The infamous Gamergate controversy made headlines in 2014 when prominent feminists in the gaming industry — including Anita Sarkeesian, Zoë Quinn, and Brianna Wu — received vicious misogynistic backlash for their work. These attacks ranged from derogatory insults to threats of death, rape, and bombing. Eventually, these powerful women in gaming were forced to cancel speaking engagements and even contact the FBI out of fear for their safety. In a disturbingly ironic way, these attacks further prove why we still need feminism today.
Another misogynistic online campaign reared its ugly head during the 2022 Depp vs. Heard trial. After Amber Heard wrote an essay about her abusive relationship, which never mentioned Johnny Depp by name, Depp sued Heard for defamation. Depp’s testimony relied heavily on DARVO, a technique abusers use to gaslight their victims. Consequently, the internet sided with Depp, viciously mocking Heard online and making memes and jokes about the abuse that she faced. When a livestream of the defamation trial hit the internet, people ignored evidence that Depp abused Heard and gleefully shamed Amber Heard. This case demonstrated that people don’t care about domestic abuse survivors; they only care about dragging women down.
A 2023 study found that over 90% of women surveyed experienced sexual harassment on LinkedIn. Never mind that LinkedIn focuses on professional networking — the fact that so many men inappropriately propositioned women on the platform is frustrating and disturbing. When I started using LinkedIn, I also faced harassment, and I’m angry that sexual harassment in professional settings is the norm. Men have made their message loud and clear: they feel entitled to women’s attention, and they don’t care about respecting their female colleagues’ boundaries online.
Sadly, these are just a few of the many ways that women face online misogyny.
I’ve seen too many social media posts full of casual misogyny, from memes about “nagging” wives to rants about “crazy” ex-girlfriends to blasé comments about wanting to “smash” women. Unfortunately, this attitude has infiltrated every corner of the internet. From Reddit upvotes to Twitter memes, women can’t escape misogyny.
The internet makes it easy for people to create echo chambers, anonymously sharing their opinions about anyone they want, especially women. Since many of us have 24/7 internet access, we can’t escape this hatred unless we give up using the internet. Seeing hatred about our identities every day can damage our self-perception and may also lead to young girls believing that they’re “inferior” to men.
In the past couple of decades, a disturbing number of alt-right, patriarchal communities have gained traction. Reddit is full of men’s rights activists who constantly put down women. Some women on YouTube promote a traditional “tradwife” lifestyle and insist that feminism goes against women’s “instincts.” And of course, when powerful women share their opinions, people target them with online misogyny campaigns.
And the worst part? These attacks increase as more feminists speak out. Misogynists see feminism as a threat, especially when women dare to demand better treatment. While feminism has made great strides over the years, it’s disheartening to see so much pushback against it. Misogynists insist on free speech until feminist women use their voices.
It should go without saying that women are human.
However, some men talk about women as if they’ve never met a woman in their lives. These men truly don’t see us as people, which makes them feel entitled to belittle, harass, and threaten us. And when we fight back, they get angry that we challenged their insular beliefs, and the backlash becomes twice as bad.
Speaking about online misogyny won’t end it, but the more women speak out, the further we can advance as a society. The backlash that we receive means that we’re making progress, and we shouldn’t stop that momentum.
Now more than ever, we need to support women online. We need laws that protect women from being doxxed and threatened with gendered violence online. We need more men to speak up against misogyny and do their part to make the online world a safe, comfortable place for women.
Ultimately, we need to give women the same humane treatment that we so readily offer men. That’s the ultimate goal of feminism, and it’s never something that we should stop fighting for.
Originally published on Women AdvaNCe
Featured image via Tofros.com on Pexels
