Summary of story from New Statesman, November 3, 2011
Female blogger Helen Lewis-Hasteley remembers the first time someone called her ugly on the internet.
The sheer volume of sexist abuse thrown at female bloggers is the internet’s festering sore: if you talk to any woman who writes online, the chances are she will instantly be able to reel off a Greatest Hits of insults.
But it’s very rarely spoken about, for both sound and unsound reasons.
No one likes to look like a whiner, particularly a woman writing in male-dominated fields such as politics, economics or computer games.
Others are reluctant to give trolls the “satisfaction” of knowing they’re emotionally affected by the abuse, or are afraid of incurring more by speaking out.
Both are understandable reasons, but there’s another, less convincing one: doesn’t everyone get abuse on the internet? After all, the incivility of the medium has prompted a rash of op-eds and books about the degradation of discourse.
She accepts that almost all bloggers attract some extremely inflammatory comment (and LGBT or non-white ones have their own special fan clubs too), but says there is something distinct, identifiable and near-universal about the misogynist hate directed at women online.
As New Statesman blogger David Allen Green told her: “In three years of blogging and tweeting about highly controversial political topics I have never once has any of the gender-based abuse that, say, Cath Elliott, Penny Red, or Ellie Gellard routinely receive.”
In the full article nine bloggers describe the kind of abuse they endure, how it makes them feel, and what – if anything – they think can be done about it.
WVoN comment: Be warned: some of the abuse described is graphic.
It is about time female journalists did stop letting it go. Laurie forgets that abuse is very often directed not at her but at women in general and it is very effective indeed at silencing women on the net. Laurie had no right to stand by and let that happen. It does leave a lot of room for a tiny number of well known female journalists, including Laurie. to speak for all women on the net tbough.
There was a piece in the Independent from Laurie Penny about this same subject and it was heartening to see quite a few men step into the fray in a positive way and express shock and disgust at some of the comments that their fellow men – and a couple of women – were making about this sort of abuse. The problem is the fact that many people do not acknowledge is that perception is 9/10s of reality. The constant stream of sexist hate speech leaves a lot of women, myself included, feeling exhiled and unsafe in the community. It’s difficult to feel confident in your skin when you are apparently surrounded by people who wish you dead the moment you open your mouth and quite a few times when you don’t.
Also, did anyone notice this comment in the Laurie Penny piece? Made me spit out my toast!!!
Lanre Bakare, who monitors the comments on the Guardian’s Comment is Free website, said he was constantly looking out for attacks on female commentators on any subject. “It can be on European finance and there will still be some snide anti-woman remarks, but there are certain subjects, like abortion or domestic violence, which bring out trolls and then it becomes really unpleasant. Of course, if anyone is found making threats of sexual violence they are banned from the site instantly.”
You’re lucky, I snorted so hard my toast shot into my lung! I could have died!!!