Categories
#gamergate ableism advocacy of violence antifeminism antifeminist women boner rage bullying douchebaggery emotional abuse empathy deficit entitled babies evil SJWs FemRAs gender policing harassment homophobia hypocrisy internet tough guy irony alert men who should not ever be with women ever misogyny MRA not-quite-explicit threats rape culture sarkeesian! sexual harassment things that aren't fascism threats trigger warning video games

On Friday, Anita Sarkeesian called out "toxic masculinity" on Twitter. Here's what happened next.

Anita Sarkeesian's Twitter notifications (Artist's conception)
Anita Sarkeesian’s Twitter mentions (Artist’s conception)

What a surreal life Anita Sarkeesian must lead, in which virtually everything she says and does becomes grist for the Great Internet Lady Harassment Machine, Sarkeesian Division.

Take the latest blowup, which followed a few comments Sarkeesian made in the wake of Friday’s school shooting in Marysville, which may have been triggered by the shooter’s angry response to a romantic breakup. On Friday, Sarkeesian posted a few thoughts on the matter on Twitter:

While it it not literally true that every single mass shooter in history has been male, we are talking about an almost exclusively male club: one recent attempt at crunching the numbers found that 97% of school shooters have been male, and 79% of them white. (The Maryville shooter was Native American.)

In any case, the notion that a crime so heavily associated with men might have something to do with our society’s notions of masculinity isn’t exactly a radical notion. Indeed, it seems rather obvious.

But to Sarkeesian’s many haters, on Twitter and elsewhere, it was as if Sarkeesian had just posted a video of herself drowning puppies. Cue the twitterstorm.

Here are just a selection of the literally hundreds of lovely comments that Sarkeesian had Tweeted at her on Friday and Saturday after making her original comments.

[Giant TRIGGER WARNING for violent, explicit threats, harassment]

.

.

.

.

.

There were, of course, the explicit threats:

Google Chrome 4Google Chrome 5

And the implicit threats:

Google Chrome 39

And the sexual harassment:

 

Google Chrome 3

Google Chrome 36

And those who merely expressed their hope that Sarkeesian would kill herself:

Firefox 12

Firefox 13

Google Chrome 13

Google Chrome 18 Google Chrome 19 Google Chrome 20

Or die a horrible death:

Firefox

Or simply die :

Google Chrome 42

Google Chrome 28

 

But not everyone wished violence on her. Some just told her that the threats and/or harassment she’s already getting is totally justified:

 

Google Chrome 17

Google Chrome 40

Google Chrome 45 Google Chrome 46

Google Chrome 29

(Apparently by “fishing” Mr. de Alba means “expressing an opinion or making an observation.” Also note that the tweets that set off this latest wave of harassment didn’t contain the #GamerGate hashtag. )

Speaking of harassment, we’re just getting started in our chronicle of the latest wave.

Let’s continue with an assortment of Tweets using the c-word, a favorite slur amongst Sarkeesian’s detractors.

Firefox 18 Firefox 19 Firefox 21 Firefox 22

Firefox 32 Firefox 23 Firefox 24

Firefox 9

Google Chrome 21 Google Chrome 22 Google Chrome 23 Google Chrome 24 Google Chrome 25 Google Chrome 26 Google Chrome 27

Google Chrome 47

Firefox 15

Why, yes, that is Suzanne McCarley, A Voice for Men’s “Assistant Managing Editor” happily adding her voice to the harassment.

Others pulled out the f-word:

Firefox 26

Google Chrome 6

 

Firefox 28

She was called a “bitch.”

Google Chrome 7 Google Chrome 8 Google Chrome 9 Google Chrome 10 Google Chrome 11

Google Chrome 44

She was called a “whore.”

Google Chrome 14 Google Chrome 15

She was called a “terrorist.”

Firefox 29

And a Nazi:

Google Chrome 16

Google Chrome 37

Firefox 39

One fellow said that he thought Sarkeesian’s tweets were actually worse than the shooting itself:

Google Chrome 31

And one even declared her “officially worse than Wil Wheaton,” the former Star Trek:TNG actor who has won mass opprobrium from internet dicks for publicly expressing his belief that people  should not be dicks.

Firefox 31

To add insult to injury, a few reported Sarkeesian herself to Twitter for various imaginary infractions:

Google Chrome 38

Google Chrome 34

Another asked why she wasn’t in jail for her, er, crimes:

Google Chrome 35

Just to remind you: these tweets are all from TWO DAYS’ worth of harassment and threats on Twitter. And this isn’t all of them.

At this point anyone who claims that Sarkeesian is “making up” the harassment she gets, or writing it herself, or just the work of a “few trolls,” is either disingenuous or delusional.

I’ll leave the last word to Sarkeesian herself.

EDITED TO ADD:

ATTENTION NEW COMMENTERS! I would like to draw your attention to this bit from my comments policy:

[I]f I’m writing about someone who’s gotten harassed by misogynists on the internet, and you want to talk about how much they deserved it, or what a lying liar they are? Well, fuck you! Your comments go right into the trash.

So take that into consideration. It might save you some time.

CORRECTION: I removed a screenshot of a Tweet that wasn’t threatening but was posted by a troll. See here.

 

975 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

“Girls like dolls because they learn to talk earlier” should go in the hall of troll fail lulz for sure.

t1oracle
t1oracle
10 years ago

@DJG
“Self-sacrificing? I thought anti-feminists were against the concept of the disposable male. This one must be some variation of tradcon.”
I am not anti-anything. I am pro-equality. For both males, females, and every variation in between.

Puddleglum
10 years ago

Wow, following this thread is like reading a C.H.I.P.S. (gender division) episode of WHTM. Which one’s Ponch and which one’s Jon?

fromafar2013
fromafar2013
10 years ago

Oooh! Ooh! If humans are supposed to model our behavior after other primates, can we be Bonobos?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo

“This [intra group violence] does not appear to be the behavior of bonobo males or females, which seem to prefer sexual contact over violent confrontation with outsiders. In fact, the Japanese scientists who have spent the most time working with wild bonobos describe the species as extraordinarily peaceful, and de Waal has documented how bonobos may often resolve conflicts with sexual contact (hence the “make love, not war” characterization for the species). Between groups, social mingling may occur, in which members of different communities have sex and groom each other, behavior which is unheard of among common chimpanzees. Conflict is still possible between rival groups of bonobos, but no official scientific reports of it exist.”

kirbywarp
kirbywarp
10 years ago

@cassandrakitty:

Especially since t1oracle just got finished saying femininity is all about caring and empathy and nurturing. Wouldn’t the path of least resistance be “girls like dolls because they are inherently little mothers-in-training”? It’s like he had to go out of his way to make a novel argument fail.

Speaking of femininity, I’m still waiting for t1oracle to explain if his civility is feminine or not.

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

Both these three things…

Emmy Rae
Emmy Rae
10 years ago

I thought human beings were suits filled with cats or ferrets. Or is that just David?

t1oracle
t1oracle
10 years ago

@cassandrakitty
You have presented nothing but off topic posts, incessant insults, and off hand comments. You refuse to read responses, you claim they are too long and boring, and yet I am the troll?

How should one characterize such behavior?

katz
10 years ago

katz, did you change your pic recently? Hail the Furrinati.

Yep, I thought I’d make it something more feminine, hence the purple.

(It is Khoshekh from Welcome to Night Vale.)

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

I believe “mockery” is the word you are looking for. Do look it up before you try using it in a sentence, we wouldn’t want a repeat of the “both” incident.

weirwoodtreehugger
10 years ago

Thanks Emmy Rae!

I thought I’d switch from Ser Pounce from Game of Thrones to one of my own kitties. I went with Dracarys because she’s female. Misandry!

t1oracle
t1oracle
10 years ago

@kirbywarp
Do you understand human evolution? Tell me, what is the primary factor that influences the evolution of a species?

@cassandrakitty

“mockery”

Because mockery isn’t a well known troll tactic?

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

But she isn’t pink or purple, how are we supposed to know that she’s feminine?

Emmy Rae
Emmy Rae
10 years ago

What a misandrilicious kitty. She looks like she came and nuzzled up to the camera immediately following the pic.

katz
10 years ago

Aww, Dracarys! How adorbs!

t1oracle
t1oracle
10 years ago

@weirwoodtreehugger

Thanks Emmy Rae!

I thought I’d switch from Ser Pounce from Game of Thrones to one of my own kitties. I went with Dracarys because she’s female. Misandry!

I’m sorry, which part of that was related to the topic? Could you explain how that post isn’t trolling?

tinyorc
10 years ago

t1oracle:

Because mockery isn’t a well known troll tactic?

Read the banner of the site you’re on. Get back to us when the penny drops.

titianblue
titianblue
10 years ago

@JV

@titianblue

Given the inability to differentiate between feminism and feminity, my bet’s on t1oracle sockpuppet.

I know the difference, and did not, in fact, conflate them in a previous post. I assume you mean this:

The same shit would happen in reverse if a writer tied a toxic version of femininity or feminism or whatever agreed upon term is the female corollary of “masculinity” to a tragic event, no matter the adjective used to qualify it.

It’s pretty clear there that I’m not confusing the terms, I’m including both and also the phrase “or whatever agreed upon term is the female corollary of “masculinity’” to emphasize that point.

You specifically show that you don’t know which of “femininity” or “feminism” is the female corollary of “masculinity”, proving you have no clue what either of those words mean. Dear gods, go find a dictionary.

fromafar2013
fromafar2013
10 years ago

@ t1oracle

You aren’t stupid necessarily, you just have a very surface level shallow understanding and a very daytime TV level of knowledge about things like sex and gender and patriarchy and masculinity/femininity and are trying to pass yourself off as an expert. And we aren’t buying it.

It’s like you watched that one documentary on Netflix about the large hadron collider and are getting mad that your application to work for CERN was outright rejected on the basis of you having no actual knowledge about quantum physics.

The getting mad part and the insisting that “I do know what I’m talking about!” is what we’re mocking.

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

Emmy Rae, how dare you go off topic! Now we just have to figure out whether going off topic is a masculine or feminine behavior, so we can figure out whether or not to hate you.

t1oracle
t1oracle
10 years ago

But she isn’t pink or purple, how are we supposed to know that she’s feminine?

What a misandrilicious kitty. She looks like she came and nuzzled up to the camera immediately following the pic.

Aww, Dracarys! How adorbs!

Oh look, more troll posts. Thanks for advancing this discussion. It’s almost like you actually have respect or something.

kirbywarp
kirbywarp
10 years ago

@t1oracle:

Do you understand human evolution? Tell me, what is the primary factor that influences the evolution of a species?

Holy discontinuity, batman! How about some blockquotes so that I know what you’re responding to? Please? Pretty please?

As for “human evolution,” which is no different than any other evolution, yes, I do understand it. Not greatly, mind you, I’m not a biologist. Much more than you, I’d wager. Especially given your question. A species has to have offspring to evolve at all, but mutation and environmental selection of phenotypes is what makes evolution actually happen. Which answer were you looking for, and how was it relevant?

cassandrakitty
cassandrakitty
10 years ago

The NO U part of a trolling expedition is always the least interesting bit. Do try harder, dude.

Emmy Rae
Emmy Rae
10 years ago

t1oracle: I’m sorry, which part of that was related to the topic? Could you explain how that post isn’t trolling?

It’s part of the ongoing conversation in this community among people who care about cats…

t1oracle
t1oracle
10 years ago

@fromafar2013

You aren’t stupid necessarily, you just have a very surface level shallow understanding and a very daytime TV level of knowledge about things like sex and gender and patriarchy and masculinity/femininity and are trying to pass yourself off as an expert. And we aren’t buying it.

It’s like you watched that one documentary on Netflix about the large hadron collider and are getting mad that your application to work for CERN was outright rejected on the basis of you having no actual knowledge about quantum physics.

The getting mad part and the insisting that “I do know what I’m talking about!” is what we’re mocking.

I don’t need a degree in feminism to know what masculinity is. I don’t need a degree in feminism to find the term “toxic masculinity” personally offensive. I don’t need any form of expertise or credentials to have valid feelings as a human being.

1 24 25 26 27 28 39