Secular sexism: The persistence of gender inequality in the US New Atheist Movement

Abstract

This paper examines how a social movement reproduces gender inequalities and excludes women, even in the absence of explicitly sexist ideologies and the presence of a purported commitment to gender egalitarianism. I show how a US-based movement that appears conducive to challenging dominant gender ideology—the New Atheist Movement—instead maintains a gendered movement culture that support the persistence of gender inequalities. The movement culture embraces gendered discourses and rejects feminist claims for participation or recognition. Further, a culture of men's dominance—which extends to men making claims about women's rights and criticizing women who speak out against men's abuses of power—has contributed to women respondents feeling shut out and silenced. The paper contributes to improved knowledge of how gender inequalities reproduce themselves in social movements through movement culture.