Shutting us down: How online misogyny prevents women from fully participating in democracy

[ismnotwasm]

Laura Bates gave these remarks in the UK Houses of Parliament on Wednesday as part of a gathering of speakers hosted by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.

There are two major barriers to women’s full participation in the democratic process in the UK at the moment—the first relates to their taking part in the vital and shaping process of grassroots activism, and the second to their participation in more traditional political careers.

The process of democracy in the UK is shaped by exciting and vibrant activism, across a whole range of issues, from climate change to women’s equality. Increasingly, in the digital age, this activism is both organized and carried out using online resources such as social media. The Internet is a vital tool in raising the voices of those who have frequently previously been silenced, and allowing marginalized and disadvantaged groups a platform to campaign for their rights. But the experience of participating in an online campaign or in online activism is manifestly different for men than it is for women.

Simply by participating in online spaces, women are faced with a barrage of content that can make it a hostile and dangerous environment for them.

Rape jokes, domestic violence memes and entire forums dedicated to violent misogyny exist close to the surface …



… with images like these cropping up on popular social networking sites.

But more specifically, women who dare to use their voices to discuss politics or take part in democratic processes online tend to face a barrage of online abuse. I have experienced this myself almost constantly since starting the Everyday Sexism Project two years ago. It ranges from online harassment and sexist responses to political debate which utterly ignore the content of said debate in favor of outright misogyny …






http://www.womenundersiegeproject.org/blog/entry/how-misogyny-is-preventing-women-from-fully-participating-in-the-democratic

[BainsBane]

1. and expressing our views amounts to "bullying."

I had someone say that the other day.

[ismnotwasm]

2. Sensitive types aren't they?

Completely ignore facts out of respect for their own self-absorption

[YoungDemCA]

3. There are whole online discussion groups dedicated to whining about "misandry"...

There's one in particular that I'm pretty sure those here at DU are very well-acquainted with.

Of course, they will claim that "men have issues that are unique to them as men" and that they are merely "providing a place for men" to voice their concerns.

[ismnotwasm]

4. The only near equivalent

Is white people complaining about "reverse racism" not understanding power dynamics and privilege whatsoever

[YoungDemCA]

5. It's not that they don't understand

It's that they don't WANT to understand, and are more interested in shutting down dissident voices than they are in examining issues critically or with any sense of empathy.

Willful misunderstanding/ignorance is a tool, a defense mechanism used by those who identify with power and authority to shut down critics of the system.

[ismnotwasm]

6. I can see that

Weird the contortions people will go through to hang on to harmful power, just to they can justify it

[seabeyond]

7. that is what i have concluded. i really thought surely with education. but, the reality i come to

even the very good men,. like the privilege nad entitlement. so even those that are on our side and fight for us... well, maybe not the dudes that actively speak up and fight. but all the normal men, that are respectful and loving, they still like the privilege and entitlement and cant quite let go. fearful of a loss. and that loss.... really isnt a reality. there would be such a magnificant gain for them that they do not realize. to be equal. not encumbered with all the other stuff privilege entails.

[AverageJoe90]

10. Indeed, there is NO such thing as "reverse" racism. Nor "reverse" sexism, either.

For there to be a reverse, one would have to assume that the propagation of "regular" racism, as it might be called, is the unique domain of a single group. And yet, most people from all backgrounds across the globe, will agree that racism as a whole is not merely limited to one group, regardless of power dynamics in any given nation, but rather, anyone who hates, despises, dehumanizes, etc. another ethnic group, especially in its entirety can be called such(though systemic racism does vary from place to place; for example, here in America, systemic racism doesn't affect Caucasians. But many others ARE affected. Problems also exist in Australia with systemic racism & other prejudices against Aboriginal peoples, against Maori in New Zealand, Albanians in Italy, and against Koreans in Japan, etc.)

The same logic can arguably be applied to sexism as well. While most sexism does come from men, and remnants of systemic sexism do continue to plague women(a problem that men don't have to face), sexism in of itself is not limited to men, and there are women occasionally engage in such. Therefore, when a person whines about "reverse" sexism, they assume that sexism is only limited to men. It is not; every time a complaint like this is made, it belies their ignorance about how the world works.

[BainsBane]

8. The arguments from some are the same

Then there is the study from he 1980s, claiming women say no even when they want to have sex. It's frequently posted, attributed to "feminists," with no indication of how old it is, the context of the literature, or subsequent research. Where would one even find something like that if not from an MRA website? I don't know, but I do know the poster has refused to say where he came across it.

[AverageJoe90]

9. Sickening stuff.....really wish Twitter would do more to crack down on misogyny.