Rebecca Watson: The Religious Right vs. Every Woman on Earth | CFI Leadership Conference 2011

[KayleLang]

I feel that Rebecca is being over sensitive. There is a lot of sexism towards males too in developed countries and when ever I watch these presentations, it seems like these are ignored. Why not talk about sexism in general instead of sexism towards females?

I stopped the video after the elevation example. Woman do that to men too. You may use the guise of "What men shouldn't do" but that is still suggesting that it's a male only issue. Why not say "What people shouldn't do"?

[PeytonFarquhar1]

I am searching for the talks where Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris enlighten us about the horrors of their hate mail. They get all the demented hate mail Watson gets. Who gives a crap? Grow up. You aren't being treated more harshly than any other prominent youtuber.

[nontheistdavid]

So according to right wing folks people should be put in prison for having periods and having wet dreams.

[nontheistdavid]

WTF is up with this Mormon commercial before the video. Damn, I hate religions intrusiveness!

[centerforinquiry]

@nontheistdavid Gah, I thought I had finally blocked those successfully. Will try again!

[CranesNotSkyHooks]

Rebecca Watson is the awesomest of the awesome.

[EDITHFIVE]

(cont) Make no mistake, how people are treated is important, I am suggesting a civil discussion of the incident in its own forum. For instance, would learning from women when & how they would like to be approached, if at all, harm anyone? As for "No right to not be frightened", maybe, but is that what you want for your society? Women are not another species, they are our mothers, sisters, daughters, spouses and friends. Listening with loving respect would go a long way.

[Mirani2]

@EDITHFIVE I don't think you need to learn about women in particular. No one wants to be approached by strange people, especially after they asked not to be.

[EDITHFIVE]

It is about time to stop this endless rancorous discussion of the elevator thing. Its been rehashed so many times it is pureed.  Take your individual lessons from it and meditate on it, but lets not grind our joint secular work to a halt with did/didn't arguments. If you really need to continue discussing it, start a forum dedicated to it. As Rebecca's talk indicates, we have plenty of work to do.

[skepticflyer]

Rebecca rules

[TheDan337]

This is well-researched, carefully-reasoned, informative and frequently funny. Be warned that the first section of the talk, regarding some of the more confused correspondence Ms. Watson receives, contains words and descriptions that some viewers may find offensive or inappropriate for children. (It's humbling to see her respond to threats of violence with logic and humor.)

[eljison]

Love the first Venn Diagram!

[UltimaXG2]

Pregnancy: the worst STD.

[Mokurentate]

@UltimaXG2

Agreed. I can't wait to get fixed.

[554466551]

A good talk marred by a terrible lapse in etiquette. It seemed like Rebecca sensed what she was about to do was wrong, but dammit it was too late to can that slide.

[ZombieGuy1]

If anyone is really curious about why she would dare to be annoyed about the guy asking her to his room, please think for a moment. It is 4 AM, you tell your friends that you're going to your room to sleep. You might be a bit drunk, you're tired, and you're in a foreign country. Only you and another person are in a small, enclosed room. The person is likely larger than you and you don't know him. That person asks you to his room for coffee AT 4 AM IN THE MORNING. Key information here!

[Dimenchemist]

She's actually really funny!

[turnipdaisy]

If anyone takes this seriously then they're full of it.Almost all of what she says Is rhetoric about how people should just know what she thinks only adding the clarification after the fact ,fallacious statements built off an ignorant mind set that doesn't take skepticism into account but pure unfiltered ignorance,& Cherry picked comments that do not represent the whole of the comments she got.She literally said in her video"Thanks for not hiding your misogyny" This is why she's ridiculed.

[AdasSzponar]

"my desire to not be hit on" i stopped watching there. If you dont like it just decline, its that simple. You almost make it look like he raped you. When he just ASKED, and in a polite way. Since when is asking wrong?

[immayhem]

@AdasSzponar a man cornering a woman in an elevator goes beyond hitting on them, or 'asking' them out. cornering a woman in an elevator is seriously questionable behavior, and could border on frightening if you happen to be a woman. don't be a douchebag - the message is that simple. if it needs to be spelled out to you that this is intimidating and not acceptable - then you may have a problem in your own etiquette with women.

[daymyth]

@immayhem And when she said no, did he corner her and ask again? What exactly did he do to threaten her so much? He sounded pretty straight up nice. Hi I think your cool and nice, and I'd like to get to know you more if you would like to come up to my room for some coffee.

Isn't it possible that the guy just has poor social skills? Or perhaps he thought he was being friendly enough for it not to be intimidating, not realizing that skepchick was intoxicated and would overreact.

[philateliceun]

But the real problem is actually in the first sentence, and it's sort of the same problem that the other commenter has: "My concern is that she takes issue with a man showing interest in her." This is, unfortunately, a pretty standard parroting of misogynistic thought.

misogynistic? MISOGYNISTIC?!?! HAtRED OF WOMEN? FFS!!!

[menonfire12]

@philateliceun "This is, unfortunately, a pretty standard parroting of misogynistic thought." Yeah. That's exactly the point, however a lot of poeple just "ignore" it, or even worse, try to justify it.

[SolomonKull]

Making jokes about keeping a defenceless animal in a small box until it dies is insensitive and speciesist.

[gatorhighlights4]

Very interesting. Thanks for uploading.

[fishnchimps]

Very good talk. Well researched. Forcefully made.

[THEGrumpyTed]

Lookin all Fresh, indeed. 

[unocanhas]

Above the suggested video bar and to the right of the title of the video, there's an ad for Scientology.

"What is Scientology? Find out for yourself."

[centerforinquiry]

@unocanhas Working on getting rid of that—sorry!

[dorain1]

There are many Christians who are fighting for the absolute separation of Church and State, too. It's not just secularists. There are many of us who realize that our Christian beliefs should apply only to ourselves, and absolutely should not be imposed on other people against their will.

Remember that a real Christian is defined by how he acts himself, not by how he tries to make other people act.

[champjklccmk]

@dorain1 Dude, your doctrine practically forces you to interfere with government... Just because you adhere to you own personal value does not change the fact that you still belong to a religion that imposes itself upon the rest of the world... You are either in it or you're not, it can't go any other way than that... If there's anything worse than a religious fundamentalist, it's the indecisive population because you empower your sect...

[Buliamti]

It's so unfortunate that people don't get it. Keep fighting the good fight. Don't give up. Perhaps you'll make a dent in the ignorance that permeates so many communities. Hang in there!

[grahamdaves1]

Excellent talk. Thanks for adding your voice to the conversation. You inspire me to want to get more involved.

[drstrangelove09]

Thank you Rebecca, that is terrible how men have behaved (from a man)!

[shiveley]

wow...guy talks to her in an elevator, expresses the fact that he finds her interesting, and he's deemed a threat...and he's the one with the problem?

[demonaut666]

what's with the right wing ad at the beginning?

[centerforinquiry]

@demonaut666 Which site was it directing you to? I can block them from coming up again.

[brianneburnell1]

did anyone else get a long scientology commercial before this video? .....

[centerforinquiry]

@brianneburnell1 Sorry about that—they should be blocked now. If you notice any ads obviously contrary to CFI's mission, please let us know!

[drstrangelove09]

Sorry about the nasty things that men have done, Rebecca! (From a man that thinks it is terrible what they have done.) Thank you for speaking out.

[88mixa]

@drstrangelove09 Are you being serious or sarcastic?It's people who are men and do nasty things who should apologise and change not "Men" in general, if you say "Men" then your putting half of today's humanity in the same boat for the nasty things that aren't done by all or was done in the past by majority.Would a German citizens today have to apologise for the nazis in the past and those still around today?No.

Don't apologise for something you haven't done.

[harizotoh7]

Conan... the Adventurer!

[chloedalbasso]

Rebecca, you are a hero for continually fighting. I don't know how you keep up the strength.

[vanaabegra]

Great talk, please keep up the good work.

[SummerSeale]

I just want to say thank you Rebecca for a wonderful talk. =)

You were absolutely right to speak about feminism. It is a subject we all have to keep at the forefront - especially in the skeptic/atheist community, since most laws oppressing women were invented by religions to begin with.

And the way that certain people treat you in comments and emails is beyond reprehensible, vile, and *disgusting*. I can only imagine how you must feel reading those and you have my sympathies and support. =(

[LuisManuelLealDias]

Nice talk, ms Watson. Wish you the best to spread this kind of message throughout the skeptic community... and beyond.

[EatWave]

Leave it to a woman to use Power Point rather than Flash Animations to get her point across despite how much they know that men like the cartoony shows. Dagnabbit,folks had no excuse not to take her presentation seriously! That's just plain sexist!

Really though, she might have gone just a little too soft on the Religious Right right there. Did she have to be so agreeable while disagreeing with them when they don't do the same for her? Must she insist on being better than them?! Yeah,probably.

[8DX]

What I found interesting is that there was less clapping these issues.

[drunkrtard]

I just don't see why what elevator guy did was wrong, blunt and awkward, but wrong? I don't see why it matters that she had previously said she was tired and going to bed either. If I put myself in her place and replace elevator man with elevator woman I'm not sure if I would change my mind about going to bed but I wouldn't be upset.

[TheMidwestAtheist]

@drunkrtard I'm making an educated guess from your comment that you are male. Since you suggest replacing "elevator man with elevator woman," you are NOT putting yourself in her place. To do that, you need to take things from the female perspective, not the male perspective, as that makes a HUGE difference.

[annata12]

@TheMidwestAtheist I thought feminism was about the abolish of those perspective, as I'm trying really hard to see women totally equal, with the exception that i actually wanna see some of them naked. If you remove gender from the elevator and replace it with one human having interest and the other not having interest, The situation was perfectly within this humans freedom of speech without infringing on the other persons freedoms

[bkilian]

@drunkrtard And that's why you are part of the problem. Males don't see why she felt uncomfortable because males don't have the same life outlook. Instead of a woman asking you, imagine instead a 6'6" male linebacker in the elevator invading your personal space, telling you he thinks you're cute, and asking you to "come to his room for coffee".

[annata12]

@bkilian Yes, that would be uncomfortable, which is why i would say no thank you and if he stops right there, why is this a problem? If someone has a sexual interest in me i would expect him to ask, this is covered under free speech. If it doesn't leave the area of free speech it is unfair to make him guilty by association with all the men who didn't leave it at that and to have caused uneasiness in you. To demand from men who have no intention of raping you to behave a certain

[annata12]

is the opposite of equality and abolishing gender roles

[Astrostevo]

Great talk Rebecca Watson - funny, informative, thought-provoking, well argued and very well prepared. Thanks.

[DejectedPanda]

So does this turn towards radical feminism mean no more bordello themed parties at future conventions? Too bad. I hear they got pretty wild. Girl power!

[Apashiol]

I have been a fan of Rebecca's since her appearances on Skeptic's Guide to the Universe and think pointing out how feminism and free-thought go hand in hand is unfortunately very necessary, having read many repulsive comments myself from people who claim to be freethinkers.

[Zoonerd100]

I think claiming that someone is ignorant of feminism is kind of removed from calling someone ignorant.

For example if someone called me ignorant I'd take it as a personal attack, if someone claimed that I was ignorant of the Swiss Championship Wrestling Federation...They'd be right.

There's a big distinction there.

[ArchNME]

@thethanatology They are youtube messages she doesn't have there real names or email addresses. Of course these peoples are hiding behind the internet. You will never kick anyone's ass over this because yeah, no ones says this stuff in real life in front of people. It may not be funny to you but a lot of people get there jollies off of watching other people get offended. That's all that's going on here nothing more, trolls trolling successfully. it's an inherent problem with anonymity.

[snappingbear]

What a disgusting display of poor professionalism by Watson. Attacking a student who could not respond and calling her ignorant and misogynistic. Oh the irony. She even sidetracked her own talk by straying so far off topic. Watson should have stuck to street performing and juggling. As spokesperson she's just another ideologue manufacturing controversies to profit from.

[AtticusOfAmber]

@snappingbear Rubbish. The essence of freethought is criticism. Steph McGraw said something ignorant and got called out on it publicly. That is what happens in a community of freethinkers and it's a good thing too. 

[danielmewes]

Great talk, both the prelude as well as the actual talk! Lots of awareness rising in the former, lots of interesting facts in the latter.

Hope Rebecca keeps up the good work.

[Goneoffshore]

Thank you Rebecca.

[WCK619]

Don't feed the trolls.

[benway23]

Wonderful talk.

[NeedsEvidence]

Excellent speech.

[TheSkunkCat]

The consies took an article from the ONION seriously?

That proves it, consies are mentally deficient. Conservatism is for retards.

If they can't even tell that the Onion is satire, they are mentally incompetent.

[bigheadzach]

@TheSkunkCat Check out literallyunbelievable org - plenty of fail there :)

[awishfulspirit]

Great talk, thanks for sharing.

[Brattye]

Very informative talk, and what she talks about regarding conventions, I wish they would play for any convention, anywhere. Skeptic, entertainment, religious, political.. anywhere that people congregate for a common purpose. Because this happens everywhere, and it's the reason I don't go to conventions myself. I applaud Watson for keeping that spotlight shined on the dirty little corners. And I encourage her to keep powering through all the negativity and idiot behaviors.

[ytmndman]

13:29 - are you sure he heard you say that?

[gwcstudio]

Good talk! As you say, "not a fun topic" but a good one and worth raising.

[xsarahbethx]

As always you are articulate, straightforward, funny and respectful. Thanks for being a voice for so many of us in the atheist/skeptical communities (men and women) who want a more diverse and welcoming environment. Rock on, sister.

[AltruisticHeathen]

*Big hugs to Rebecca* As an atheist chick I love what you're doing for the skeptic community. Keep up the good work!!!

Mary B. - The Altruistic Heathen

altruisticheathen.blogspot.com

[Laursaurus]

@AltruisticHeathen keep your "big hugs" to yourself. RW explains in her videos her explicit desire not to be touched. Handshakes she'll tolerate. How dare you objectify her like a stuffed animal!

This is exactly the stuff she's been lecturing the "community" about over and over. Didn't you pay attention?

I think you'd better read up on the Feminist 101 site to get your misogynist thinking fixed.

Geez! Pay attention!

[CrimsonRefractions]

What the fuck @ America. Iran v2.0 seems a fact...

[sidawaytony]

Some people have conjured up all kinds of imaginary attacks by Rebecca Watson on the basis of this speech. This should clear the air. It's an excellent and well delivered speech.

[legitaly]

"Pedal your lesbian cookies elsewhere, Jezebel!!"

[jay666KJ]

In order for me to take what Rebecca says seriously with the comment "man's right to sexually objectify her" she has to actually PROVE that 1.The man on the elevator was doing that. I wasnt there, but as far as I've seen she hasnt once speculated that he may of meant the next day, in when she wakes up, and he was so shy and so forth, he couldnt clarify. 2.These men are sexually objectifying women. She didnt prove anything, those are all her interpretations.

[gibsos00]

Excellent talk. Needed to be said.

[threebluestars]

Boo.

[integralmath]

So, EG was clearly hitting on her because he started off saying "don't take this the wrong way". That was the proof she had he propositioned her.

Yet what she said of Stef McGraw was entirely appropriate because she started off with "not to embarrass her"? Wait, what? How does the negation of x work in her favor if said by another, but x work in favor if said by her? Welcome to word games 101.

[Hymeteron]

I wonder in which cathegory I would end up... ;-)

[Jaybird196]

I really liked Ms. Watson's speech and her somewhat ascerbic sense of humor :) . 

[farenh451]

Really good talk. She managed to keep much of it accessible by using humor, even with the heavy subject matter. The main topic included examples of right-wing religion in Europe that I hadn't heard of yet. And I have even more respect for Watson's courage, using the intro to stand up for herself against the anti-feminist criticism, in the face of a possibly hostile audience, now that I've seen the talk.

[p165711]

What qualifications does this woman have to be preaching to us then? Does she have relevant certificates or is she just a self appointed spokesperson for just about everything?

[gwcstudio]

@p165711 - If you're trying to say "she should sit down and be quiet" you need a bit more courage. Nobody doing public speaking needs qualifications or certificates and you know it.

[MisterDataJack]

@p165711 Her qualifications are self-evident, dude. She is not "preaching" to us. She is expressing her opinion. You don't need a PhD in "being right" or "making sense" in order to be right, or make sense. We are rational people. Authority should not mean as much as sound logic and supporting evidence.

[88mixa]

I agree with her on everything she said here,even the "Elevator Guy" , that is that he didn't acted appropriate to her, but what I have a problem with is when she said "Guys please don't do that" , what she should have said is "People please don't do that".If she heard a man saying ,about the same thing, "Women please don't do that" she would probably call him a sexist, but this apparently doesn't apply to her.

If you fight against sexism don't say sexist things or else your being a hypocrite.

[colourmegone]

@88mixa Good point, would she have reacted in the same way if a woman had approached her? I understand her feelings about this and I'm not criticising her in any way except for the subconcious sexism which we all seem prey to. It takes a lot of effort to overcome these habits.

[seismozombie]

Wonderful talk; a delightful presentation though on a very important and often unpleasant subject. It's unfortunate and ironic that Ms. Watson's talks seem to draw out some of the most crazy, bizarre, vile, dismissive or even hateful responses, but that all the more demonstrates just how much we need people like Rebecca Watson to help us keep our own groups inclusive and people-friendly.

[antitheisthumanist]

Watson is a powerful example for all women. Sexism must end for the world to succeed. Half of the human population is enslaved until women have true equality. The individuals making these profane remarks against Rebecca and women are dangerous. The level of cruelty is shocking and these people making these criminal statements should be arrested, educated, and rehabilitated for their crimes.

[AlanKey86]

I find Rebecca Watson very engaging as a speaker - articulate and humorous. And as a guy I feel like I probably need to hear what she has to say. So I always find her talks the most interesting out of all the CFI talks.

... and she wants a Keytar. Which is cool.

[TeaDbluJay]

"..quite obviously propositioning me"? He asked you to have coffee.

[bigheadzach]

@TeaDbluJay Coffee that was being served in the bar. Why should the coffee in his room be preferable unless he had an ulterior motive?

[sennatrem]

@TeaDbluJay At 4am in an elevator. Come on now, let's not play coy.

[online4videos]

I rarely watch YouTube videos that are this long, but I'm glad that I did. As a man, I now better appreciate the extent of the crude/graphic sex/rape-oriented comments that are directed at women bloggers/YouTubers. I'm still not convinced that the elevator-gate guy asking her for coffee was as offensive or anti-woman as many say, and if I was single and at an atheist meeting I would probably ask out an interesting-attractive woman. Maybe I'm dense on that, but I agree with her many other topics.

[seismozombie]

@online4videos Based only on your short comment, you seem like a reasonable person. I could be wrong, but I doubt if you were to ask out a woman at a conference, it wouldn't be the first words out of your mouth to her, alone in an elevator with her at 4 a.m., after you had heard her say that she was tired and going to bed.

And I don't think most people think "Elevator Guy" was "anti-woman," but rather just very clueless about how his approach would be seen by a woman in that environment.

[Tairaa2]

@seismozombie I would accept that he was probably clueless to how his actions would be taken, BUT, simply because he was a man who asked a woman if she wanted to engage in further dialogue, that apparently means that Ms. Watson is justified in presuming his intentions, and mocking him and other men. If it had been a women asking her for further dialogue do you think she would have reacted so aggressively? Or would she simply presume that she really did want further dialogue?

[daymyth]

@seismozombie He was probably black, and she was probably holding onto her purse very tightly ;)

[JonasSalk]

Enjoyed the talk, even if I don't really like Rebecca. It addressed some very important issues. It's a shame that the talk has been overshadowed by "Watsongate" so much.

[selinakyle]

A wonderful talk! Thanks for posting. 

[MissMoodyMoony]

A very interesting talk, thank you for sharing it.

[TimothyStuartRiches]

Thanks very much for posting this! I really needed to hear what she had to say. :D

[NeuroVeg]

Poor Stef McGraw @ around 12:48 . Rebecca, that was bad form. See Scienceblog / erv for more information.

[selinakyle]

@NeuroVeg why "Poor Stef"? Rebecca has a right to her opinion just as Stef is allowed hers. ERV is attacking Rebecca's looks as well as other personal attacks that are uncalled for. Rebecca made no disparaging remarks about Stef on a personal level, just disagreed with her in a pretty civil manner.