#30 It doesn’t matter if you didn’t intend to be sexist.

If someone were to compile a list of common excuses that should have been apologies, “I didn’t mean it like that” would be at the top of the list. This is a rule that applies to the world at large as well as to the skeptical community. Many a conversation about the lack of women [...]

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#29 Don’t take criticism of sexism personally if you aren’t sexist.

So it’s an old conversation by now. Question: Why aren’t more women actively involved in the skeptical community? Answer: Because of this and this, which is sexist. Exclamation: How dare you call me sexist! I’ve never done that! You are too rude to listen to. Whereupon much time is wasted by people (usually men) taking [...]

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#28 Don’t insist on “sex-positive” feminism.

First, a primer, from a person with only a very basic understanding of the subject. “Sex-positive” feminists (self-described) are often placed at odds with purported “sex-negative” feminists (not a word they use themselves; they just call themselves “feminists”) over subjects like sex work (ie, prostitution and pornography). There is lots and lots of overlap between [...]

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#27 Stop using gendered insults.

This post also appears as part of Transatlantic Blonde’s Feminist Friday series. Follow the link below for more posts! What do the words “twat” and “dick” have in common? They are both gendered insults–words used to insult another person by referring specifically to genitalia (usually via a slang word), and which also includes the word [...]

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#26 Social change isn’t caused by time passing.

“Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!”  –Red Queen to Alice, Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. I haz an epigraph! Seems fitting to engage in [...]

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#25 Not every perspective on sexism is helpful.

When women try to explain the ways in which sexism–certain, specific aspects and behaviors of sexism–has kept them out of active participation of skepticism, they receive a fairly consistent set of responses. Some people listen to what the woman say, show them empathy and try to change what they do; some people react angrily to [...]

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#24 Don’t dismiss feminism as “unscientific.”

It’s easy for some people to brush off claims about sexism within skepticism on the grounds that “feminism” isn’t “scientific.” Skepticism has been associated in the culture at large (and within skepticism) as the cousin of the scientific method and technological advancement, and good skeptics always demand that claims be backed up with reason and [...]

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#23 Don’t leave it to women to always bring up sexism.

If you want more women in skepticism, and the women who are not actively participating in skepticism say that sexism–how it manifests, how it’s handled–is keeping them out of active participation, then you have to do something to address sexism. If it’s your priority to have those women fully participating in your community, then you [...]

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#22 Accept that empowering women will disempower men, sort of, but not really.

Many people in the skeptical movement worry aloud that attempts to increase the power women have within skepticism will decrease the amount of power that men have. They are all for equality, sure, and for “empowering women” just so long as it does not come at the expense of “disempowering men.” It’s all fine and [...]

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#21 Train women to be skeptical presenters.

Mentoring is a thing you hear a lot about when it comes to helping people from underrepresented groups gain footholds in organizations, and I’ve only ever heard positive things about mentor relationships when I’ve come across them. I would like to say that establishing mentor programs for women in skepticism would help retain the women [...]

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