Reply To: Is there any correlation between Atheism and gender?

[BeckyL]

I was raised in a traditional patriarchal family where my thoughts on many subjects were treated with condescension at best and mocked at worst. (For example, I asked for an erector set for Christmas one year and got a doll instead because erector sets are for boys. My parents thought it was cute that I asked for the erector set but were sure I didn’t really want it.) It would be easy to say that my family is an anomaly, but I’ve found that similar attitudes have carried over into my adult life. Almost every day, I come across situations where I struggle to have someone who will listen to me, but when a male coworker says the exact same thing I just said, it’s like the sun shines out of his ass. And I work in a female-dominated profession. I can only imagine what women in traditionally male professions deal with. So, women often learn to keep their opinions to themselves, especially when it comes to topics that provoke as much emotion as religion. My mother was a lifelong agnostic, but I am willing to bet that if you asked my dad about my mom’s beliefs, he would swear her beliefs were just like his. @Unseen – I wonder if maybe women seem more susceptible to “woo” because at least the woo-ish people listen to them. Maybe women are into science-y things too, but maybe science-y guys aren’t giving them a chance.