You may have read about the heartbreaking story of Amanda Todd, a Canadian teenager who recently posted a much-watched YouTube video (posted below) detailing the bullying and harassment she’d endured online and in real life. This past Wednesday, she was found dead, the apparent victim of suicide.
Here, from the Vancouver Sun, is the basic outline of Amanda’s story:
Amanda was 12 years old when she made a mistake that would haunt her until her death three years later.
Her ordeal started while she was fooling around online with friends. She probably didn’t think it was risky behaviour when she lifted her top to flash the person who was flattering her at the other end of the webcam.
Amanda’s moment of indiscretion was not unusual for someone her age: Sexting and using webcams to share sexual photos is a growing trend among children, some so young they are still in grade school.
“The Internet stalker she flashed kept stalking her,” said Carol. “Every time she moved schools he would go undercover and become a Facebook friend. What the guy did was he went online to the kids who went to (the new school) and said that he was going to be a new student — that he was starting school the following week and that he wanted some friends and could they friend him on Facebook.”
“He eventually gathered people’s names and sent Amanda’s video to her new school.”
The video and photos went to teachers, to parents, to Facebook friends, which lead to repeated taunts: “Oh, there’s the porn star.” …
Amanda was the victim of unrelenting blackmail. And the cyberspace stalker was aided by people in Amanda’s real-world life — kids who would share the photos on their cellphones, kids who would gang up to hurl first verbal abuse and then fists at her.
Amanda’s story illustrates what can happen to young girls when sexualized images of them floating around online, whether they’ve put these pictures up themselves in a moment of poor judgement or whether someone has stolen them from password-locked private photo albums, or whether someone has surreptitiously taken an “upskirt” or “down-the-blouse” or some other compromising picture of them in public. This is the sort of damage that things like the Jailbait and Creepshots subreddits can do to young girls. This is why it’s so important that things like these subreddits be shut the fuck down.
Sadly, even after her suicide, Amanda remains the target of bullies and assholes online.
One of these assholes? The MRA and atheist videoblogger and all-around terrible person known to the world as The Amazing Atheist, whom we first met when he had a Reddit meltdown and started spewing misogynistic abuse at his detractors. Now he’s spitting on Amanda’s memory.
Mocking the format of Amanda’s video, in which told her story by holding up sheets of paper to the camera describing the abuse she’s endured, The Amazing Atheist posted this picture to his Tumblr blog earlier today:
I simply can’t comprehend the mind of someone whose response to Amanda’s story is this. Beyond awful.
Here’s Amanda’s video:
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard about a suicide like this–the first involved a girl who send a nude picture to a guy she liked, he sent it to the whole school and SHE was suspended and SHE was grounded by her parents and SHE was mocked at school and SHE committed suicide. I’ll give the teenagers a bit of leeway–they’re young and growing up in the same toxic sludge about sexuality–but the adults in this cases are often worse, and look the other way if they don’t actively participate.
Sure, the teenage girls probably hate themselves, but they aren’t making that message up themselves.
How on earth do the stalkers and assholes get the time for all this shit? I hope they’re listening cause I got a message – GET A FUCKING JOB!
Well.
This is awful.
Clean your mind with this kitten cleaning a bunny.
He can’t afford to let the idea that it gets better stand, because the entire MRA project succeeds or fails depending on whether or not they can convince women to accept the idea that X shitty situation they’re experiencing with Man Y is just the way things are and as good as it’s ever going to get, so there’s no point in trying to walk away from that situation in search of a better one. He’s basically trying to do what abusers do to their victims (undercut their self-esteem, convince them that this is as good as it gets and there’s nothing better out there, isolate them from potential support networks), but on an internet-wide scale.
“We can’t end human cruelty, so let’s all just be assholes to each other!”
Yeahhh…I think that’s like saying, “Well, you can’t cure your (in my case diabetes) so no point taking insulin (or whatever).” Seriously, “just because we can’t completely eradicate it let’s do nothing” is a logical fallacy and the refuge of the lazy and douchebaggish.
RIP Amanda Todd. McKenzie’s comment sums it up especially well, I think. And it is terrible that this is going to become “OMGSEXTING” and “OMGTEENSONTHEINTERWEB” instead of “OMGBULLYING.”
What? The amazing atheist is still around? Still a vile piece of human garbage, I see. I guess he’ll stick to bulling children from now on, since pretty much everyone else has learned that talking back puts him in ultra-tantrum meltdown mode.
http://youtu.be/UXmeKAJGcW0
Holy shit. I can’t even formulate my hatred for this man. Bullies like him and the monster who targeted this poor girl make me wish that powers like Carrie White’s really exist. I can’t even fathom why someone would respond this way to a teen’s suicide.
Is there some word that means the same as ‘douchbag’ but stronger? Like douchebag x10^6 or something?
No adorable kittens in capes were harmed during the creation of this video, promise:
http://youtu.be/GqnI_NI0e7Q
Kitteh and puppeh love
We could start a meme in which TAA stands for “complete waste of oxygen”. Like, wow, Todd Akin is such a TAA.
http://youtu.be/MxwH9RbQzJ0
Thank you for the puppy and kitten videos.
Lauralot: he fancies himself a contrarian, dontchaknow. He’s really a pathetic waste of carbon that has no brain to mouth filter.
There was one of a baby in a bath laughing at the puppies wondering why the baby was in the tub but that is too cute.
In order to promote this meme we could use the pic that David posted here. It sums up his lack of human decency and attention seeking tendencies rather succinctly.
pricessbonbon: the calico in the last video looks almost exactly like my Mimi.
Is TAA’s real life identity known? There are a number of employers who would steer clear of hiring someone like him, and if he is employed, he won’t be much of a joy around his female co-workers. This is another reason I support welfare payments: there are some people that are unemployable.
On a foodie note, I have my first attempt at red velvet cake in the oven now. 🙂
TAA is also the same guy who’s talked about his sexual fantasies regarding children and said that “a dick is the least harmful thing a priest could put in your child.” Class act all around.
The secondary vid of slow motion things was excellent!
@Kiwi girl: Encyclopedia Dramatica’s got an extensive article on the guy, complete with nude photos. I’m not about to head over there, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they knew his identity.
Thank God for kitten videos.
Yeah, just the anger in those piggy little eyes says all you need to know. “Damn it! Stop showing empathy! Just stop it!”