RT Article
T1 Feminist Women’s Attitudes towards Feminist Men in the Canadian Atheist Movement
JF Religion & gender
VO 10
IS 2
SP 182
OP 201
A1 Simmons, Jonathan
LA English
PB Brill
YR 2020
UL https://www.ixtheo.de/Record/1741962145
AB Scholars of nonreligion and atheism have become increasingly interested in how the atheist movement reproduces gender inequalities. This growing research area is especially concerned with atheist activism’s contradictory embracing of gender egalitarianism on the one hand (especially when embedded in a critique of religion) and the exclusion of women from atheist spaces. Limited information is available on male atheists who identify as feminist or who express agreement with feminist goals. Although some scholars have addressed the rejection of feminist claims within organised nonreligion, this article examines both men’s adoption of the feminist label and women’s attitudes towards feminist men in the atheist movement. Drawing from thirty-five semi-structured interviews with atheist activists in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, I show that some feminist women perceived feminist men as passive or guided by insincere motivations (primarily to earn the attention and approval of women within atheist organisations). These findings shed light on the dilemmas of feminist men in atheist activism and contribute to understanding the gender dynamics of some atheist organisations.
K1 Atheism
K1 Feminism
K1 Gender
K1 Masculinity
K1 Nonreligion
DO 10.1163/18785417-01002002