But this year there has been more of an outcry against the mistreatment of women which has made it become more of a socially aware problem. Women are speaking out, confronting those who make lewd comments, striking back at those who use our sex as a power over us.
The disgusting behaviour seen used towards outspoken female writers and journalists to the point where they are threatened with rape, or worse told they would deserve it is sickening in its manner. Faceless Internet users using comments on articles they disagree with or more likely failed to understand, sending direct tweets to the writers so that their feed is full of threats against them or sexist idiotic comments usually involving sandwiches. (I wonder how many of the men who say such things actually work in a subway, it would explain their obsession)
So are we not allowed to express our opinion? Why would having one mean we would deserve a terrible crime that can ruin lives? Do male writers get similar threats if their view is disagreed with?
Using rape as a threat is a way of holding their supposed power over us as they are men, and we are not, who in their right mind would believe that this is an adequate way of expressing their dislike for the women they threaten. I would like to think most who say that wouldn't actually stoop to the low pathetic level a rapist really holds, but even to use it as a threat makes them no better.
So why is this now a common trend, is it the rise of the Internet making it easy for idiots to make themselves known, or has society really crumbled so badly that these pigs (I no longer want to even refer to them as men, they don't earn that respect to be labelled as intelligent human life) are now multiplying like a wet gremlin? They suit the term gremlins actually if you think of the green scaled creatures that act horribly, I can imagine sunglasses wearing gremlins writing to someone they dislike on twitter with phrases such as "legalize groping, no means yes lolz" while chuckling before running off to cause more mischief. This was an actual tweet sent to Caroline Criado-Parez sent by possibly the dumbest gremlin out there. I added the "lolz" just to highlight the stupidity of the comment, and of the phrase lol.
Just one stupid comment like this causes backlash against the poster, who doesn't seem to take any of the comments on board and instead calls forth his fellow trolls to make such situations elevate. Women shouldn't have to take such abuse, and its terrible that nowadays making your disagreement towards such comments only leads to yet more abuse, worse threats, and more people involving themselves in the tirade of sexist threatening comments.
So what are we meant to do, just take it..? Ignore it and hope it stops? Or point out that what they are doing is wrong while knowing our protests will fall onto deaf ears? Why within an age when equality is a more viable way of life do we then lose the respect we should hold?
I refer to equality as only viable in that last sentence as women still are paid less than men in a lot of industries, still seen as the secondary sex in a lot of countries around the world, and that we still have to battle to have any respect in the eyes of the people causing the problem I'm talking about here.
The last point I shall make I think is probably the most important, that the people using the Internet in such a manner have access to it, a worldwide format which they could use to expand their views and mind, express opinions to millions of people, reach out to different people and cultures yet this is how they chose to use it? These people possibly have smartphones, they may live in places where we expect equality to be something they grew up with, where they would have been taught by their parents and schools to respect each other no matter what yet still this is the manner they choose to represent themselves in for the world to see?
Very good point. You see the same every time Laurie Penny writes anything. Now, I've disagreed with some of the things she's said in the past, but I disagreed point by point and analysed the areas I disagreed on - I didn't threaten her with physical violence.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a larger debate about, say, the "crisis of masculinity" - with certain aspects of masculinity being defined in comparison with feminity, when those elements change in feminity, it then forces aspects of masculinity to change. I suppose that every threat of violence that female opinion is met with from a man online is because the opinion put forward is considered a threat.
With the bank notes, I saw a lot of men saying "What's the big problem?" and "The Queen's on them, and we're not all moaning about that". Even after the argument had been put across that the Queen was *born* into that position and that there was no reason why people who had *achieved* stuff couldn't be represented, including women as well as men.
But I think there's a lot of uncertainty (possibly linked to class? Not in all cases but in some - I suppose some men from working class backgrounds don't like being told they have privilege when they feel, justifiably in some respects, that they've never had very much!) and when you mix it with online anonymity and the speed with which people's views, odious or otherwise, can be transmitted, it leads to situations where certain people (some women are equally as guilty in this sometimes, alas) will adopt violent language.
I don't think people always realise the damage their words can cause (although clearly some of trolls know only too well, hence why they love trolling so...), but it's true, if you threatened someone verbally on the street you could be arrested, so heck, why should twitter be any different?
it is awful i find that these attacks quickly become sexual. to me it reads as a sick twisted power play that petty men who don't have the intelligence to form their opinions in a legible manner will quickly use. sex should never come into it, especially as it's open to fair honest debate!
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