Elizabeth Lopatto writing for The Verge:
Maybe I sound exasperated. I am. I cannot believe it is 2014, and threats against women are still treated as fundamentally unserious. Here's why: One in five U.S. women has been raped in her lifetime, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. One in six has been stalked. One in four women has experienced violence from a domestic partner. When women are murdered, two times out of five, the culprit is an intimate partner, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Domestic violence is a leading cause of death for pregnant women, the CDC warns. So it's in our best interest to take threats seriously, even when they're coming from internet strangers, because we know women to be at extremely high risk for violence at the hands of men.
Threats make the internet unsafe for me, and for Emma Watson, and for a lot of other women, too. Ask Anita Sarkeesian. Ask Kathy Sierra. Ask Catherine Mayer, Lindy West, or Alyssa Royce. This isn't even an exhaustive list, it's just the first women that came to mind, because the sick thing is that this never stops. And honestly, if we - all of us - don't make it stop, it never will.
The treatment of women on the internet will remain a topic on OSNews until the problem is resolved, or the day I die - whichever comes first. I know from previous stories that many OSNews commenters would rather not face the harsh reality of the systematic mistreatment of women online - I have been disgusted with some of the comments posted - but those people can hit that little 'close tab' button and leave, because I don't want them here.
To view parent comment, click here.
To read all comments associated with this story, please click here.
Member since:2005-06-29
This. If we accept a so-called "rape culture" as the norm, we may as well go back to swinging from trees and flinging poop at each other. Just because rape is a human flaw does not mean it's a human right. Anyone who would take the position that it is, needs their head examined. We've evolved and advanced to the point where pretty much all of us know and accept that rape and violence towards other people (male or female) is wrong. We write and enforce laws against it because we know it's wrong.
And yet there persists a base desire among a few of us to perpetuate this violence and aggression, behind the mask of anonymity. That's something I'll never understand no matter how much I dwell on it. I'm a huge believer in the right to privacy and anonymity, and I accept that it allows some people to spout hate and hurtful words, because the net result is that we all get the privacy we deserve as a basic human right. But the thought that some people go out of their way to harm others, whether physically, emotionally, or psychologically, boggles the mind. How do you stop something like that without doing even greater harm in the process? That is the question that really needs to be answered before we can continue to evolve as a peaceful species.
Member since:2005-11-13
If, on the other hand, you believe some things are just wrong, and need to be changed, and we should never stop trying, we might actually have some hope of improving ourselves as a species.
I think you're missing the point here. If Thom had posted and said, 'I HATE spam and I'm going to keep posting about it until the day I die, until/unless it goes away', most of us would've reacted the same way.
And it is NOT because we condone the behavior or think that people have a right to harass others in this manner. It's just that there aren't any permanent solutions to this problem unless you want to fundamentally change the way in which the Internet works.
And it's particularly disgusting that Thom would use this website as his personal/political soap box. He does it all the time, but this is on a whole different level.
Member since:2009-06-20
"Disgusting"? "A whole different level"?
Thank you for proving, through your overreaction, that there is, indeed, a problem with women harrasment and the way it is answered.
Member since:2008-12-10
The unbelievable comments and replies Thom has gotten on this article demonstrate he was absolutely right to post it.
What about OS News attracts such an unreconstructed bunch of misogynistic fuckheads? We, as a tech community, regularly condone threats and generally act like bro-douche twats far too frequently. This must stop.
Are men abused and threatened on the Internet? Sure. Are men raped? Sometimes. But nowhere _near_ the rate at which women are abused and threatened and raped. And Thom is right to keep using his corner of the blogosphere and the platform it provides to talk about these issues.
Member since:2005-08-11
Then leave, if it's such a problem. I agree with Thom, the treatment of women on the internet is appalling, is tech news, and needs to change.
Member since:
2006-04-25
And there, in a single quote, is the problem. If you believe people just have a "right" to harm each other, because they are human, no, nothing is going to change.
If, on the other hand, you believe some things are just wrong, and need to be changed, and we should never stop trying, we might actually have some hope of improving ourselves as a species.