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I am Heidi Anderson, a foxy feminist atheist skeptic fat chick, wife, and mom with a hard-core science fetish!
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Thanks to the incredible generosity of SO many donors, I only have So, if you want to help get Will and his family to DragonCon in Atlanta THIS Labor Day for his birthday, PLEASE help me by donating below! Click on the photo to be taken to Paypal :) A 43-year-old Iranian woman will not be stoned to death after an international campaign launched by her children. It is unclear whether the authorities have lifted the death sentence for alleged adultery against Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani or if she faces execution by another means. I know the dealth penalty has not been lifted permanently, but hopefully the outrage of the world has made an impact here.
However, when the disagreements are between women, certain people like to paint them as “catfights”, which lessens the seriousness of ALL involved (full disclosure – I, Heidi Anderson, am certain people). Women are not a monolithic group, and although many of us call ourselves skeptics AND feminists, we often can not agree on whether skepticism needs feminism, or feminism needs skepticism. Others shun the term feminist completely. Some disagree with sexy behavior at cons, and others think it is good light-hearted fun that brings in people who may normally think skeptics are stodgy old white dudes. Or ONLY stodgy old white dudes. We have disagreements on sexuality, pornography, prostitution, and even things that do not specifically involve women at all (imagine that!) We are labeled too confrontational or too gentle depending on our methods of outreach. And you know what? None of that matters. While we are busy using our freedom to prove ourselves different from our allies on the side of reason, a 42 year old mother of two in Iran is facing a death sentence resulting from a forced confession of adultery. She will be buried up to her chest, and stoned to death. Small stones will be used, so as to slow down her death and cause her more pain. And her “confession”? According to a human rights attorney, it was only gained after 99 lashes. So, as TAM8 approaches, and friends gather, and we have panels on women in skepticism, and skepticism and feminism, and all sorts of things that we as Westerners have the luxury of thinking about, is it too much to ask the skeptical community and blogosphere to investigate this story, and see what REAL DIFFERENCES we can make? Can we step outside, as my friend Will Phillips said, “our tiny little mind boxes” and remember that as we wage these petty wars on each other, a war against reason continues to rage across the globe, with a 42 year old mother of two poised to become the next victim. In over three days, we have managed to raise $500 of the $3,000 needed to bring LGBT activist Will Phillips and his family to Atlanta this Labor Day for the nerd herd that is DragonCon! I will continue to talk, tweet, blog, and FB about this until I have raised the money, and there is no stopping me when I have a goal in mind. So thanks to all of you who donated to support the boy who supports marriage equality! To those of you who have not yet donated, you can do so here:
Will and his parents have been celebrated and honored at not only the GLAAD Media Awards, but also by GLSEN, GetEQUAL, and most recently, as the Grand Marshal for Northwest Arkansas Pride. However, they have also had tremendous amounts of hate directed at them, including people claiming that his parents are “harming him” by raising him to be speak his mind and stand up for what is right. I have been extremely lucky to become friends with Laura and Jay Phillips, and even had the opportunity to interview Jay and Will for the Podcast Beyond Belief earlier in June. During this interview, I spoke with Jay and Will about their love of Star Trek, and geekiness in general. I told them about DragonCon, one of the largest pop culture conventions in the world, held in Atlanta every Labor Day weekend. I mentioned DragonCon to Laura again, and she explained that it would indeed be something that Will would go crazy for, and that his birthday was even in September, but that with all of their travel they would have to look at it for another year. Despite what people may think about “fame” and TV appearances, the Phillips are just like most of us, regular people struggling to get by. And then I had an idea. Surely, other people would join with me in thanking Will for taking a stand, and providing inspiration to people of ALL ages. Surely, we could raise enough to get his family to Atlanta for DragonCon, and show them how much we appreciate the gift they have given us, the gift of a future with Will Phillips in it! So, if you want to help get Will and his family to DragonCon in Atlanta THIS Labor Day for his birthday, PLEASE help me by donating below! I have already booked their lodging, and will guarantee that I will do whatever it takes to get enough money to make this happen, even if it means filling in gaps myself. For donors who will be at DragonCon, I am sure we can convince Will to come to a birthday party on-site :) I know for a fact that he and his family like cake and pie! For more information on Will’s story, I have provided links below. Will’s first TV appearance, with his father Jay Phillips, on CNN in 2009. Will’s Award Acceptance Speech at the GLAAD Media Awards in March 2010, which ends with the Vulcan Salute, “Live Long and Prosper” Will’s GetEqual Pledge Thank you for helping to give back to this little boy, who has given us so much hope for the next generation. With all the controversy going on between “accommodationists” and “asses”, a new friend I met this weekend at the Center for Inquiry, Randy Pelton, sent me a message with one piece of the puzzle we are ALL missing. He says it beautifully, and has given me permission to share. “Hello Heidi. We met and spoke very briefly this weekend at the CFI conference in Amherst. Randy Pelton is the name. I was the one who spoke to you about the ethical and moral dimension of the snark in the skepticism movement. Greatly enjoyed your talk and allow me to reiterate my agreement with your main thesis that the snarkiness needs to end. But I think it needs to end less because of the image problem it presents and more so because it demeans real humans. It is easy to dismiss a person via electrons when you have never met the person, never seen them face-to-face, never had to actually confront their humanness. We all, regardless of what label we place upon ourselves (atheist, skeptic, freethinker, humanist, materialist, naturalist, etc.) need to approach every human and conversation with them from an ethical posture. Every person needs to be accorded a modicum of respect and dignity. I am a humanist and this conviction threads deep into my emotional, rational, and intellectual marrow.” Thank you Randy, for this. People like you inspire me to be a better person.
Ladies Who Do Skepticism is a group aimed at broadening our skeptical community, bringing balance to skeptical events and discussing the pseudoscience specifically targeted at women! It was the brainchild of UK scientist Janis Benion. Ladies Who Do Skepticism was founded in April 2010, with the aim of bringing together women who want to chat openly about their own critical thoughts without being afraid to ‘spoil the fun’ for those who don’t enjoy such a strong link to rationality… We hope to have branches all over. If you don’t have one in your area and you’d like one, let us know (see ‘Contact’ page). In the meantime, you can hear two Ladies Who Do Skepticism from the Manchester and Liverpool groups discussing their thoughts about the group on the Righteous Indignation Podcast Episode 50, BBC Radio Manchester AND the Guardian Newspaper! Janis has also been interviewed by Kylie Sturgess for the SkepticZone podcast that should publish on June 18, 2010. In a Madonna/Gwynethesque effort to cash in on the coolness of all things British, SheThought.com is bringing the UK sensation stateside!! At The Amazing Meeting 8 we will be reserving a group of tables specifically for a women’s mixer at the Friday lunch. White gloves and pearls are optional, but critical thinking is not! We hope to see you there. Every year in July, a nerd herd of epic proportions descends upon the sleepy little town of Las Vegas, Nevada. Why? The answer may amaze you! The Amazing Meeting is an annual gathering of skeptics, atheists, secular humanists, debunkers, jugglers, magicians, curmudgeons, and beardy white men with glasses. Usually, James Randi wins the beard contest hands down, but the possible appearance of champion punter and Adidas spokesmodel Aubrey de Grey at the meeting may finally end Randi’s hirsute reign of terror.
When: Thursday July 8, 2010 at 9:30pm Where: Suite Level at the South Point Hotel and Casino RSVP here or on the FB event page. Seating will be limited. *your definition of celebrity may differ from ours Getting power OVER people with your sexuality lasts only as long as they find you fuckable. TAKING power through owning your sexuality lasts your whole life.
When I was a little girl, I told my mother I wanted to be a firefighter and ballerina. Despite showing a clear path to my later sexuality, that career plan was abandoned when I discovered that both required me to get off the couch. Now, after 15 years in the sexual assault/domestic violence victim services field, and almost 8 years of doing a mediocre job as a human growth and development facilitator to the Wild Boys of Borneo, my mind is looking onward of what I want to be when I grow up. How can you help? You can spend 5 minutes and take this survey. How can you hurt? You can spend 5 minutes and take this survey and answer each question in an ironic hipster fashion. So if you want to help me, or fuck with my life in a cruel fashion, here you go: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PZ53832
I have nice boobs. Very, very nice boobs in fact. I also like to show my nice boobs and I like it when people look at them. Generally, my goal with showing my boobs is two-fold: 1) everyone in the world will fall madly in love with me and my boobs and 2) I will not look like an apple on sticks. So surely this means I am whipping those sweater puppies out today for Boobquake right? No. Boobquake bothers me. And not for the reasons many people think. First, I hate empty protests. You can only raise awareness so much before you need to act. And raising awareness with people who are already aware is just preaching to the choir.
Social justice movements are not fun. I wonder how fun it was for Rosa Parks to sit in the front of that bus, without even an iPod to block out the people screaming at her? I wonder if Malcolm X was just tempted to wear a t-shirt with a witty saying instead of standing up in front of people who wanted to kill him? Maybe Martin Luther King would have accomplished just as much with an Equality Ho Down in Alabama? Or maybe instead of collaborating with Theo Van Gogh on the film Submission (for which he was ultimately murdered) Ayan Hirsi Ali could have just gone to Cabo for Spring Break and convinced some of the Girls Gone Wild crew to help her write Koran verses on naked young white women? Not so powerful, is it? Aside from the fact that it could be considered not only EXTREMELY culturally insensitive for American women to shove our freedom in the face of Iranian women, how many of the women who participated in Boobquake normally dress modestly? Based on comments, not many. Many of the women just seemed so excited to have a day to “show off the girls!” And therein lies my second point. EVERY DAY should be a day when you feel comfortable expressing your sexuality and seeking sexual attention. Why has this event taken off like it did? Could it be that there is STILL shame in women expressing their sexuality? Of course there is! But you don’t need a fake protest, catcalls from supportive men, alcohol, or the approval of your friends to be sexual. If you dress in a sexual manner, some people will think you are slutty. If you dress in a modest manner, some people will not give you the time of day. But the way we use Halloween, Girl’s Night Out, and now Boobquake as holidays in which “good girls” are given permission to be sexual pisses me off. You don’t NEED permission. You just need courage, and the willingness to take responsibility for your decisions. Part of that responsibility means being willing to give up the labels of good girls and bad girls, and just be. Sexuality is a part of each of us, and people should feel comfortable expressing that in ways they find comfortable. Just don’t hide your need for sexual expression under the guise of the greater good. Because when you do so, you imply that sexual expression for its own sake is invalid. And to me, the greatest reason to be sexual is the pleasure of sexuality itself.
Every day, while working, blogging, or rousing rabble on the Internet, I sit on the most precious resource on Planet Earth. Not only is it beautiful to look at, tasty to snack on, and delightful to touch, but it can birth babies, bleed for days without injury, serve as a food storage unit in the winter, and lead men to fake results on psychic challenges! On the April 3, 2010 Skepticblog, Mark Edward bravely tries to warn gullible male skeptics of the danger of psychic vagina. Psychic vagina is like normal vagina, THAT KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE THINKING! A pussy with x-ray eyes, if you will. It is a weapon of mass distraction, and can lead otherwise capable skeptical investigators away from their mission of proving that Bigfoot does not indeed exist. Perhaps Big Crypto is a woman.
Men have been powerless against vagina for years. Just last night, I asked my husband to do the dishes. When he said no, I unleashed the vagina, and he helplessly began cleaning (you’re soaking in it!) the ENTIRE house! Vaginal power is the reason that women earn more than men, have better access to healthcare, and are treated with dignity and respect throughout the world. I hate to think of a world where my vagina would be held in such esteem. In order to bring more attention to this problem, I offer my own magical vagina up for testing by the JREF. Preliminary tests could be conducted with the JREF President DJ Grothe, but once I achieve vaginal victory over him, I expect to be offered the chance to go up against Randi himself. I can already smell the money! My own response to Mark Edward:
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In 2009, Will Phillips, showed more courage at age 10 than many adults do their whole lives. After being raised to believe in the inherent worth of each person by his parents, Laura and Jay Phillips, in the small town of West Fork, Arkansas, Will put his values into practice when he refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance until gays could marry; or in his words, until “there truly is liberty and justice for all!”
I had this argument with people about the “green screens for Iran” and the debate about calling for the arrest of the Pope. Talking about things all day long is great and can make you feel good and smart. But to accomplish anything in this world, you have to do work. And do you know why its called work? BECAUSE IT IS WORK!
