I sure as hell don't, but there are people out there still bringing it up, and I found myself dragged back into it again. Yesterday afternoon I checked my blog's stats, and saw that readers had been directed to Dead-Logic via some blog called "ManBoobz." Seeing that this blog drove some traffic my way (and seeing how it has such a classy name), I decided to check it out. I'm always on the lookout for a new blog to read, and if someone's sharing the love with me, I like to try to share the love back.
But I found no love. Apparently Mr. ManBoobz thinks I'm a "decidedly non-feminist atheist" for reasons he doesn't bother to say. Given that he linked to my criticism of Rebecca Watson during Elevatorgate, I get the impression that Mr. ManBoobz thinks I must be a non-(or anti-)feminist because I didn't agree with Rebecca Watson. I don't know for sure, so I posted this response on ManBoobz's blog:
As you can see, whether Mr. ManBoobz thinks this way or not, this Xanthe person sure does. Indeed, calling oneself a "freethinker" as Xanthe does is no panacea for closed-mindedness and short-sightedness. As I told Xanthe in reply, it’s one thing to claim that you’re a freethinker: it’s another thing altogether to live it out.
Sad thing is, I think we’re actually on the same side. All of us - Xanthe, Mr. ManBoobz, your humble blogger - want the same thing: to see a world in which women are seen as equals, shown respect and dignity, able to live without fear, and are able to succeed and live out their dreams to the best of their abilities. Are we always going to agree on the particulars? Of course not. But those disagreements shouldn't turn into battle lines drawn between people who are fighting for the same cause.
Hell, I still like Rebecca Watson. Mr. ManBoobz might not care, but the last time I wrote about Rebecca Watson, I defended her criticism of r/atheism. Before some idiot trying to be clever stuck a "gate" to the end of the infamous elevator, I posted a comment on Rebecca's video About Mythbusters, Robot Eyes, Feminism, and Jokes. You know, the video in which we first heard about Mr. Elevator Guy - the video that sparked Elevatorgate? My response to Rebecca's video (and I don't comment often on YouTube) was positive. I enjoyed it. It was the stuff that happened after that video - the stuff that became "Elevatorgate" - that I criticized. And even in my criticism, I shared what I thought Rebecca did right (See kids, it's important to read it all the way to the end).
Look, folks, I won't sit here wasting time defending myself. I know where I stand. I know what it is I uphold. I believe in it so strongly I had it tattooed on my skin. I'll let my blog, and more importantly, my life, speak for me.
Yeah, I know, most people think of Boondock Saints when they see my ink. That's okay too, because those movies kick ass.
— Dead-Logic
UPDATE 4/20/2012: Call me obsessive, but I decided to search for that comment I made on Rebecca's video. I finally found it:
[source]
