Sam Harris was interviewed at George Washington University just about a month ago. The interviewer, Michelle Boorstein, published an article that summarised the conversation. As Harris states in his rebuttal, “she excerpted a few quotations that made [him] appear somewhat sexist.” Many have claimed that the statements made by Harris are false, but the bigger issue here is the flippancy with which her responded to the question initially. When one poses a serious question, one to which the answer may involve deep feelings and opinions for half of the population, is it appropriate to respond with a joke (even one which is self-deprecating)?

The factuality of Harris’s statements seems less important than the importance he is perceived to have given the question, “Why [are] the vast majority of atheists — and many of those who buy his books — are male?” Harris responded by first saying that, “It can only be attributed to [his] overwhelming lack of sex appeal.” Laughter ensued.

When one poses a serious question… is it appropriate to respond with a joke?

The fact is that, globally, there is no divide on gender among atheists. The question was leading, but the response was inappropriate nontheless. Making light of a lack of participation in atheist discussion by women in the United States is not the way to move the conversation or the movement forward. One would think that a mind like Harris’s would take notice of this subtler form of sexism, but the response thus far has been to the statements he made rather than the way in which he made them.

Richard Dawkins, in 2011, infamously made the following statement in response to a woman who was approached by a man in an elevator:

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.

He has since apologised, but the statements remained unretracted for three years. Are the issues that faced by women in Muslim countries more dire than those faced by women in non-Muslim countries? Certainly. Does that mean that the issues faced by women in non-Muslim countries are to be made light of? Certainly not.

The atheist movement should be doing all that it can to support female atheists and to make the community welcoming to peoples of all genders, sexual orientations, races, etc. Making light of the issues faced by any of these groups only serves to alienate that group from identifying with the larger community. As an atheist, I will not stand for it.