Boobquake
Boobquake was a rally which took place on April 26, 2010, which served to protest news reports of controversial beliefs blaming women who dress immodestly for causing earthquakes.
The Boobquake rally served to protest news reports of controversial beliefs espoused by Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi, an Islamic religious authority in Iran.
On April 19, 2010, it was reported that Seddiqi advised his listeners that "Many women who do not dress modestly lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes" and Iranians should "adapt their lives to Islam's moral codes" to avoid being "buried under the rubble".
[4] Following repeated inquiries from the BBC and other news agencies, McCreight planned two meetings for participants: one in West Lafayette, Indiana, and one in Washington, D.C.[5] Soon, what originated as "a humorous exercise in scientific and skeptical thinking"[6] had begun to ignite serious debate regarding the organization of the feminist community.
[citation needed] The inspiration for this event was Jey McCreight,[7] who attributes their activism to reading Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion and attending a relatively religious college.
Although McCreight admitted that there were some flaws with the experimental procedure, and that they doubted it would have any impact on Seddiqi's opinions, they believed that the event fulfilled its original intentions of being "a humorous exercise in scientific and skeptical thinking".
[6] The event drew a favorable response from several expatriate Iranian political activists, including Mina Ahadi of the International Committee Against Executions and Stoning and Maryam Namazie of Iran Solidarity both of whom are members of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain.
When asked why there are not more natural disasters in western nations that do not follow his moral codes, Sedighi answered that God occasionally allows people to continue sinning "so that they (eventually) go to the bottom of Hell."
[26] Bashi and some other feminists were critical of Boobquake's method of drawing attention to questions about gender in Iran which they believed further victimized and objectified women and girls.
Brainquake's Facebook event encouraged women to demonstrate their "abilities to push for change" by showing off their résumés, CVs, honors, prizes, and accomplishments.
Moezzi believed that there should be no problem with having multiple means of discrediting "the leaders of the so-called Islamic Republic of Iran", and suggested that women participate in both events.
[29] McCreight themselves subsequently observed that some atheists acted misogynistically towards them and other women, partly in reaction to the joke in Boobquake's name, and they have called for a greater respect for feminism and a more welcoming culture in the atheism movement.
