This is an accepted version of this page Rebecca Watson (born 1980[1]) is an American atheist blogger,[3][4][5] vlogger,[6] and YouTuber.

[20][self-published source] Public health staff provided Tdap vaccinations free of charge, as well as educational literature promoting immunization.

[27] Watson's entries won the popular vote in every round,[28] and she was selected along with two other winners to produce a pilot episode for presentation to executives of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

She also investigated claims of poisonous amounts of lead in lipstick, went on a ghost tour in Boston and visited a Psychic Fair.

[34][35] The controversy that came to be known as "Elevatorgate" originated with a video blog Watson made criticizing sexism within the atheist movement after being sexually propositioned in an elevator by a male attendee at the conference.

[36][37][7][38] In a brief part of a longer video about other topics,[39] Watson described socializing with other attendees at a hotel bar until 4:00 a.m., then announcing she was tired and going to bed.

[3][23] The controversy attracted mainstream media attention when biologist Richard Dawkins joined the discussion on Myers's blog,[39] sarcastically comparing Watson's experience to that of an imaginary Muslim woman.

[36][7] Although Watson had not mentioned sexism against women in Islam,[40] Dawkins' comment mocked the supposed indifference of Western feminists to the plight of oppressed women in Muslim-majority countries,[41][42] telling "Muslima" to "stop whining" in the face of female genital mutilation, intimate partner violence, and the threat of death by stoning and to "grow up, or at least grow a thicker skin".

[33] A negative response by the online atheist community to Watson's account of the incident soon spread across several websites, including Reddit, and became highly polarized and heated.

[citation needed] The discussion spurred a continued backlash, with commenters online labeling women who spoke up on the subject as "feminazis" and other misogynistic slurs.

[39] Watson experienced a campaign of misogynistic harassment[35][23][37][7][6] including threats of rape and murder,[34][39][36] with one man publishing a website threatening to kill her.

[48][49] Religious scholar Stephen LeDrew writes that "For the first time since the New Atheism had risen to prominence, [Dawkins] found himself under attack by many of those who had viewed him as a respected leader".

[51] In the wake of this and an incident at a Center for Inquiry-sponsored event, where female atheists reported gender bias and inappropriate behavior, organizations including the Richard Dawkins Foundation have reviewed their policies regarding sexual harassment and non-discrimination.