"the sheer hatred thrown at women bloggers has left some in fear for their lives"

[donsu]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2051394,00.html


How the web became a sexists' paradise

Everyone receives abuse online but the sheer hatred thrown at women bloggers has left some in fear for their lives. Jessica Valenti, editor of Feministing.com, reports
----------------------


Last week, Kathy Sierra, a well-known software programmer and Java expert, announced that she had cancelled her speaking engagements and was "afraid to leave my yard" after being threatened with suffocation, rape and hanging. The threats didn't come from a stalker or a jilted lover and they weren't responses to a controversial book or speech. Sierra's harassers were largely anonymous, and all the threats had been made online.

Sierra had been receiving increasingly abusive comments on her website, Creating Passionate Users, over the previous year, but had not expected them to turn so violent - her attackers not only verbally assaulting her ("fuck off you boring slut . . . I hope someone slits your throat") but also posting photomontages of her on other sites: one with a noose next to her head and another depicting her screaming with a thong covering her face. Since she wrote about the abuse on her website, the harassment has increased. "People are posting all my private data online everywhere - social-security number, and home address - a retaliation for speaking out."

While no one could deny that men experience abuse online, the sheer vitriol directed at women has become impossible to ignore. Extreme instances of stalking, death threats and hate speech are now prevalent, as well as all the everyday harassment that women have traditionally faced in the outside world - cat-calls, for instance, or being "rated" on our looks. It's all very far from the utopian ideals that greeted the dawn of the web - the idea of it as a new, egalitarian public space, where men and women from all races, and of all sexualities, could mix without prejudice.

-snip-

Most disturbing is how accepted this is. When women are harassed on the street, it is considered inappropriate. Online, though, sexual harassment is not only tolerated - it's often lauded. Blog threads or forums where women are attacked attract hundreds of comments, and their traffic rates rocket.

-snip-

But even women who don't put their pictures or real names online are subject to virtual harassment. A recent study showed that when the gender of an online username appears female, they are 25 times more likely to experience harassment. The study, conducted by the University of Maryland, found that female user-names averaged 163 threatening and/or sexually explicit messages a day.

-snip-

Thankfully, women are fighting back. Sparked by the violent harassment of Sierra, one blogger started a "stop cyberbullying" campaign. This was picked up by hundreds of other bloggers and an international women's technology organisation, Take Back the Tech, a global network of women who encourage people to "take back online spaces" by writing, video blogging, or podcasting about online harassment.
-snip-
-------------------------------------


men's war against women

and men have the nerve to say they love us

[niyad]

1. thank you for posting this--I get a lot of nutbar rw comments on some of the forums I am on,

but then, these are progressive forums, and the little trolls seem to attack everyone.

how sad that sexism is still alive and well in the 21st century (don imus being a prime example)

[mrcheerful]

8. I know what you mean, post any truth about shrub or the repuklicans the next thing you

know your defending yourself on personal things that you wrote in other topics. I have one such on going war with this poster who has decided that everyone on disability is either lazy fakers or they got on it by faking a mental health problem. Yet the poster doesn't think that divorcing your first husband so you could marry your second husband, (who owns a business ) As anything wrong and in fact shes a self made woman who works hard. Its hard to keep your cool when every post you make ends up being drug off topic by one or a few right wing idiots.

[Jonathan50]

42. I just got attacked on the electric vehicle thread

For something I've posted on other threads.

It happens here at DU, too.

[Bucky]

2. You won't like what it takes to start stamping out this problem...

The first step is to police our own and lead by example. Whenever someone says "Mann Coulter" or calls Condolleezza Rice Bush's whore or suggests Karen Hughes looks mannish or that Monica Crowly on CNN is a "fat bitch", we should speak up here on this forum. That means being accused of being the "PC police" or some other lame cop-out phrase. But the reality is that we see far too much hate speech even on DU. If we want to stop this, we need to stop it where we see it.

[Uncle Joe]

4. Good points Bucky,

and thanks to donsu for the thread

Kicked and recommended

[SarahB]

13. Amen.

The fight has to be on issues, not gender characteristics.

[omega minimo]

16. Who won't like it?

Sticks and stones may break our bones but lame cop-out phrases cannot hurt us. We been through these cycles before-- there have been improvements and educating-- there have been standoffs and "willful ignorance." We have spoken up about "bitch," "whore" and other slurs. Many of the attitudes and "lame cop-out" phrases and attack tactics come straight from the horse's ass, Limbaugh. Or filtered through the culture so folks don't even know where they came from.

The Imus mess has opened up the subject in a big way. It's healthy to flush the pus out and start fresh. A lot of folks "even on DU" are misinformed about free speech, "censorship," "PC," "freedom of choice," etc. The hatemongers like it that way.

:grouphug:

[Morgana LaFey]

34. Some of us DO speak out here; some of us ARE harrassed for it

SOme of us understand VERY well that correction has to start at home, that we don't have a moral leg to stand on if it happens in our own backyard. Look how Imus is getting all this late tolerance for his misogyny and racism because rappers do it too -- that doesn't FORGIVE Imus, nor give him permission but it sure as hell detracts from his detractors and critics and slows them down.

I like what it takes to stamp this out just fine. My feelings are routinely hurt, I routinely feel diminished and maligned as a human being right here at DU because of the sexism that is allowed, tolerated, even fucking celebrated.

I hope this means that I and other women can COUNT on you to challenge the sexism and misogyny that lives so comfortably right here at DU.

[maggiegault]

37. Ditto For The Mentally Ill

Poster "TahitiNut" actually had me in tears the other day because of the things that he/she said when I spoke up about the ignorant comments that he/she was making about the mentally ill, bipolar people to be exact.

This was on the heels of being accused of starting fights when I didn't. I didn't even disagree with the original poster, who perhaps not coincidentally is in the "1000+ posts" club.

And, with a pack mentality, others jumped on me, too. When a couple of posters pointed out that they were acting like rabid dogs, and that I didn't start a fight, and that I had a valid point about the treatment of the mentally ill around here, the pack turned on those posters who defended me.

Very enlightening. And upsetting.

[Jonathan50]

44. I'm bipolar and haven't made any secret of it.

I don't think I've been attacked for it here.

But then I cut my rhetorical teeth on usenet political newsgroups which make the very worst of what gets posted here look like the Sunday afternoon knitting society social.

[maggiegault]

59. Good For You. I Wish That My Experience Had Been Similar.

I was jumped on for something else, but then when it was found out that I was bipolar, many mean comments were made alluding to "the voices in my head" and whatnot.

None of it true, all of it just shameful.

[shance]

60. Any reason why you are solely protecting them Bucky?

How much do they protect and defend women in general anyway.

In many ways they are as misogynistic as the rich white men governing the White House.

[barbtries]

61. AAAH! please don't make me stop calling them whores :(

i call them ALL whores - the 109th congressional republicans, the sycophantic and/or pedantic media makers who pretend to provide information when in reality they are only spewing propaganda and/or hatred, the flood of incompetents running this country into the ground who got their jobs for being good bushies as opposed to being qualified for the position they've been treated to the way a dog is given a treat for performing a trick...whores, every one of 'em, man, woman, or eunuch.

i have more respect for the women street walking on century boulevard - at least they're honest about what they do.

[rodeodance]

3. I have not followed this at all. Thanks for the post.

[The Count]

5. A few years ago, newly on line I argued with a freeper on a yahoo group (a Gore group)

The stream of obscenities that ensued - both on the list and in my mailbox was overwhelming and from ever-changing yahoo IDs. It took about a week for yahoo to respond to complaints from hundreds of members from that group - and - I guess ban his ass.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

6. These "men" are scumbags.

And everytime I see a post from Ava, I worry about her. Hope to god there's plenty of decent men watching her back.

[donsu]

7. and decent women watching her back

nt

[Triana]

9. I've experienced it myself...(n/t)

[Sparkly]

10. Can these people be tracked and located?

Couldn't they be prosecuted for making death threats??

[supernova]

11. Bringing up another aspect

There was a thread a couple of days ago about an article claiming that most online users in the US now are women. From this I wonder of some of this cyberbullying isn't infact being done to women by other other women? It's the cyberspace version of "Mean Girls."

edit: True story. My ex and I were living in MD in the late 80s. He's working a temp job in a law office. One day he comes home with a diskette. "What's that?" I say. "Oh, some new kind of online community that my boss got a sample disk for. It's called AOL." We uploaded it to our new 286(!), dialed in and signed on. I remember picking out a "girlie" screen name. There were maybe 30 people on AOL at that time, all in the DC area. Still, I got so flooded with IMs that I could'n't respond to anything in the main chat room. I learned my lesson early. It's also the reason I usually choose sex-neutral screen names. That way, if there's someone I do like I have the option of telling them I'm a girl. The resont don't need to know.

[SarahB]

12. Some people are terrible.

Any of us that have faced harassment from mentally unbalanced conservatives know this all too well. :(

[NightWatcher]

14. Not that they need it, but I'll stand behind any woman here. I love women, my mom's one

[Morgana LaFey]

35. actually, we do need it

What we desperatey need, right here at DU, is for some of the MEN to start challenging and confronting our resident sexists about their sexism. Just tonight I saw a post calling Campbell Brown an "ignorant slut," with giggles all around because it was supposed to be FUNNY when Dan Akroyd did it. Har Har Har.

It's NOT funny. It will never BE funny. It's crude and vulgar, but most of all it's a gender slur and there should be no place in a progressive's life or conversations for that. We don't allow racial slurs here; we don't allow anti-Semitic slurs. WHY THE HELL DO WE ALLOW GENDER SLURS? Why the hell do our progressive brothers use them?

THAT's what we need from you, and other men of conscience. Are you up for it??

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Been there, done that

and there is one particular convention that when I go...I'll have to watch my back... mostly I do faer for my safety even today

[bliss_eternal]

22. That's horrible.

I'm SO sorry this is a concern for you. :hug: It's hideous and so unfair, that on top of everything else women have to be concerned about...

:scared::cry::(:mad:

[Control-Z]

17. It is probably for this reason

I felt comfortable posting here at DU. I remember thinking it was the first relatively safe place I had ever been to on the internet.

I am still very careful about what I say, though. It's easy to forget that we are not really protected here in our own safe community. Google a couple of key words, anyone can crash the party.

[donsu]

18. what a wonderful thing to say about DU and sad too that we

women have to always think of our safety whatever and where ever we are.

[Control-Z]

19. ...

:hug:

[Tigress DEM]

20. Against harrassment, but that doesn't justify your final blanket statement.

"men's war against women

and men have the nerve to say they love us"



Because SOME men choose to behave this way is no reason to be mad at all men.


Men who engage in aggressive and even violent sexism and purport to say they "love women" don't understand that they are full of shit, and this is probably the group you are speaking about.

When you insult every man because of the behavior of a group of idiots acting in concert, it takes away from the power of your original statement.

[motocicleta]

21. Thanks, TigressDEM

The last line is so out of touch with the message of the post ... I'm at a loss for words.

[Heywood J]

31. Seconded.

It almost put me off the rest of the post, to see the OP demonstrating the same sentiment as those men do - blame an entire gender.

[JackRiddler]

41. Although that's not what these men do...

It's not that they blame a whole gender. They exploit an environment to victimize given individuals of a gender. To say men or women are this or that is not the same as to harrass, stalk and terrorize a specific individual - something almost always done by individual men, and when directed at individual women usually done with a particular viciousness that takes advantage of sexist culture. Even if you don't like the OP's closing statement, do you see the difference?

[EstimatedProphet]

24. Well put!

[TahitiNut]

32. Thank you.

Isn't it interesting that a male couldn't say what you've said and have it be respected? Go figure. :eyes:

[donsu]

63. the men who really love us are a minority - men in general are

against women having any of the power they have.

you know that thing said of some children - they don't share well. men are not about sharing their power with women.

even the men who really love us need insulted for keeping quiet when they hear other men dissing us, or abuse us, or hold us back.

[mzmolly]

23. We women still have a very long way to go in this country.

Sexism is like the elephant in the living room, that no one really wants admit, is still in the @#% living room.

Thanks for posting Donsu. I've been sadly amazed at the disregard for womens issues by many men and women, who call themselves progressive.

[Clark2008]

25. Could it be that a certain number of men feel threatened by

the fact that the Internet DOES allow for a "new, egalitarian public space, where men and women from all races, and of all sexualities, could mix without prejudice?"

Some men, having dominated society for decades and forever in this country, may feel as though they are losing this sense of superiority over women as a result of the great equalizer that is the Internet. Afterall, anyone with access to a $5 - $25 can register a domain and begin posting. Gone are the days of good-old-boy connections as a conduit to free and open speech.

[kiahzero]

27. Others are just asshats.

At the risk of merely contributing to this thread via pictures, I think this is more of what's going on:

[Clark2008]

28. LOL!

I'm sure there's a fair number of simple fuckwads out there, too.

:7

[EstimatedProphet]

29. Yeah, I think that explains a lot!

[kiahzero]

26. "men's war against women"

[Skittles]

33. yes, sexual harassment IS shit

it is a huge f***ing problem that too many men will only recognize when they have daughters

[donsu]

64. yes shit again - male shit directed toward women

nt

[gkhouston]

30. this is nothing new. If anything, I get far fewer sexual/ugly remarks

than I did on the 'nets back in the eighties. :puke:

[Morgana LaFey]

36. I hate to say this, but I'm deeply disappointed in the responses

to this OP in general. Most have been extraordinarily sanguine -- and then, of course, we had to get into sparing men's feelings by being sure that we're not saying "ALL men this or ALL men that."

Hardly anyone is taking this OP with the absolutely horror it should engender. This isn't just another "Oh, isn't that an ugly thing to say," folks, this is life-threatening, and intimidating to the point of terrorizing. But some of you think it's just, well, unfortunate but not a BIG deal after all. Too bad, so sad. NO!!! It's HORRIFYING and TERRORIZING and someone should be in jail NOW because of it. Or perhaps several someones.

Bah.

[maggiegault]

40. I Have A Very Good Friend Who Works For The FBI Here In Phoenix

And he tells me that "cyberstalking" is the most commonly reported crime in their office.

I had three people on Usenet make my life a living hell for over three years because I spoke out against the war in Iraq back in 2003. They still stalk me when they don't have any of their other victims to bother (there are more than twenty of us, spanning over a decade of Internet activity). Not only did they target me and libel me, they bothered my spouse and family, too.

All three are * supporters.

[Danger Mouse]

43. Well, yeah, I'm pretty horrified.

I was pretty horrified when I read what people said to Ava Lowery, too. I could not BELIEVE the sickening level of venom that these pigs could display.
And here it is again. I'm trying to grasp the WHY but it isn't coming...i think that many men have that dominant attitude towards women...especially rw men (with so-called 'traditional' values), and as much as they hate men speaking out against the status quo, coming from a WOMAN (best seen and not heart, right?) it REALLY gets the blood pressure up.
I think scum like this SHOULD BE TRACKED DOWN AND HELD ACCOUNTABLE. These threats cause very real pain and fear to those who endure them, and women should not be made to feel that their life is in danger if they speak out.
Moreover, they need to be made an example of, so that other shitheads like them realize that there will be CONSEQUENCES for doing this kind of garbage.
I AM outraged and disgusted, and I AM horrified by it.

Still and all, bashing 'all men' was pretty unnecessary, though it doesn't take away from the overall message.
I agree that sexism (and to a lesser degree, racism) is an undercurrent on DU.

[Triana]

51. What Elrond said - ditto (n/t)

[madrchsod]

46. well if some one got a picture like i just posted

from her website i think some would change their outlook. i posted about this when this first was announced and got very few replies...

[Starbucks Anarchist]

47. It is horrifying, and the offenders should be punished severely.

[jarnocan]

38. Insults and death threats are also posted on many sites- against Male&Females

males and females such as Cindy Sheehan, Rosie O'Donnell and Michael Moore etc. because they stand up against right wing BU**SH**. I have asked Facebook to remove death threats, and they have NOT responded or removed them.
I moderate the comments on my blogs because of crap like that, and also so in case someone wants to contact me with info- I can decide what part if any they want published.

[Triana]

52. It happens more often to females, according to the stats..

...not to say it doesn't happen to guys too, but it seems to happen more often (and to a worse degree) to females. At least that's what the OP/study said.

[Danger Mouse]

39. don't lump us ALL in with that rabble.

i'm sick of the way women are treated.
this stuff revolts me.

[madrchsod]

45. this is from her website

http://headrush.typepad.com/whathappened.html
A Very Sad Day

this is the picture that was posted on her site





http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2007/04/death_threats_a.html
Creating Passionate Users: Death threats against bloggers are NOT "protected speech" (why I cancelled my ETech presentations)

[Danger Mouse]

48. this crap just makes me want to retch.

find them. arrest them. make examples of them.

[HuffleClaw]

49. hate much?

misandry is just as shameful as misogyny.

[MedleyMisty]

50. Yep

'cause you know we women haven't been letting men vote or own property or have jobs outside the home and we've sold them off into forced marriages and systematically mutilated their genitals and raped them and all that.

[HuffleClaw]

54. which has nothing to do with my comment. not one thing.

all you did is reinforce my point.

[Triana]

53. Minimize and detract, much? (n/t)

[HuffleClaw]

55. not in the least. not remotely. n/t

[Triana]

56. IMO you do

Won't sell here. The OP is NOT about YOU. Unless YOU are an online harasser of women. If NOT, then it isn't about YOU. Stop trying to make it about YOU. It isn't. Get over yourself.

Being an apologist and finger pointer for continued hostile male behavior and disrespect towards women won't sell.

It's a matter of DEGREES. And by that measure, MANY men - both online and off, are and have historically been MUCH more abusive - not to mention oppressive - to women than vice-versa. So your pointing your finger at the OP for a blanket statement about it all is a thin excuse and a petty distraction. Puhleeze. Pfft.

[Celeborn Skywalker]

57. But will here.

[HuffleClaw]

67. hate is hate

no matter who its directed at it is inexcusable. 'apologist' my foot. pointing out that hate is hate is not being an 'apologist'

[JackRiddler]

65. Misandry is a male specialty.

Kill the men, rape and enslave the women. It's God's orders to his people in the Old Testament.

So what are the numbers on rape? Murder? Wartime atrocities? Stonings? Denial of rights? How many women put down men in these ways?

[entanglement]

58. Unfortunately enough, there are any number of evil perverts on the net

Statistically speaking, the better known / more public / more political bloggers are at higher risk of harassment and threats of violence. Threats made against women have a sexual angle to them which makes them even worse.

The utopian ideals were naive (sadly), considering that the web consists of interacting humans and they are no more virtuous online than in real life.

[Doctor_J]

62. Not just sexists, but haters of all genre have found their place on the net

This is awful, but not limited to sexism.

[Jennicut]

66. I find it hilarious that these sexual perverts and harassers won't confront you to your face but

feel perfectly fine doing it on a phone or the internet. I used to work in customer service for long distance and when I say I got rude, disgusting, harassing calls I really mean it. We had one particular caller we named "the stalker" because when he called and reached a female he would say nasty disgusting things to her. These types of people also feel "protected" by the anonymity of the internet. To be fair to other men, the guys who worked with us found it just as creepy and disgusting.

[BlooInBloo]

68. Anonymous boys: The downside of the internet.