of the no religion population"]. American Religion Survey website [Trinity College, Hartford, CT]. Retrieved from Internet Archive.
*Britt, Robert Roy (February 28, 2009). [http://www.livescience.com/7689-women-religious-men.html "Women more religious than men"]. Live Science website.
*Khan, Razib (November 18, 2010). [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/11/sex-differences-in-global-atheism-part-n/ "Gene expression; Sex differences in global atheism, part N"]. Discover magazine website.</ref>]]
Surveys throughout the world and other data indicate that women are less inclined to be [[atheism|atheists]].<ref>Khan, Razib (November 18, 2010). [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/11/sex-differences-in-global-atheism-part-n/ "Gene expression; Sex differences in global atheism, part N"]. Discover magazine website.
*Carter, Stephen L. (March 27, 2015). [http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-27/the-atheism-gap "The atheism gap"]. ''BloombergView''.
*[http://blog.oup.com/2014/09/atheism-feminism/#sthash.0yIBbelF.dpuf Atheism and Feminism], ''Oxford University Press'' blog</ref>
<ref name="PZ">Myers, P.Z. (June 29, 2010). [http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/06/29/the-woman-problem/ "The woman problem"]. Pharyngula [blog].</ref>
In 2016, Atheist Alliance International (AAI) conducted an annually reoccurring atheist census project and found:
{{Cquote|At the time of writing, the Atheist Census Project recorded that on average worldwide 73.2% of respondents were male. The result is consistent with other research... As such, the focus of many scholarly papers has been on seeking to explain this persistent observation."<ref>[https://www.atheistalliance.org/about-aai/position-statements/1206-aai-position-statement-gender-balance.html AAI Position Statement - Gender Balance]</ref>}}
== Recent studies concerning [[atheism]] and women ==
''See also:'' [[Atheism and diversity]]
=== Surveys by country ===
In November 2010, ''Discover Magazine'' published survey results published by the World Values Survey which showed significant differences between the percentage of men and women who are [[Atheism|atheists]] for various countries with men outnumbering women in terms of adopting an [[atheist worldview]].<ref>Khan, Razib (November 18, 2010). [http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2010/11/sex-differences-in-global-atheism-part-n/ "Gene expression; Sex differences in global atheism, part N"]. Discover magazine website.</ref>
==== United States surveys ====
In 2015, BloombergView reported concerning the [[United States]]: "According to a much-discussed 2012 report from the Pew Research Center on Religion and Public Life, ...women are 52 percent of the U.S. population but only 36 percent of atheists and agnostics.<ref>Carter, Stephen L. (March 27, 2015). [http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-03-27/the-atheism-gap "The atheism gap"]. ''BloombergView''.</ref>
A 2009 article in LiveScience.com entitled ''Women More Religious Than Men'' reported: "A new analysis of survey data finds women pray more often then men, are more likely to believe in God, and are more religious than men in a variety of other ways...The latest findings, released Friday, are no surprise, only confirming what other studies have found for decades.<ref name=Britt>Britt, Robert Roy (February 28, 2009). [http://www.livescience.com/7689-women-religious-men.html "Women more religious than men"]. Live Science website.</ref> In 2007, the Pew Research Center found that American women were more religious than American men.<ref name=Britt/>
=== Other Atheist Alliance International analysis ===
Oxford University Press reports about a previous study done by AAI:
{{cquote|...atheism remains a male-dominated affair. Data collected by the Atheist Alliance International (2011) show that in Britain, women account for 21.6% of atheists (as opposed to 77.9% men). In the United States men make up 70% of Americans who identify as atheist. In Poland, 32% of atheists are female, and similarly in Australia it is 31.5%<ref>[http://blog.oup.com/2014/09/atheism-feminism/#sthash.0yIBbelF.dpuf Atheism and Feminism], ''Oxford University Press'' blog</ref>}}
=== Atheistic China and gender imbalance ===
''See also:'' [[Asian atheism]]
[[China]] has the largest atheist population in the world.<ref name="thechapmans.nl">*[http://www.thechapmans.nl/news/Atheist.pdf Top 50 Countries With Highest Proportion of Atheists / Agnostics (Zuckerman, 2005)]
*[http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/23/a-surprising-map-of-where-the-worlds-atheists-live/ A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live], ''Washington Post'' By Max Fisher and Caitlin Dewey May 23, 2013</ref> The current [[Atheist Population|atheist population]] mostly resides in East Asia (particularly China) and in secular Europe/Australia primarily among whites.<ref>Fisher, Max and Dewey, Caitlin (May 23, 2013). [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/05/23/a-surprising-map-of-where-the-worlds-atheists-live/ "A surprising map of where the world’s atheists live"]. The Washington Post website.</ref> See: [[Western atheism and race]]
Due to sex-selection [[abortion]] and female infantcide, there is a gender imbalance within the Chinese population.
According to 2012 figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China, China’s sex ratio at birth (the number of boys born for every 100 girls) was as high as 118, while the sex ratio amongst the total population was about 105.<ref>National Bureau of Statistics of China, Beijing, China</ref> The statistical data from China indicates that the gap between male and female at birth is far larger than the biologically benchmark ratio (a sex ratio at birth of around 105 males per 100 females).<ref>Poston, L. D., & Glover, S. K., Too many males: marriage market implications of gender imbalances in China, 2005</ref>
=== Reason Rally 2016 and a lack of gender diversity among attendants ===
The YouTube atheist [[Thunderf00t]] estimates that there was a 2 to 1 ration as far as men to women attending [[Reason Rally 2016]].<ref>[http://www.wnd.com/2016/06/even-atheists-bash-reason-rally/ Even atheists bash 'Reason Rally'], See the video on the web page</ref>
=== Atheist meetings and women according to prominent atheists ===
[[File:PZ Myers3.jpg|thumbnail|right|230px|The atheist [[PZ Myers]] giving a talk at George Mason University. In June 2010, PZ Myers commented that atheist meetings tend to be significantly more attended by males.<ref name="PZ"/> ]]
In June 2010, the atheist [[PZ Myers]] commented that [[Atheist conferences|atheist meetings]] tend to be significantly more attended by males.<ref name="PZ"/> In October 2012, the atheist Susan Jacoby wrote in ''The Humanist'' concerning atheist meetings: "When I speak before non-college audiences — that is, audiences in which no one is required to be there to get credit for a college course — 75 percent of the people in the seats are men."<ref>Jacoby, Susan (August 16, 2012). [http://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2012/features/a-womans-place-the-dearth-of-women-in-the-secular-movement "A woman’s place? The dearth of women in the secular movement"]. ''The Humanist'' website.</ref>
For more information, please see:
*[[Research on atheist conferences]]
*[[Atheist conferences]]
=== New York Times: Atheist meeting attendees ===
{{See also|Western atheism and race}}
In October 2010, an atheists' meeting was organized in the [[United States]] concerning the future direction of the atheist movement and 370 people attended. The ''[[New York Times]]'' described the attendees as "The largely white and male crowd — imagine a [[Star Trek]] convention, but older...".<ref>Oppenheimer, Mark (October 15, 2010). [http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/us/16beliefs.html "Atheists debate how pushy to be"]. Nytimes.com.</ref>
=== Atheists' group membership and demographic makeup of meetings ===
In 2011, Beliefnetnews reported concerning the race and gender of American atheist:
{{cquote|From the smallest local meetings to the largest conferences, the vast majority of speakers and attendees are almost always white men. Leading figures of the atheist movement - [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Sam Harris]], [[Christopher Hitchens]] and [[Daniel Dennett]] -- are all white men.
But making atheism more diverse is proving to be no easy task.
Surveys suggest most atheists are white men. A recent survey of 4,000 members of the Freedom from Religion Foundation found that 95 percent were white, and men comprised a majority.<ref>MacDonald, G. Jeffrey (2011). [http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011/01/atheists-diversity-woes-have-n.php "Atheists’ diversity woes have no black-and-white answers"]. Beliefnet.</ref>}}
=== Women and Freethought Blogs.com web traffic ===
The website [[Freethought Blogs]] has significantly less women visiting their website than men according to the web traffic tracking company [[Quantcast]].<ref>[http://www.quantcast.com/freethoughtblogs.com "Freethoughtblogs.com" [demographics]] Quαntcast.</ref>
=== Summary ===
The above data suggest that atheism in general and the New Atheism movement is significantly less appealing to women in the [[Western World]].
== Notes ==
== Notes ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}
[[Category:Atheism]]
[[Category:Atheism]]