Almost three years ago, a feminist activist committed what many not-so-impartial observers apparently see as an unpardonable sin: she was less than polite to a small squad of Men’s Rights activists at a demonstration in Toronto. At least one of these gentlemen caught her outburst on video, and uploaded it to YouTube.
You know the rest: the video went viral, and the activist, a red-headed woman known as Chanty Binx (or “Big Red,” to the douchebag army), found herself suddenly transformed into “The Posterchild of Everything Wrong with Feminism,” as one of her haters put it. Her face has become ubiquitous in antifeminist memes, and she’s endured nearly three years of harassment.
Earlier this month, antifeminist YouTuber Sargon of Akkad — who makes his living pandering to some of the internet’s worst lady haters — posted an animated video by another antifeminist YouTuber in which an angry Islamist and an angry feminist sing a song explaining that they pretty much believe all the same things. (For some reason, this nonsensical theory is something that a lot of antifeminists have convinced themselves is true.)
The angry Islamist in the video is a familiar racist stereotype, complete with “funny” accent. [Correction: He’s evidently supposed to be a parody of this guy, known as Dawah Man, a legitimately terrible person you wouldn’t think atheists would have to strawman in order to criticize..]
The angry feminist, meanwhile, isn’t a generic figure; she’s an especially crude caricature of Binx, spouting nonsense that neither Binx nor any other feminist actually believes: the video ends with her encouraging the Islamist to rape her, because it’s not really rape if a Muslim does it, dontchaknow.
It’s a vicious, hateful little cartoon made worse by the fact that these words are being put in the mouth of a real woman who’s been the target of a vast harassment campaign for years.
Yesterday, Richard Dawkins, apparently seeing this horrendous video as a clever takedown of some brand of feminism that he must think actually exists, shared it with his 1.3 million Twitter followers:
Dawkins, a well-respected scientist-turned-embarrassing-atheist-ideologue, has become notorious for his endless Twitter gaffes. But this is plainly worse than, say, his famously pathetic lament about airport security “dundridges” taking his jar of honey; his Tweet contributed to the demonization of a real woman who’s already the target of harassment and threats.
The awesome Lindy West pointed this out to him in a series of Tweets and linked to one of my posts cataloging some of the abuse Binx got after the video of her went viral.
In a series of eloquent and angry Tweets, she made clear to Dawkins how and why he was misusing his huge platform and contributing to an atmosphere of hate online. Dawkins, alternately indignant and defensive, ultimately took down the offending Tweet, but not before making other Tweets that were nearly as bad. Dawkins can’t even do the right thing without being a dick about it.
Let’s watch Lindy at work:
After what was apparently an unsatisfactory response from Dawkins — I couldn’t find his Tweet, if there was one — West repeated and expanded upon her basic points. [EDIT: The unsastisfactory respose, West tells me, was that Dawkins posted a link to one of the videos of Chanty Binx at the Toronto demonstration.]
Well, that got his attention:
So there you have it: when informed that a tweet of his will almost certainly worsen the vicious harassment faced by a young woman whose only “crime” was being rude to a couple of MRAs in public, Richard Dawkins, a one-time winner of the American Humanist Association’s Humanist of the Year Award, replies by saying that “she deserves nothing more than ridicule.”
West replied:
Dawkins then decided to suggest that perhaps Binx was, you know, crazy:
Dawkins ultimately agreed to take down his Tweet linking to the execrable video. But he offered no apology. And he went on to suggest that just maybe Binx had … threatened herself.
We’ve seen this, er, argument before.
Does Dawkins have any conception of just how much abuse women like Chanty Binx get? If she were sending herself all the threatening and harassing messages she gets, she wouldn’t have time to eat or sleep.
And I wonder if Dawkins thinks she drew the caricature of herself that was used in the video he retweeted.
Thoughtful as ever, Dawkins made sure to remind his 1.3 million followers that Binx still deserved all the mockery they could deliver. Just not the death threats please!
And he begged his readers to think about the real victims here — those people, like him, who might have to curtail their mockery somewhat because their terrible, terrible fans might be inspired to hurt someone.
RIP, Richard Dawkins’ comedy career.
Is Dawkins actually unaware that by punching down at a woman who’s already been the target of a three year harassment campaign he almost certainly is contributing to the threats he claims to deplore? It’s hard for me to believe that he could be so naive. But the alternative explanation — that he knows full well that he’s encouraging the harassers — is even more disquieting.
One good thing has come out of this ugly episode today: The Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism has un-invited Dawkins from its event this year. A post on the group’s website today explains:
The Northeast Conference on Science & Skepticism has withdrawn its invitation to Richard Dawkins to participate at NECSS 2016. We have taken this action in response to Dr. Dawkins’ approving re-tweet of a highly offensive video.
We believe strongly in freedom of speech and freedom to express unpopular, and even offensive, views. However, unnecessarily divisive, counterproductive, and even hateful speech runs contrary to our mission and the environment we wish to foster at NECSS. The sentiments expressed in the video do not represent the values of NECSS or its sponsoring organizations.
We will issue a full refund to any NECSS attendee who wishes to cancel their registration due to this announcement.
The NECSS Team
Good for them. The atheist movement needs to stand up to the haters and harassers in its midst, including those like Dawkins, who may not directly harass or threaten but who use their huge platforms to amplify and embolden this hatred and harassment.
It would be nice if Dawkins were to actually learn something — a little humanity, a little humility? — from this incident, but when it comes to the subject of feminism Dawkins seems incapable of taking in new information, much less learning anything from it.
EDITED TO ADD: And now, as if to prov what I just said in that previous paragraph, Dawkins is now second-guessing his decision to take down his tweet linking to the video, because GamerGaters are telling him that Chanty and I made up the evidence of the abuse she got.
NOTE: Lindy West has a book coming out soon. Pre-order it below!
CORRECTION: I added a bit noting that the Islamist in the cartoon video is supposed to be a parody of a real person.
EDIT: I added a line about Dawkins tweeting a link to a video of Chanty Binx at the Toronto demonstration.
@ dhag
If I’m just flying somewhere for the day for work I tend to just take this little rucksack thing with me. As I’m generally suited and booted and looking all respectable I usually get an easy time of it.
There was one occasion though where some specialist people were present and one of them recognised that my ‘rucksack’ is in fact from a satchel charge (a type of explosive device used, inter alia, for blowing up aircraft). That did prompt a conversation.
fair enough mate. Now I know. Tommy often says its state persecution the way he has been dealt
As an extremely white guy, I was actually once able to board a plane on time despite not carrying identification. I mean, I was carrying a school-issued photo id, but it didn’t count. Had to spend like twenty minutes telling them home addresses and various other pieces of information and got my bags searched, but I got through.
Also, the TSA guys told me that it was illegal for me to carry prescription medication onto an airplane separate from the prescriptions and then let me do it anyway. They literally took a schedule 2 controlled substance out of my bag and then gave it back to me. I remain shocked that part happened. I hadn’t known it was actually illegal but kind of assumed nothing good would come of having it and no identification.
Well yeah; but that’s pretty much the standard response to getting a parking ticket.
@alan robertshaw
what sort of prison would you expect someone to go to for mortgage fraud? Tommy says its normally an open prison , catagory D but woodhill is catagory A, maximum security.
on wikipedia it says this about catagory a prisons
“Those whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security. Offences that may result in consideration for Category A or Restricted Status include:
(Attempted) Murder, Manslaughter, Wounding with intent, Rape, Indecent assault, Robbery or conspiracy to rob (with firearms), Firearms offences, Importing or supplying Class A controlled drugs, Possessing or supplying explosives, Offences connected with terrorism and Offences under the Official Secrets Act”
But it was a financial crime so isn’t it unusual that he was sent to that prison?
Why does OTD want to be friends with us (or maybe just the men here) so badly?
Prison selection can be fairly arbitrary and in part based on where there happens to be space available. People convicted of nonviolent crimes usually go to low-security prisons, but that’s not a legal requirement.
@ guy
The weirdest thing I’ve come across is that, in the UK, they won’t let you travel with imitation firearms, but you can take real ones.
The firearms themselves have to go in the hold, but they make you keep any ammunition with you; because obviously in a crash landing that’s really what you want to be holding in your lap.
9:49am:
What made you connect Tommy Robinson to a thread about Richard Dawkins, anyway? You didn’t start Just Asking Questions until after you’d posted two videos and started getting pushback.
While I’m sure it was tiring for you, Alan, I’ve got to say it’s pretty satisfying for me to read OTD saying “Is this normal Alan? It just doesn’t seem usual. Is it typical, would you say?” and then have you shut him down with “yes,” over and over and over.
Much like how you can’t bring toy lightsabers to showings of The Force Awakens, but you can bring real guns.
Oh wow, this thread is still going. I’m slogging through! I gotta say, I did not see Linkx’s explosion coming.
@WWTH:
Because English is a garbage degree. Duh. Everybody knows you don’t need to know how to express yourself clearly and engagingly. That’s what secretaries are for!
The old definition of Cat D used to be “Those who can’t be trusted not to try to escape but would not have the wherewithal to succeed”!
Now the categories have changed a bit. Initially you’re not assigned a category. You’re sent to a holding prison and they assess there (that might not take very long in obvious cases). Once you’ve got your Cat they send you to another prison. As to where that will be depends on a number of factors (available space being a major one). Prisons are also rated by Category; but it’s decided by the highest level category they can accommodate. They can’t accommodate a prisoner with a higher rated category but they can accommodate prisoners with lower categories. So whilst a Cat C prison would not hold a Cat A prisoner, a Cat A prison might have. A, B, C & D prisoners (often different parts of the prison have separate categories)
Open prisons are only available to Cat D prisoners but spaces are limited. They tend to be reserved for longer term prisoners coming to the end of their sentence as they have facilities for things like work release and unaccompanied shopping so it’s part of the attempt to adjust longer term prisoners to independent living again.
It’s important to remember that prisoner categories are assigned by reference to the offender not the offence. The nature of the offence may feature into that but it’s not definitive. A minor shoplifter with a history of fighting or escaping might well end up on Cat A whereas someone who was convicted of murder for the mercy killing of an ill relative might end up on Cat D. Categories are not fixed and can change during the course of a sentence.
thanks Alan.
@Newt
I have a feeling the troll won’t acknowledge this at all.
I initially read that last “guns” as “ones” and got all excited that they’d finally invented them.
We’re getting closer to the 1000 comment mark. I’m always excited when that happens.
What’s everybody’s favorite troll quote that never seems to get remembered? I’m quite fond of the horse of superior Aryan intellect, myself, although I also loved it when that one troll tried to pass off a photo of a dead Hollywood star as himself, then backed off and said it was his uncle.
My favorite troll quote is, paraphrased: “Noooo don’t ban me! Srsl guys I love this blog, I love David, I love you all. I promise I’ll be good! I just hate women and muslims and I will never talk about anything other than hating women and muslims, but I really love this blog though so please don’t ban meeee 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 🙁 ”
/otd
Interesting that Dawkins linked to Mick Nugent, one of his fanboys who wrote a blog post in support of Dawkins, and then he barely tweeted anything at all for 3 full days. Now he’s back to the old creationism/evolution thing again.
@newt
I had wanted to ask Alan about it all along. The stuff I asked him about was in the interview. I saw these interviews and wanted to know if it was true and thought I would get a quicker answer from him then trying to research it myself. I do still think its odd that someone who was only being put in prison for 8 days for a non violent offence is locked up in a maximum category prison in a wing alongside men who are serving 20+ year sentences for terrorism and murder.
If thats what happens to other people too than I think that is also wrong. Someone doing such a short period in prison for a non violent crime should never be locked up alongside a bunch of men doing long sentences for gruesome murders. No matter who they are, nobody doing 8 days in prison should have to do their time with men in there for murder. Its outrageous. Men doing 20 to life don’t have much to lose so they might kill or just violently attack another for status or some short term reward like being paid in weed or a mobile phone.
I also didn’t say anything about muslims except to ask Alan what he thought of Tommy being put in a prison wing full of muslims and having his request for solitary denied.
Saying the prison wing was full of muslim is not saying anything about muslims, the muslims in woodhill prison are not ordinary everyday muslims just like anyone in woodhill prison are not ordinary everyday people. The people in that prison are some of the most dangerous violent prisoners in the country. I also didn’t just say it was a wing full of muslims and leave it at that I said a wing full of muslims serving 20+years for killing.
Tommy is also not an everyday guy, he is a widely hated public figure and especially despised by muslim extremists. He has had international muslim terrorist groups such as Al Shabab state their intention to kill him, 6 osman warnings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_threat#Osman_warning.2C_letter_or_notice
and 6 terrorists tried to blow up one of his meetings in Dewsbury in 2013 and he was put in the same prison with them. They were caught with the bombs and guns in their car on the way and admitted to their plans.
Tommy thinks he was put on a wing full of muslims because the government wanted him to be killed. He claims he asked for solitary as soon as he got there because he thought his life was at risk but was refused and was only given solitary after a muslim tried to attack him the next day by trying to throw boiling hot water mixed with sugar in his face and it was a guy doing a 28 year sentence for a gruesome murder where he also tortured the guy by cutting off his nose and ears.
@alan robertshaw
When he was imprisoned in 2013 he was forced to be in solitary for 10 weeks, he said he did not want to be in solitary but he was not given a choice and that they said it was for his own safety otherwise he would be murdered. He talked in his oxford union speech about how his parents hired lawyers to try and force them to take him out of solitary but it didn’t work. He said that he thinks the government was trying to cause him to be mentally ill by forcing him into solitary for that long.
But yet when he knew he was only going to be in prison for 8 days and begged to be in solitary and they refused, that doesn’t sound right if they were forcing it on him before. Was he just lying through his teeth?
I understand he was out of prison on early release on the condition that he could be recalled at any time even for non criminal behavior that broke his licence conditions but is it really normal for somebody to be recalled for the last 8 days and put in such a dangerous prison and for a non violent crime? and is it normal to have licence conditions for a financial crime that ban somebody from contacting the EDL or talking about the police or the muslim prophet mohammed in speaking engagements? or could he have been lying about those licence conditions? he did provide proof of this on twitter of photographs of letters from probation documenting all of it including the prison violence. Wouldn’t it be a crime to fake those documents and spread them? why would getting released early from mortgage fraud mean its illegal to talk about the police or the muslim prophet as a licence condition if you are doing a media interview or speaking engagement, that doesn’t sound normal.
I understand what you said about being charged for the benefit even if they have paid it back already. But if somebody lies on a form about their income to get a mortgage and then pays the money back to the mortgage company 18 months later after renovating the house and selling at a profit but a whole 8 years later the government prosecute them for it and demand £125 grand, doesn’t that mean the police have been searching for something to nail them for? even a victim less crime where nobody lost any money and the mortgage company profited.
I don’t hate women or muslims. I don’t want to be banned because I think this is a fantastic website. I agreed not to defend the MRM anymore and I haven’t done that since. I agreed not to talk about refugees and haven’t done that since. I never even said anything negative about refugees or muslims in that Cologne thread anyway. Someone said that a bunch of white German men we involved in the Cologne sex attacks and I asked where they got that from and that made people think I was racist, and when someone responded with a link that said two German men were arrested along with a bunch of North Africans and Middle Easteners I responded that I already knew that but being German doesn’t mean they are white and people thought that made me racist. Yeah it was a list of countries were the arrested suspects came from and two described as being from Germany, but all the guys reported in the media were of arab/north african appearance which could include some Germans right?
I do not hate muslims or women. I think this is an awesome website and I really don’t wanna get banned so I will promise not to comment on threads that are even slightly connected to muslims from now on. Except this thread because I did ask Alan Robertshaw some questions about the issue of Tommy Robinsons treatment in the courts and by the police and I am interested in hearing his response but if he doesn’t feel like responding then fair enough.
@ OTD
Once again I’m afraid the answer to your queries as to “is this normal?” is a resounding “yes”.
Don’t forget that in the UK you serve half your sentence in prison but the balance on licence. You might be outside the prison but you’re still serving the sentence. Licence conditions are strict but that’s because they aim to replicate the grime inside prison. There are lots of things that are lawful but prisoners aren’t allowed to do.
Recall for random to no reasons is very common (you’ll get recalled if you annoy your probation officer)
For a good analysis of the recall regime see this article:
http://prisonuk.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/harder-time-recall-to-prison.html
As to your suspicions that the prison officers are being horrible to him because he doesn’t like Muslims, I don’t think that really stands up in light of the head of the prison services admission that prison officers don’t like Muslims either.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/prison-service-admits-it-is-institutionally-racist-710902.html
ETA: now that we’ve further confirmed that he isn’t being treated any differently we can move on to your concerns about the penal system generally. If you want to help address those issues, this is the organisation that works towards that. Must warn you though, it was started by one of those women people Elizabeth Fry) Obviously an aberration as she was concerned about a problem that mainly affected men.
http://www.howardleague.org/elizabethfry/