Why so many "anti-feminists" in the atheist community?

[ManMachine]

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YouTube can, and has, done wonders for the atheist community. It gave free thinkers a place to post videos to help educate the world on the likes of science and dangers of religion. It was YouTubers like CultOfDusty, who I originally subscribed to for his political videos, that helped me come to my senses and denounce my former religion.

But over the past year or so, there's been a trend among popular atheist YouTubers: anti-feminism.

I will admit right now that there are many extreme feminists who I don't agree with. In fact, a lot of the things "anti-feminists" critique, I agree with. But not to the extent that I would ever title myself as an anti-feminist. No, I am not against the movement that fights the Republicans' attempts to limit my reproductive rights, or the movement that points out double standards that still exist (for women and men). I am not against the movement that is working to make gender identification and sexuality and orientation normal things. Why any forward-thinking, self-identifying atheist would be against this movement is beyond me.

I understand these anti-feminists usually support the efforts of feminists in the past, and even the present. After all, TheAmazingAtheist paints his fingernails...if it wasn't for modern feminism, that would be unacceptable. I know that these anti-feminists just get their panties in a knot when they watch videos by extremists like Anita Sarkeesian, you know, that woman that no one likes, save for her following of maybe...40,000 people? Maybe? If that?

Point being, all these extreme feminists are a joke. They don't have power in politics. They have a minimal influence over culture and the population. The only people they're reaching are misandrous cat ladies who would be just as misandrous and just as cat lady with or without a weekly subscription to FemFreq.

But regardless, we all have our opinions and things we're passionate about. I can understand why people, including atheist YouTubers, would want to respond to some of the ridiculous things the extreme feminists spew. But like...why respond to that meaningless bullshit every week? If these extreme feminists are gaining any momentum at all, it's because the anti-feminists are guiding them to their videos!

Tj, TheAmazingAtheist, arguably has the largest following of his peers. That said, he has some considerable power over people, and probably much more so than the big, mean, scary Anita Sarkeesian! Why is he, and so many other YouTubers, wasting that power on beating a dead horse again on a weekly basis?

I get it. It's the Internet and people can do what they want. If making videos mocking these feminists is fun for them, they can do it! But should they?

As an anti-religion atheist, I don't think so.

If atheists want to gain acceptance, see religious laws get removed, and someday live in a world where dogma doesn't exist, we need power. And power comes in number.

Feminists (not the extremists) are a heftily sized group of people that atheists should be working to attract, not piss off. A lot of feminists are areligious because they know that many gender roles and oppression stem from the Bible and Qu'ran and other pieces of religious paraphernalia. I formerly identified more as a feminist until I "went back to being" an atheist. I see religion as the root of several problems in the world, including the problems feminists fight. While I am still a feminist, I tend to talk and get more passionate about the atheists' cause because I think it more or less encompasses all of my beliefs, so to speak. What I'm trying to say is, there are a lot of women out there, who call themselves feminist, that we as atheists should try to "convert".

When even female atheist YouTubers like JaclynGlenn label themselves "anti-feminist", it deters a lot of queer people, trans people, and women in general. How are these people supposed to feel welcome in the atheist community when it's largely composed of men and some women--men and women who say they are against feminism?!

I unsubscribed from TheAmazingAtheist and seldom tune in to JaclynGlenn because I got tired of seeing their anti-feminist videos so often. And they're not the only ones.

Maybe I'm just being the kind of overly-sensitive bitch that Tj and Jaclyn rant and rave about, but I just honestly think their efforts could be put to better use making more videos criticizing the religious bigots in politics and media instead of a handful of ladies crying about cat calls.

I know this post will probably go unread or unanswered both because I'm new, and because I hold a very unpopular opinion. I just have been wanting to get this off my chest for a long time, and I didn't really have a place for it until now. But I'd love to further discus!

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Are you basing this on YouTube atheists?

MM