Amanda Marcotte

"People like [[Richard Dawkins|[Richard] Dawkins]], [[Michael Shermer|[Michael] Shermer]] and [[Sam Harris|[Sam] Harris]] are the public face of atheism. And that public face is one that is defensively and irrationally sexist. Its not only turning women away from atheism, its discrediting the idea that atheists are actually people who argue from a position of rationality. How can they be, when they cling to the ancient, irrational tradition of treating women like they arent quite as human as men?"

"No one should be surprised that it was men, especially white men, who handed [[Donald Trump|[Donald] Trump]] this election. Its been exhaustively established that the majority of white men in this country are consumed with resentment at being expected to treat women and racial minorities as equals, though of course some liberal journalists — usually white men themselves — kept valiantly trying to claim that it was "economic insecurity" that somehow drove the most prosperous group of Americans to kick angrily at those who objectively make less money and have less status than they do."

"Cats love to have you around, but wont come unglued if youre not around to clean up after them for a few hours. If only more men could be like cats!"

"Gun-owning is a largely male phenomenon in the US. Forty-five percent of American men own guns while only 15% of women do. Sixty percent of adults with guns in America are white men, even though white men are just one third of the US population. Despite some attempts by gun lobbyists and marketers to try to sell more guns to women, the fact of the matter is that gun-owning isnt really about "safety" and "crime", so much as its a very costly form of identity politics."

"[T]here’s a thriving online community of people who live to harass not just women, but female atheists in particular, trying to drum any women out of the movement who want to be included as equals instead of as support staff for the male stars. Feminists like Rebecca Watson and Greta Christina, who upset the image of atheism as a “guy thing," are subject to a relentless drumbeat of abuse through social media by people who prefer an atheism that’s a little more like fundamentalist Christianity, where women know their place."

"On a surface level, this pairing of Trumps open disregard for basic marital morality with [[J.D. Vance|[J.D.] Vance]]s sanctimony is just an extension of the larger incoherence that characterizes this years Republican National Convention. Its certainly whiplash-inducing to be here, where attendees swing wildly between showy displays of Christian piety and vulgar and even threatening language toward fellow Americans who disagree with them politically. The shame that usually accompanies hypocrisy was abandoned years ago by this crowd. But perhaps thats because its not really hypocrisy that drives the MAGA movement. Its an attachment to traditional hierarchies that allow such appalling double standards to flourish. Violence from Republicans, such as on January 6, is acceptable because its enforcing the social order they support. But the attempted murder of Trump is beyond the pale because its an assault on the only leader they accept as legitimate. In that light, its not hard to see what holds Vances seemingly disparate views together. Its not a faith in marriage, but an allegiance to male domination."

"Trumps behavior may have been on the high end of the shitty male behavior spectrum, but it still falls within the parameters of what a lot of people are socialized to accept, especially when the bully is rich and powerful like Trump. He, like many men who behave the way he does, gets away with it because far too many people believe that being a bad-tempered thug is just what being a man is about."

"The council did find one exception to the rule: Childless couples who said they were committed to equality did split chores evenly. But when baby came, the women in these once-balanced relationships got a raw deal; not only did New Mom do more domestic work than New Dad, but New Dad did five fewer hours of housework per week than before he became a father. The implications are clear: When faced with the pressures of raising a family, couples backslide into traditional gender roles."