The Unbelievable Harassment Black Women Face Daily on Twitter

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/unbelievable-harassment-black-women-face-daily-twitter


This is a screenshot Imani Gandy took of one of her many abusers.

When Feminista Jones wakes up each morning and checks her mentions on Twitter, she is likely to see tweets of the most derogatory and threatening nature. Some users call her a bitch, ho or other offensive names. Feminista estimates that she has blocked more than 500 accounts over the years. With nearly 35,000 followers on Twitter, Feminista is one of the most well-known feminist voices online. Her prominence come with a price, as it attracts a bevy of abusers who hurl threats of rape and sexual assault.

Reporting such harassment doesn’t do much good, she says, as many of her most persistent abusers simply create new accounts and continue their harassment. And Twitter’s response time operates at a snail pace, Feminista says of her experience reporting harassment. The abuse has been going on for so long that she has gotten used to it, but the toll it has taken on her spirit has been immense.

“I get attacked on a daily basis," she told AlterNet in an interview. “There’s not a day that goes by when someone isn’t trolling or harassing me. But what I’ve also noticed is that the kind of direct defense that I receive has been relatively minimal, and it usually comes from the same people every time. Some people say to me, 'Oh I see you’re handling it, so I figure that you’ve got it' or 'You’re such a strong woman. You got it. You take it on your shoulders and you’re just so good at it.' And I don’t know if it’s the strong black women trope or something else, but a lot of people feel I don’t need the help and so they don’t. I also think some people are afraid of catching the same kind of heat if they intervene directly.”

Raevin Wade, who goes by the name Afro-Latina on Twitter, has nearly 11,000 followers, and often tweets photos celebrating black female beauty. Apparently this also attracts racist harassers; she told AlterNet that she has blocked more than 50 people this year alone.

[lovemydog]

1. Some people

go out of their way to harass someone who is trying to celebrate diversity. I know I shouldn't be amazed at that, but I am. I guess for those types of people it must suck to be them.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. It's very telling that the abuse and harassment almost stop when these women are

perceived as being male.

[Recursion]

6. I used to run a MMORPG (online roleplaying game) server.

Our user polls told us that about 25% of our users were women (this was a decade ago; more women MMORPG now) and that 75% of them chose male avatars to avoid harassment. That really troubles me.

[chervilant]

3. Not to diminish the travails of Black women, but I would assert that

most women get online harassment from sexists and misogynists. In fact, the article you've linked concluded with this observation.

As one Black Feminist observed, when she created a "white male persona":

“As a white man, that was the most fun I had online in terms of actually getting to talk to people and not be insulted by them,” she said. “People thought I was wrong, people thought I was ridiculous but nobody thought I was stupid. I received fewer slurs and people were a lot more interested in my thought process than when I was anything else.”

I've had similar experiences online, even on this forum. It's most distressing that so many people -- mostly men -- have so little self-esteem.

[KitSileya]

11. Yes, but it is very important we don't 'what about white women'

The harassment of women of color is more vituperative, and follows different cultural stereotypes. White feminists need to check their privilege too, and we shouldn't fall into the same trap so many men do with us, and say "what about white women".

A good source for deconstruction of the harassment black women face is Trudy at Gradient Lair

[seabeyond]

18. absolutely. and this cannot be stressed enough. i talked about how this article so fits with hof

experience on du, and the ability to be demonized as we are insulted and attacked.

and yes. black women experience a whole other level that what white women experience. that is a whole other conversation.

[chervilant]

21. Hence my disclaimer.

I have nieces and extended family who've had the worst harassment imaginable. I have had Latina friends and students describe similar experiences. It's a sad reality for our species--to evince such hate and vitriol.

[Recursion]

4. In nearly 30 years of opinionated online commentary, I have never received a death or rape threat

Not even once. Not even peripherally. Because I'm male. People who try to minimize the abuse women face online irritate the hell out of me.

[Feral Child]

5. Cowards.

Hiding behind the anonymity of the Net to terrorize.

Sexual predators, every one of them.

[Lee-Lee]

7. Not just black women, any women of color

Even on here.

[whistler162]

8. To Feminista Jones drop the twitter account

and get as many other as you can to drop theirs. It is called a boycott.

You aren't going to change many of the harassers, so hurt Twitter in its ad revenue. I am not sure how Twitter/Facebook could change to stop harassment without being more big brotherish.

Next enter a 10 step Twitter/Facebook/Instagram addiction program. If you have to check your twitter account every morning when you wake up it is as bad a that cigarette you used to, assumption on my part, needed to get started every morning.

[customerserviceguy]

9. Thank you

Twitter and Facebook addictions are the root of the problem. If you ignore those places, maybe you'll see what life was like before every miniscule ordinary action and whimpering was put on public display.

[chervilant]

23. We women face as much sexism and misogyny IRL as we do on these websites.

My nieces, whose skin is light because of their multi-racial heritage, are subject to even more than my white female relatives, but we've all had to learn how to deal with the hate, the harassment, the belittling, the condescension, the patronizing, the "hey, babe, why won't you smile for me?" kind of crap from men.

[customerserviceguy]

26. The abuse IRL matters

The stuff on websites we didn't need or know about 10-15 years ago is completely avoidable. I draw a distinction between the two, as the IRL is unavoidable.

I hope we get to the day when your nieces no longer have to put up with any crap because of their appearance.

[gollygee]

10. That also silences her

She's using her Twitter account to affect change through social media. It might hurt Twitter for her to stop, but it also keeps her from doing the work she's doing. And it gives the people attacking her the exact outcome they were hoping for.

[Scuba]

20. +1

[KitSileya]

12. It doesn't matter what platform she uses.

Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook - she would be harassed equally in all of them, and in any others she may choose to use to be active on. WHat you are saying is really that she should shut up, so she isn't harassed.

Now, where have we heard that before? She shouldn't have drunk so much/worn that skirt/walked out after dark/worked in that office.... You are hardly progressive in your views here.

[JaneyVee]

13. Then they win. That is their endgame.

[seabeyond]

19. because so much more in the name of progression is accomplished in silence? that does not work.

do not accomplish anything. is not successful.

this woman, in this OP spoke out. and every person reading it is informed. what they do with it is their own, but her voice was heard. education, awareness is possible with acknowledgement. and that is the only way to progress forward.

more to the point. EVERY person that sees the harassment, speak up, call it out.

then something can actually be accomplished.

[chervilant]

24. Again, the perpetrators of the hate, bigotry, sexism and misogyny

are NOT the focus of the solution. Why am I not surprised?

Why aren't we going to change the harassers? Why aren't we looking at THEIR behavior, and developing protocols to block their crap?

I think social media have a responsibility to stop the unbelievable harassment of women of color, indeed ALL women.

[Skidmore]

14. Why is this not treated as stalking and hate crime?

It seems to me that free speech does not cover this.

[Oktober]

15. Verbal jackassery on the Internet?

Say it ain't so...

[chervilant]

25. ...

[Triana]

16. While undoubtedly worse for black women, women in general catch more abuse and harassment online

Everywhere. I've seen it for literally decades. Women who don't want to endure that either use a gender-neutral name and avatar or a male one.

It's the product of a world that largely doesn't consider any women human.

[seabeyond]

17. exact same with hof. and then, people wil hold up the number of people banned from the group.

see how mean hof women are? all those banned. bad bad hof.

could be the nature of certain people beelining to the group to insult and disrupt?

thanks for exposure. this is common. and yes, ... black women are harassed more, for obvious reasons.

[joeybee12]

22. Actually, I bet yahoo is worse...

Paid teabaggers who spew some of the most racist, sexist, homophobic shit ever.

[Uncle Joe]

27. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, xchrom.