The Atheism and Feminism Connection
Lauryn Seering, 27, has never been religious, but she found atheism in high school in reaction to mainstream fundamentalist Christian ideas that condemn her lesbian mother. "Millennial women want autonomy over their own bodies," says Seering, communications coordinator for the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting the separation of church and state.
"They recognize that all the arguments against this autonomy (contraception, birth control, marriage) are religiously fueled," Seering continued. "Women aren't being pressured by society anymore to get married at a young age, have children right away, and tend house while their husbands work."
Schacter identifies as agnostic. She's based in Kansas City, MO, where she founded a digital marketing agency called Boxer & Mutt. To her, growing secularism is a sign of independent women. "It's becoming more socially acceptable for women to think for themselves and really question why things are the way they are rather than blindly accepting them," she says.
Kayley Whalen, 31, is a queer transgender Latinx woman who identifies as "a humanist and an existentialist and an atheist." These different identities certainly influence how she approaches the world. "We have ethical values without the need for the supernatural," Whalen says. "We believe in social justice, that we can live a life with meaning, purpose, and dedication to social justice without the need for supernatural guidance." Unsurprisingly, Whalen's beliefs are tied up in her activist work: she's the digital strategy and social media manager for the National LGBT Task Force and is on the board of directors for both the Secular Student Alliance and the Trans United Fund.
As Whalen epitomizes, many young women who do not believe in god share a point of view that goes beyond just being atheist or just being a woman. The two are intertwined identities oppressed similarly in the United States.
Every generation has more women atheists and while a few may decide to return to religion later in life I still see this as progress.
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