Atheism +

[thesummerqueen]

Of course the labels are arbitrary.

I call myself a photographer because it's what I love to do. My boyfriend, on the other hand, does it for a living. Who's more right?

I call myself a cook, but I've never worked in a restaurant. I call myself a foodie, but I don't hang with other foodies and foodie things - I just have a sincere and deep appreciation of food and cooking, from the seeking of the ingredients to the science of the recipe to the pleasure of consumption. I call myself a skeptic, but don't attend the functions. I call myself by these labels because they're all true - but it's unfortunately up to you to make sure we're not having a failure to communicate as to what they mean.

These women, unfortunately, are skeptical of everything but themselves. They haven't hijacked a term, and I think it's abundantly clear that not everyone in the skeptic or atheist communities (which overlap but are not synonymous) agrees with them or holds the same values.

I do agree, it's silly as hell. There was actually a woman at TAM who got blasted by one of the skepchicks for wearing a shirt that said "I am a Skeptic. Not a Skepchick. Not a female Skeptic. A Skeptic." to denote that she wasn't part of some marginalizing group of people. Skepticism as a way of approaching the world shouldn't have anything to do with your sexuality or gender.

On the other hand, if you feel it's important to have an all-girls clubhouse because it makes you feel more comfortable, go do it. That's what makes this country great. Just stop shitting on everyone else for not holding your view.