Rebecca Watson is a “skeptic” (i.e. agnostic with atheistic tendancies) who is leading a crusade against Richard Dawkins. It started when Watson wrote about an early morning elevator encounter that she had where an inept suitor hit on her.
Just a word to the wise here, guys. Don’t do that. I don’t know how else to explain how this makes me very uncomfortable, but I’ll just sort of lay it out: I was a single women in foreign country in a hotel elevator with you, just you, and I. Don’t invite me back to your hotel room right after I finish talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner.
Dawkins commented on the encounter and basically said he didn’t think it was that big of a deal. That got Watson’s feminist hackles up and she is leading a boycott of his work. Now her fans want to boot Dawkins out as a leader of the atheist movement.
The entertainment value of atheists cannibalizing their own is somewhat humorous. Even more funny is how Watson is crusading against being sexualized when this is the woman who has previously published “pin-up” calendars sexualizing women. Last year, she promoted other nude calendars featuring nude men and women as “sexy.”
So to summarize, the woman who started “an organization dedicated to promoting skepticism and critical thinking among women around the world” sexualizes women while railing against the thought crime of being sexualized.
Here is a thought. If you don’t want to be sexualized, don’t participate in the systematic sexualization of women. That would be a good first step in promoting critical thinking among women.
(hat tip: Mark Shea)