Rebecca Watson

{{Short description|American blogger (born 1980)}} {{pp-pc}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Independent sources|date=October 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Rebecca Watson | image = Aust Skeptic Con 2014 Randi SGU Hrab1 (cropped).jpg | alt = Cropped image of Watson on a convention panel | caption = Watson in 2014 | birth_name = Rebecca Watson | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|October 18, 1980}}<ref name="Watson 2018">{{Cite tweet |last=Watson |first=Rebecca |number=1053370368340058112 |user=rebeccawatson |title=yesterday I turned 38 and I'm not into the idea of plastic surgery so feeling pretty blessed to live in the same time period as the iphone X camera |date=October 19, 2018 |access-date=June 23, 2021}}</ref> | birth_place = United States | alma_mater = Boston University | years_active = 2005–present | known_for = Science communication, atheism, feminism | website = {{URL|Skepchick.org}} | module = {{Infobox social media personality | child = yes | youtube_handle = @RebeccaWatson | youtube_display_name = Rebecca Watson | youtube_years_active = 2006–present | youtube_genre = | youtube_subscribers = 263 thousand | youtube_views = 42.0 million | stats_update = April 23, 2026 }} }} '''Rebecca Watson''' (born October 18, 1980<ref name="Watson 2018"/>) is an American atheist blogger,{{r|Scheidt p90|Hess 2015}}<ref name="Brewster 2021">{{cite book |last1=Brewster |first1=Melanie Elyse |last2=Motulsky |first2=Wei |last3=Chan |first3=Andy |editor1-last=Bullivant |editor1-first=Stephen |editor2-last=Ruse |editor2-first=Michael |title=The Cambridge History of Atheism |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-0090-4021-1 |page=1070 |doi=10.1017/9781108562324.058 |chapter=Intersectional Atheisms: Race, Gender, and Sexuality |quote=After atheist blogger Rebecca Watson experienced unwanted advances from a man in an elevator at an atheist conference, Richard Dawkins told her to 'stop whining'}}</ref> vlogger,{{r|Marcotte 2018}} and YouTuber.{{r|Isomaa 2022}} She is the founder of the blog '''''Skepchick''''' and former co-host of ''The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe'' podcast.

== Early life and education == Watson grew up in New Jersey.<ref name="Potash 2006">{{cite news |last=Potash |first=Larry |title=Be skeptical or be an April fool |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2006/03/31/be-skeptical-or-be-an-april-fool/ |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=August 24, 2013 |date=March 31, 2006}}</ref><ref name="Simpson 2007">{{cite news |last=Simpson |first=Neal |date=September 27, 2007 |title=Blogger looks to take her war on pseudoscience to the airwaves |department=Wicked Local |work=Brookline TAB |location=Framingham, Mass. |url=https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/brookline-tab/2007/09/27/blogger-looks-to-take-her/40769711007/ |access-date=October 28, 2024}}</ref>

She says she had little interest in science before meeting other skeptics, including magician James Randi, while at university.<ref name="Watson 2011a">{{cite web |author=Watson, Rebecca |title=Mom, don't read this |url=http://skepchick.org/2011/09/mom-dont-read-this/ |work=Skepchick |date=September 29, 2011 |access-date=August 24, 2013}}</ref> Watson attended Boston University{{r|Potash 2006}} while also working as a magician.<ref name="Cohen 2009">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=Georgiana |title=Not-so-sure guys |url=http://thephoenix.com/Boston/life/78548-not-so-sure-guys/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |newspaper=The Boston Phoenix |date=March 19, 2009 |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104013336/https://thephoenix.com/Boston/life/78548-not-so-sure-guys/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

She graduated in 2002 with a degree in communications.{{r|Potash 2006}}

== Career == Watson blogs about atheism and feminist politics, and has been particularly active in critiquing the modern atheist movement (sometimes called "New Atheism") from within, especially regarding the lack of attention given to the role of women in the movement. Primarily active online, she has been described by ''BuzzFeed'' as "the first major atheist whose rise has occurred on the web".<ref name="Meagher p96">{{cite book |last=Meagher |first=Richard J. |title=Atheists in American Politics: Social Movement Organizing from the Nineteenth to the Twenty-First Centuries |date=2018 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham, Md. |isbn=978-1-4985-5858-7 |pages=96–97 |chapter='The Friendly Atheist': Organizing Online to Offline}}</ref>

=== ''Skepchick'' === After attending James Randi's skeptic conference The Amaz!ng Meeting, Watson produced a pin-up calendar to support the cost for other women to attend the conference.<ref name="Plait 2005">{{cite web |last=Plait |first=Phil |author-link=Phil Plait |date=September 19, 2005 |url=http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/09/18/skepchicks/ |title=Skepchicks |work=Discover |department=Bad Astronomy |archive-date=October 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019220425/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2005/09/18/skepchicks/ |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Watson 2023a">{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Rebecca |title=The Skepchick Network is Dead and I Killed It |url=https://skepchick.org/2023/01/the-skepchick-network-is-dead-and-i-killed-it/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |work=Skepchick |date=January 20, 2023}}</ref> She founded the website ''Skepchick'' in 2005{{r|Meagher p96}}<ref name="Huff pxxxi">{{cite book |last1=Huff |first1=Peter A. |title=Atheism and Agnosticism: Exploring the Issues |date=2021 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-1-4408-7083-5 |page=xxxi}}</ref> as a place to distribute the calendars.{{r|Watson 2023a}} New editions of the calendar featuring scientists and skeptics were produced each year<ref name="Johnstone-Louis 2013">{{cite book |last1=Johnstone-Louis |first1=Mary |editor1-last=Rinallo |editor1-first=Diego |editor2-last=Scott |editor2-first=Linda M. |editor3-last=Maclaran |editor3-first=Pauline |title=Consumption and Spirituality |date=2013 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |isbn=978-0-415-88911-7 |page=57 |doi=10.4324/9780203106235 |chapter=No Gods. No Masters?: The 'New Atheist' Movement and the Commercialization of Unbelief}}</ref> until 2007.<ref name="Watson 2012a">{{cite news |last1=Watson |first1=Rebecca |title=Please Stop Making Calendars |url=https://skepchick.org/2012/09/please-stop-making-calendars/ |access-date=October 28, 2024 |work=Skepchick |date=September 24, 2012}}</ref>

The website originally consisted of a forum and a monthly e-zine, ''Skepchick Magazine'', launched in 2006.<ref name="Plait 2006">{{cite news |last1=Plait |first1=Phil |title=The new SkepChick magazine is up |url=https://slate.com/technology/2006/06/the-new-skepchick-magazine-is-up.html |access-date=October 28, 2024 |work=Slate |department=Bad Astronomy |date=June 15, 2006}}</ref>{{r|Watson 2023a}} The same year, Watson created a blog that would eventually replace the magazine.{{r|Watson 2023a}} ''Skepchick''{{'}}s stated goal is to "discuss women's issues from a skeptical standpoint".{{r|Meagher p96}}<ref name="Skepchick About">{{cite web |title=About Us (and You) |url=https://skepchick.org/about-2/ |website=Skepchick |access-date=October 28, 2024 |date=n.d.}}</ref> The site has a focus on science and skepticism in general rather than atheism in particular.{{r|Meagher p96}} Watson has also contributed articles on skepticism to the blog ''Bostonist''.{{r|Cohen 2009}}

In 2010, ''Skepchick'' partnered with the Women Thinking Free Foundation to host a vaccination drive with the help of the "Hug Me!" campaign at the Dragon*Con convention in Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="Saunders 2010">{{Cite podcast |number=99 |last1=Saunders |first1=Richard |author-link1=Richard Saunders (skeptic) |last2=Dunlop |first2=Rachael |author-link2=Rachael Dunlop |last3=Atkinson |first3=Bill |title=The Skeptic Zone #99 - 10.Sep.2010 |website=The Skeptic Zone |time=0:30:20 |url=http://skepticzone.libsyn.com/the-skeptic-zone-99-10-sep-2010 |date=September 10, 2010 |access-date=August 20, 2013}}</ref>{{self-published source|date=March 2023}} Public health staff provided Tdap vaccinations free of charge, as well as educational literature promoting immunization.<ref name="WTFF 2011">{{Cite web |author= |date=July 2011 |title=News archives |website=Hug Me! I'm Vaccinated! |publisher=Women Thinking Free Foundation |url=http://hugmeimvaccinated.org/newsarchives.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130919031446/http://hugmeimvaccinated.org/newsarchives.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 19, 2013}}</ref> In 2011, ''Skepchick'', the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF), and the Women Thinking Free Foundation partnered to offer a similar vaccination clinic at The Amaz!ng Meeting 9 in Las Vegas.<ref name="WTFF 2011" />

''Skepchick'' won an Ockham Award in 2012 for Best Skeptic Blog.<ref name="Ockhams 2012">{{cite news |title=The Ockhams 2012 |url=https://www.skeptic.org.uk/the-ockham-awards/the-ockhams-2012/ |work=The Skeptic |date=June 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216061314/https://www.skeptic.org.uk/the-ockham-awards/the-ockhams-2012/ |url-status=live |archive-date=December 16, 2019}}</ref> In 2017, the site consisted of a network of over 20 bloggers from around the world.{{r|Meagher p96}} In 2023, Watson formally closed the blog network after most writers had moved on to other projects.{{r|Watson 2023a}}

=== ''The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe'' === Watson regularly appeared on the ''Skeptics' Guide to the Universe'',<ref name="Reagle 2015">{{cite book |last1=Reagle |first1=Joseph |title=Reading the Comments: Likers, Haters, and Manipulators at the Bottom of the Web |date=2015 |publisher=The MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Mass. |isbn=978-0-262-32887-6 |page=114 |jstor=j.ctt17kkb2f.8 |doi=10.7551/mitpress/10116.003.0006 |doi-access=free |chapter-url=https://readingthecomments.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/euf2ckop/release/2 |language=en |chapter=Alienated: You Fail It! Your Skill Is Not Enough!}}</ref> co-hosting the podcast for nine years.<ref name="Novella 2018">{{cite book |last1=Novella |first1=Steven |title=The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake |date=2018 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |location=New York |isbn=978-1-5387-6051-2 |chapter=Acknowledgements}}{{page needed|date=October 2024}}</ref> Her first appearance was on episode 33 in March 2006, where she was interviewed about her work on ''Skepchick''. She returned for episode 36 as a regular member of the panel.<ref name="Skeptics' Guide">{{cite web |url=http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive.asp |work=The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe |title=Archive of Shows |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018180403/http://www.theskepticsguide.org/archive.asp |archive-date=October 18, 2008}}</ref>{{Nonspecific|date=October 2024}} In December 2014, she announced that she had recorded her final show prior to leaving the organization.<ref name="Watson 2014a">{{cite web |last=Watson |first=Rebecca |title=Why I've Left SGU |date=December 27, 2014 |url=http://skepchick.org/2014/12/why-ive-left-sgu/ |website=Skepchick |access-date=December 31, 2014}}</ref>

=== Public Radio Talent Quest === In May 2007, Watson entered the Public Radio Talent Quest, a contest aimed to find new public radio hosts.<ref name="Watson 2007a">{{cite news |last=Watson |first=Rebecca |date=May 15, 2007 |url=http://skepchick.org/2007/05/a-very-special-audio-blog-posting-vote-for-me/ |title=A very special audio blog posting. Vote for me! |website=Skepchick}}</ref> Watson's entries won the popular vote in every round,<ref name="PRX 2007">{{cite web |url=http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2640 |title=PRX Announces Winners of Public Radio Talent Quest |date=October 27, 2007 |publisher=Public Radio Exchange |archive-date=March 30, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120330211748/http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2640}}</ref> and she was selected along with two other winners to produce a pilot episode for presentation to executives of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.{{r|Simpson 2007}}<ref name="Simon 2008a">{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Clea |date=January 11, 2008 |title=Showing a talent for radio |work=The Boston Globe |via=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2008/01/11/showing_a_talent_for_radio/ |access-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-date=October 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011031621/http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2008/01/11/showing_a_talent_for_radio/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Watson's pilot, ''Curiosity, Aroused'',<ref name="Watson 2007b">{{cite web |url=http://curiosityaroused.wordpress.com/2007/12/16/hello-world/ |title=Curiosity, Aroused: The Pilot |date=December 16, 2007 |last=Watson |first=Rebecca |website=Curiosity Aroused |via=WordPress |access-date=April 6, 2025}}</ref><ref name="Watson 2007c">{{cite web |last1=Watson |first1=Rebecca |last2=Paul |first2=Richard |title=Curiosity Aroused Pilot |url=https://exchange.prx.org/pieces/22589 |language=en |date=December 1, 2007 |type=audio |via=Public Radio Exchange |access-date=April 6, 2025 |url-access=registration}}</ref> was an hour-long program focused on science and skepticism.<ref name="Simon 2008a" /> It featured interviews with Richard Saunders of Australian Skeptics and Mystery Investigators, and Richard Wiseman, author of the book ''Quirkology'' and Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. She also investigated claims of poisonous amounts of lead in lipstick, went on a ghost tour, and visited a psychic fair.{{r|Watson 2007c}} Her show was the only one among the three winners not to be awarded funds for production of a year-long radio program.<ref name="PRX 2008">{{cite press release |url=http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2710 |title=Big News from PRX and CPB |date=June 26, 2008 |publisher=Public Radio Exchange |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418145719/http://www.publicradioquest.com/node/2710 |archive-date=April 18, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Simon 2008b">{{cite news |last=Simon |first=Clea |date=July 2008 |title=At WCRB, it's a grand old tradition |work=The Boston Globe |via=Boston.com |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2008/07/03/at_wcrb_its_a_grand_old_tradition/ |access-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-date=October 21, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021185718/http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2008/07/03/at_wcrb_its_a_grand_old_tradition/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Elevatorgate"></span>"Elevatorgate" ===

[[file:Rebecca Watson NECSS 2011.jpg|thumb|Watson speaking at NECSS 2011]]

In 2011, Watson spoke on a panel at the World Atheist Convention<ref name="Scheidt p90">{{cite book |last1=Scheidt |first1=Hannah K. |title=Practicing Atheism: Culture, Media, and Ritual in the Contemporary Atheist Network |date=2021 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-753696-4 |pages=90–91 |doi=10.1093/oso/9780197536940.003.0004 |chapter=Autonomy or Authority? Ideology, Charisma, and Patriarchy}}</ref><ref name="Huff p66">{{cite book |last1=Huff |first1=Peter A. |title=Atheism and Agnosticism: Exploring the Issues |date=2021 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, Calif. |isbn=978-1-4408-7083-5 |page=66 |chapter=Dawkins, Richard}}</ref> about many women's feelings of sexual objectification at atheist conferences.{{sfnp|Meagher|2018|pp=100–101}}<ref name="Schnabel 2016">{{cite book |last1=Schnabel |first1=Landon |last2=Facciani |first2=Matthew |last3=Sincoff-Yedid |first3=Ariel |last4=Fazzino |first4=Lori |editor1-last=Cipriani |editor1-first=Roberto |editor2-last=Garelli |editor2-first=Franco |title=Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion. Volume 7 (2016): Sociology of Atheism |date=2016 |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, Netherlands |isbn=978-90-04-31930-1 |pages=75–97 |doi=10.1163/9789004319301_006 |language=en |chapter=Gender and Atheism: Paradoxes, Contradictions, and an Agenda for Future Research}}</ref> Following the convention, Watson published a video blog criticizing sexism within the atheist movement, in which she described being sexually propositioned in an elevator by a male conference attendee.<ref name="Guenther 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Guenther |first1=Katja M. |title=Secular sexism: The persistence of gender inequality in the US New Atheist Movement |journal=Women's Studies International Forum |date=2019 |volume=72 |pages=53–54 |doi=10.1016/j.wsif.2018.11.007 |issn=1879-243X |quote=Almost immediately after the vlog appeared, Watson began receiving violent threats on her blog and through e-mail and Twitter. [...] In some respects, Elevatorgate is an extreme example of sexism in the New Atheist Movement because the on-line posts about Watson and her supporters were so venomous.}}</ref><ref name="Isomaa 2022">{{cite journal |last1=Isomaa |first1=Robin |title=YouTube Drama in an Atheist Public: A Case Study |journal=Secularism and Nonreligion |date=2022 |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=1–13 |article-number=3 |doi=10.5334/snr.146 |doi-access=free |issn=2053-6712 |quote=In the video, [Watson] mentioned an incident where she had felt unsafe when a man had propositioned her in an elevator late at night. Despite the incident only being a minor topic in the video, it resulted in misogynistic harassment from atheists.}}</ref><ref name="Carian 2024">{{cite book |last1=Carian |first1=Emily K. |title=Good Guys, Bad Guys: The Perils of Men's Gender Activism |date=2024 |publisher=New York University Press |isbn=978-1-4798-2100-6 |page=3 |doi=10.18574/nyu/9781479820979.003.0003 |language=en |chapter=Introduction: Men Gender Activists in the Stalled Revolution |quote=In what came to be known as Elevatorgate, atheist blogger Rebecca Watson criticized sexism within the community after she was propositioned in an elevator by a man and fellow World Atheist Convention attendee. She faced a concerted harassment campaign for speaking out about her experience.}}</ref> Watson described socializing with other attendees at a hotel bar until 4:00 a.m., then announcing she was tired and going to bed. After this, a man from the group followed her into an elevator and invited her to his room for coffee, which she declined.{{r|Schnabel 2016|Reagle 2015|LeDrew p198}} Watson drew a parallel between the incident and her conference talk on sexual objectification the night before,{{sfnp|Meagher|2018|pp=100–101}}{{r|Schnabel 2016}} saying, "Guys, don't do that".{{r|Reagle 2015|Guenther 2019|Schnabel 2016|Scheidt p90}} She went on to say:

{{blockquote |I was a single woman, in a foreign country, at {{nowrap|4 a.m.}}, in a hotel elevator with you{{mdash}}just you{{mdash}}and don't invite me back to your hotel room, right after I have finished talking about how it creeps me out and makes me uncomfortable when men sexualize me in that manner.{{sfnp|Meagher|2018|pp=100–101}} }}

Watson further commented that fears of sexual harassment might be keeping women away from atheist meetings.{{r|Schnabel 2016}} Despite the incident being a minor topic of the video,{{r|Isomaa 2022}}<ref name="LeDrew p198">{{cite book |last=LeDrew |first=Stephen |title=The Evolution of Atheism: The Politics of a Modern Movement |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-19-022517-9 |pages=198–199 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190225179.003.0008 |chapter=The Atheist Right}}</ref> it was followed by a campaign of misogynistic harassment against Watson that came to be known as "Elevatorgate".{{r|Guenther 2019|Carian 2024|Isomaa 2022}} Reactions to the video varied, with some supporting Watson's desire for privacy and others accusing Watson of exaggerating the problem and scaring women away from conferences. However, she was supported by many bloggers on the FreethoughtBlogs network founded by writer and biologist PZ Myers, who wrote a supportive post about the incident on his blog ''Pharyngula''.{{r|Scheidt p90|Reagle 2015}}

The controversy attracted mainstream media attention when biologist Richard Dawkins joined the discussion on Myers's blog,{{r|LeDrew p198}} sarcastically comparing Watson's experience to that of an imaginary Muslim woman.{{r|Guenther 2019|Isomaa 2022}} Although Watson had not mentioned sexism against women in Islam,<ref name="Klug 2022">{{cite book |last1=Klug |first1=Petra |title=Anti-Atheist Nation: Religion and Secularism in the United States |date=2022 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |at=Endnote 47 |isbn=978-1-000-80442-3 |chapter=America Versus the Atheist}}</ref> Dawkins' comment mocked the supposed indifference of Western feminists to the plight of oppressed women in Muslim-majority countries,{{sfnp|Scheidt|2021|pp=91–92}}<ref name="Hussein 2019">{{cite book |last=Hussein |first=Shakira |title=From Victims to Suspects: Muslim Women Since 9/11 |date=2019 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-23042-0 |page=127}}</ref> telling "Muslima" to "stop whining" in the face of female genital mutilation, intimate partner violence, and the threat of death by stoning and to "grow up, or at least grow a thicker skin".{{r|Schnabel 2016}}

The result of this exchange led to an extended internet flame war{{sfnp|Meagher|2018|pp=100–101}} nicknamed "Elevatorgate"<ref name="Marcotte 2018">{{cite magazine |last1=Marcotte |first1=Amanda |title=#WeToo? |magazine=The Humanist |date=May–June 2018 |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=12–15 |url=https://thehumanist.com/magazine/may-june-2018/features/wetoo/ |issn=0018-7399}}</ref><ref name="Mantilla 2013">{{cite journal |last1=Mantilla |first1=Karla |title=Gendertrolling: Misogyny Adapts to New Media |journal=Feminist Studies |date=2013 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=563–570 |doi=10.1353/fem.2013.0039 |issn=2153-3873}}</ref><ref name="Rousseau 2011">{{cite web |url=https://synapses.co.za/elevatorgate-power-words/ |title=Elevatorgate and the power of words |first=Jacques |last=Rousseau |website=Synapses |date=July 14, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Band 2011">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jul/24/richard-dawkins-women-chilly-climate |title=Richard Dawkins, check the evidence on the 'chilly climate' for women |first=Emily |last=Band |work=The Guardian |date=July 24, 2011 |access-date=August 23, 2018}}</ref> that has been the subject of Internet memes.{{r|Huff p66}} A negative response by the online atheist community to Watson's account of the incident soon spread across several websites, including Reddit, and became highly polarized and heated.<ref name="Miller 2013">{{cite journal |last=Miller |first=Ashley F. |title=The non-religious patriarchy: why losing religion HAS NOT meant losing white male dominance |journal=CrossCurrents |volume=63 |issue=2 |date=June 2013 |doi=10.1111/cros.12025 |pages=211–226 |s2cid=170686171}}</ref><ref name="Winston 2011">{{cite news |last=Winston |first=Kimberly |title=Atheists address sexism issues |date=September 15, 2011 |work=USA Today |agency=Religion News Service |url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 |access-date=August 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031164637/http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2011-09-15/atheist-sexism-women/50416454/1 |archive-date=October 31, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{Explain|date=August 2020}} The debate steadily grew to include the overall status of women within the secular movement, with most of the movements's prominent figures offering their opinion on whether the elevator incident constituted sexual harassment.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} The discussion spurred a continued backlash, with commenters online labeling women who spoke up on the subject as "feminazis" and other misogynistic slurs.{{r|LeDrew p198}} Watson experienced a campaign of misogynistic harassment,{{r|Schnabel 2016|Reagle 2015|Carian 2024|Isomaa 2022|Marcotte 2018}} including threats of rape and murder,{{sfnp|Meagher|2018|pp=100–101}}{{r|LeDrew p198|Guenther 2019}} with one man publishing a website threatening to kill her.<ref name="Hess 2015">{{cite book |last1=Hess |first1=Amanda |editor1-last=Holt |editor1-first=Sid |title=The Best American Magazine Writing 2015 |date=2015 |publisher=Columbia University Press |location=New York |isbn=978-0-231-54071-1 |jstor=10.7312/asme16959.6 |page=57 |chapter=Women Aren't Welcome Here |doi=10.7312/asme16959}}</ref>

Dawkins' comments led him to be accused of misogyny and Islamophobia.{{r|Huff p66}} He later explained that he thought Watson had not had any reason to feel threatened,{{r|Isomaa 2022}} comparing Watson's experience to riding in an elevator with someone chewing gum.{{sfnp|LeDrew|2016|pp=199–200}} Several commentators argued that the incident showed Dawkins' insensitivity to gender-related issues such as sexual violence.{{sfnp|LeDrew|2016|pp=199–200}}<ref name="McAnulla 2018">{{cite book |last1=McAnulla |first1=Stuart |last2=Kettell |first2=Steven |last3=Schulzke |first3=Marcus |title=The Politics of New Atheism |publisher=Routledge |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-317-19833-8 |pages=}}{{page needed|date=March 2023}}</ref> Religious scholar Stephen LeDrew writes that "For the first time since the New Atheism had risen to prominence, [Dawkins] found himself under attack by many of those who had viewed him as a respected leader".{{sfnp|LeDrew|2016|pp=199–200}} David Allen Green criticized Dawkins for dismissing lesser wrongs because bigger wrongs exist.<ref name="Green 2011">{{cite web |author=Green, David Allen |title=Sharing a lift with Richard Dawkins |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2011/07/richard-dawkins-chewing-gum |date=July 6, 2011 |work=New Statesman |access-date=March 14, 2023}}</ref> Watson stated that she would no longer buy or endorse Dawkins' books,{{r|Reagle 2015}} saying, "to have my concerns{{mdash}}and more so the concerns of other women who have survived rape and sexual assault{{mdash}}dismissed thanks to a rich white man comparing them to the plight of women who have been mutilated, is insulting to all of us".{{sfnp|LeDrew|2016|pp=199–200}}

Religious studies scholars Steven Tomlins and Lori G. Beaman argue that the incident highlights a schism over the role of feminism in the atheist movement, with some saying it should take a prominent place in the movement and others calling it divisive.<ref name="Tomlins 2015">{{cite book |last1=Tomlins |first1=Steven |last2=Beaman |first2=Lori G. |editor1-last=Beaman |editor1-first={{nowrap|L. G.}} |editor2-last=Tomlins |editor2-first=S. |title=Atheist Identities – Spaces and Social Contexts |date=2015 |publisher=Springer |location=Cham |isbn=978-3-319-09602-5 |page=6 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-09602-5_1 |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> In the wake of this and an incident at a Center for Inquiry–sponsored event, where female atheists reported gender bias and inappropriate behavior, organizations—including the Richard Dawkins Foundation—have reviewed their policies regarding sexual harassment and non-discrimination.<ref name="Miller 2013" /> Dawkins later apologized,{{r|Huff p66|McAnulla 2018}} stating, "There should be no rivalry in victimhood, and I'm sorry I once said something similar to American women complaining of harassment, inviting them to contemplate the suffering of Muslim women by comparison",<ref name="Dawkins 2014">{{cite web |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |title=Who is 'belittling' what? |url=https://richarddawkins.net/2014/08/who-is-belittling-what/ |publisher=Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science; Center for Inquiry |access-date=January 19, 2015 |date=August 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810115233/https://richarddawkins.net/2014/08/who-is-belittling-what/ |archive-date=August 10, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> but then he insisted in the comparison, insinuating that the others are belittling: "If we wish to insist that all examples of a sexual crime are exactly equally bad, perhaps we need to look more carefully at exactly who is belittling what."{{r|Dawkins 2014}} Watson tweeted in response, "Richard Dawkins just did the blog-equivalent of coughing into his hand while mumbling 'sorry' to me. Eh, I'll take it."<ref name="Watson 2014b">{{cite tweet |first=Rebecca |last=Watson |title=Richard Dawkins just did the blog-equivalent of coughing into his hand while mumbling 'sorry' to me. Eh I'll take it. http://ow.ly/A2aVW |user=rebeccawatson |date=August 6, 2014 |number=497087309805027328}}</ref>

== Personal life == Watson married her fiancé in a surprise ceremony during The Amaz!ng Meeting in July 2009.<ref name="Bug_girl 2009">{{cite web |url=http://skepchick.org/2009/07/congrats-becca-and-sid/ |title=Congrats Becca and Sid |date=July 11, 2009 |website=Skepchick |author=Bug_girl}}</ref> In April 2011, she announced that she and her husband were separated and seeking a divorce.<ref name="Watson 2011d">{{cite web |url=http://skepchick.org/2011/04/a-note-about-my-personal-life/ |website=Skepchick |title=A Note About My Personal Life |date=April 8, 2011 |first=Rebecca |last=Watson}}</ref>

Watson has stated that she has prosopagnosia, an impaired ability to recognize faces.<ref name="CNN 2022">{{Cite news |last=Gupta |first=Sanjay |url=https://edition.cnn.com/audio/podcasts/chasing-life/episodes/95c6e82f-70d0-4f66-987d-af1f012f841a |title=How Do You Recognize a Face? |date=October 4, 2022 |work=Chasing Life |type=audio with transcript |publisher=CNN |department=CNN Podcasts |access-date=November 17, 2025}}</ref>

== Honors == An outer main-belt asteroid discovered by David H. Healy on March 22, 2001, was named 153289 Rebeccawatson in her honor.<ref name="Schmadel 2012">{{cite book |last1=Schmadel |first1=Lutz D. |title=Dictionary of Minor Planet Names |date=2012 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3-642-29718-2 |page=1271}}</ref><ref name="Skeptical Inquirer 2008">{{cite magazine |author1= |title=News and Comment {{!}} Asteroids Named for Skeptics, Authors, Science Educators |url=https://skepticalinquirer.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2008/11/p05.pdf |magazine=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=32 |issue=6 |date=November 2008 |page=9 |issn=0194-6730}}</ref>

== See also == * {{annotated link|Greta Christina}} * {{annotated link|Gamergate (harassment campaign)}} * {{slink|Views of Richard Dawkins|Elevatorgate}}

== References == {{reflist|2}}

== Further reading == * {{cite news |last1=Marcotte |first1=Amanda |title=For atheists, #MeToo might be too little, too late |url=https://www.salon.com/2018/03/02/for-atheists-metoo-might-be-too-little-too-late/ |work=Salon |date=March 2, 2018 |language=en}} * {{cite news |last=Mouallem |first=Omar |author-link=Omar Mouallem |date=August 2008 |title=Making a Living of Bullshit Detecting |work=Vue Weekly |publication-place=Edmonton, Alberta |issue=671 |url=http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=9429 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912125609/http://www.vueweekly.com/article.php?id=9429 |archive-date=September 12, 2008}} * {{cite magazine |last1=Trent |first1=Brian |title=Getting Real: A Look at the New Skepticism |magazine=The Humanist |date=May–June 2012 |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=12–17 |url=https://thehumanist.com/magazine/may-june-2012/features/getting-real-a-look-at-the-new-skepticism/ |issn=0018-7399}} * {{cite web |last=Watson |first=Rebecca |date=June 20, 2011 |title=About Mythbusters, Robot Eyes, Feminism, and Jokes |url=https://skepchick.org/2011/06/about-mythbusters-robot-eyes-feminism-and-jokes/ |work=Skepchick |type=video blog discussing elevator incident at 5'19"}} * {{cite web |last=Watson |first=Rebecca |title=It Stands to Reason, Skeptics Can Be Sexist Too |url=https://slate.com/human-interest/2012/10/sexism-in-the-skeptic-community-i-spoke-out-then-came-the-rape-threats.html |website=Slate |department=DoubleX |date=October 24, 2012}}

== External links == {{commons category}} * [http://skepchick.org/ ''Skepchick.org'']

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