Ophelia Benson

Ophelia Benson at the Women in Secularism conference, reeking of the fecal odor of transphobia.

This might be Skepticism

But we're not sure

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Michael Shermer Woo Czech Skeptics' Club Sisyfos Psiram Pyrrhonism

Who's asking?

Martin Gardner Ben Goldacre Holy Koolaid Steuart Campbell Unnatural Vegan John Stuart Mill v - t - e

Ophelia Benson is a trans-exclusionary radical feminist (TERF),^[1] a self-proclaimed "skeptic" (but she probably isn't), and the editor of Butterflies and Wheels, a blog about pseudoscience.

The good[edit]

Ms. Benson was a self-professed "skeptic" despite denying important feminist principles. She coauthored several books criticizing and satirizing anti-rationalism, misogyny,^{[note 1]} and pseudoscience. All of these are in partnership with Jeremy Stangroom, a British sociologist and the cofounder of Butterflies and Wheels.^[2] She's also a notable female atheist, which is nice, given the inequality in the atheist community.^{[citation needed]} What's much less nice is that she's just another cis atheist, given that same, you know, inequality in the atheist community. That she has had no role whatsoever in creating and perpetuating, of course.

The bad[edit]

She left Freethought Blogs because she was rightfully^[1] called a transphobe for "having her own ideas about gender".^[3] These ideas put her at odds with many other writers at Freethought Blogs. FTB supports social justice; Benson does not: witness, Benson thanked Cathy Brennan for her Twitter post defending Benson and denouncing so-called "SJWs."^{[citation needed]}

The ugly[edit]

Ms. Benson wrote:^[4]

Trans women are the women who really matter. Cis women are too privileged to matter, plus frankly they’re kind of bitches, don’t you think?

And:^[5]

If your claim to feminism includes telling feminist women not to focus on women but instead to focus on men who claim to be women, your feminism is moronic and you should feel like a damn fool. ... The determined transfer of feminism from women to men who call themselves women is enraging.

She also wrote: ^[6]

Planned Parenthood can go fuck itself

External links[edit]

• Butterflies and Wheels

Notes[edit]

References[edit]