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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 08/26/2011 : 13:18:45
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Oh how neat - I didn't even know about Teen Skepchick! Will definitely start reading/listening to more. I'm always delighted to see the skeptic/secular movement attracting even more female and youth voices.
Discovered the below link today because I'm on a FB group that discusses natural childbirth from a skeptical point of view, and Dr. Amy posted this link. Good interview since it goes into how Dr. Amy became interested in speaking out against homebirth and other aspects of the natural childbirth movement. After the intro she goes into a lot of stuff that is basic for any skeptic so it might bore most of you here. Then about 25 minutes in she starts talking about ways in which the alternative health advocates which claim to be feminist are in fact just promoting old ideas about math and science being too hard for women. That whole bit about rationalism and math and science being part of the patriarchy and how supposedly women can know and learn through other means such as intuition (the same bullshit ideas circulate about black people.) It's bad enough that there are women holding back women, but when they do it in the name of feminism, that is just too infuriating.
Some really interesting thoughts from Dr. Amy on abstinence, the increased risks that women take on when they make decisions to be sexually active, and pressure on young girls today starts at about 37 minutes. Lots of music to my ears; she mentioned Planned Parenthood's website as a great resource for teen girls to get info on birth control. I deliberately waited until I was in college and 18 to become sexually active for exactly the reasons Dr. Amy speaks about, and Planned Parenthood's website was a godsend (excuse the expression) once I did decide to become sexually active, especially after getting a totally crappy and distorted view of birth control in Catholic high school.
Anyway, for those who have an hour to listen, enjoy!
http://teenskepchick.org/2011/08/25/teen-skepchick-interviews-dr-amy/
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
Posted - 08/30/2011 : 20:00:40 [Permalink]
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Dr. Amy just wrote a bit about her interview with Teen Skepchick and her concern that not enough women are learning basic math and science:
To me, one of the most depressing aspects of health pseudoscience (so called "alternative" health) is that it is dominated by women. Women are far more likely to believe in and use quack "treatments" like homeopathy. They believe in and spearhead nonsense "movements" like anti-vaccination. And, of course, quack practitioners like homebirth midwives (certified professional midwives or CPMs) are exclusively women.
Why might that be? I suspect that it has a lot to do with the fact that many women have no knowledge of basic science and math.
When we were children, my generation was told that science and math were "too hard" for women, and girls were steered away from physics and engineering toward professions like teaching and nursing. Women like me owe a deep debt to feminist pioneers who, often at great personal cost, paved the way for acceptance of women into every subject of study and every possible career.
That's why it's especially depressing to me to find that while women are free to learn science and math, many still avoid it as "too hard." Without a strong foundation of science and math, it is perhaps inevitable that many women are drawn to pseudoscience. What's truly amazing, though, it that they want to pretend that ignoring science is some sort of feminist statement. |
Read the whole article here. |
"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Teen Skepchick Interviews Dr. Amy
