Comment by short_circut | Hacker News Reader

Comment by short_circut | Hacker News Reader

I assume you wanted to point out the sexism part. Is there sexism in the "skeptic" community? Certainly, just as there is in just about every community. The assumption this author seems to be making is that feminism is beyond reproach which simply is not true. It certainly should be held to the same critical standards as any other theory. Feminism is not perfect and it certainly has some serious problems. Don't confuse egalitarianism and rejection of certain feminist ideals as sexism. To use feminist's own language, often times the things that the antifeminists attack in feminism are things that can be considered products of patriarchy. Sexism among internet skeptics is no more rampant than sexism in other internet communities. Anyone with more than a passing familiarity should know this. That doesn't make it right. It is just fact.

Critiques are one thing — the outright hostility I see from the skeptic communities towards feminism & feminists goes to another level. I absolutely believe that, even if not more prevalent, sexist attitudes are voiced more loudly and more self-righteously in the internet skeptic community than outside it.

You do realize you are saying "skeptics are skeptical" right? They don't suddenly become monsters when that skepticism is towards feminist mythology instead of christian mythology.

The article seems to purport, however, that the skeptic community has its own sort of mythology, and is no better at questioning it than any other group of believers is of its own.

For a skeptic, of course, them's fighting words. But it's an interesting concept.

I think you may have missed my point slightly. Often critique of feminism is held as inherently sexist whether or not that is true. People view the skeptical attack on female privilege and/or rejection of certain aspects of claimed male privilege as sexist. My point being that sometimes people confuse skepticism with sexism. In my mind the unfortunate thing is that some of the big names in the skeptic communities make these criticisms and then later show their misandric or misogynist sides.

No, I don't think I did. Critiques of feminism is _rarely_ held inherently sexist, in my experience, unless the people doing the critiquing start with open hostility.

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