Posted: Jul 06, 2011 2:17 am
by Erin
Rebecca Watson of Skepchick related a story in a vlog about how a man followed her alone into an elevator at 4 a.m. and asked her to his room "for coffee," and explained how uncomfortable that made her.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKHwduG1Frk[/youtube]

The anecdote in question starts around 4:30.

Richard Dawkins apparently doesn't think she had any right to complain because other women have it worse. His response:

Dear Muslima

Stop whining, will you. Yes, yes, I know you had your genitals mutilated with a razor blade, and . . . yawn . . . don’t tell me yet again, I know you aren’t allowed to drive a car, and you can’t leave the house without a male relative, and your husband is allowed to beat you, and you’ll be stoned to death if you commit adultery. But stop whining, will you. Think of the suffering your poor American sisters have to put up with.

Only this week I heard of one, she calls herself Skep”chick”, and do you know what happened to her? A man in a hotel elevator invited her back to his room for coffee. I am not exaggerating. He really did. He invited her back to his room for coffee. Of course she said no, and of course he didn’t lay a finger on her, but even so . . .

And you, Muslima, think you have misogyny to complain about! For goodness sake grow up, or at least grow a thicker skin.

Richard


:doh:

Watson's blog about it.

PZ Myers responds.

Have any of the women here who've been to atheist conferences/meet-ups experienced the type of behavior Watson refers to in the blog linked above? I'd be curious to hear your stories.

Edited because "Watkins" and "Watson" are not the same thing.