Misogyny and the objectification of women is always upsetting, but it's especially disappointing when it comes from members of a group with which we identify. And what happened on r/atheism recently is no exception.
Four days ago on Reddit, a 15-year-old girl posted this:
It reads "What my super religious mother got me for Christmas..." which a picture of her holding a copy of Carl Sagan's The Demon Haunted World.
What should have been relatively straightforward, "That's so cool, my parents would never do that!" or something discussion turned into a misogynistic, objectifying, violent rape joke session.
To a 15-year-old girl. Because she dared to show her face on the internet.
Some of the "highlights":
The jeans I'm wearing right now are older than her. But then again, they're full of holes.- Aaaaaand so is she...I wasn't trying to, but it needed to be said.
Relax your anus, it hurts less that way- Blood is mother nature's lubricant.
BITE THE PILLOW, I'M GOIN' DRY!
Obviously, these comments are horrible and undeserved. But wait, there's more. It's her fault:
You didn't need to include yourself in this, it serves no purpose, you knew your post would never go anywhere unless you did so, for shame lady. Merry Christmas!
You sorta posted a comment "bracin my anus" to "brace for the complements", and are complaining how sexualized this post has become. I respect you for your intelligence, and the fact that you read sagan, but come on, bracin my anus? really?
Nobody deserves to be treated how she was, regardless of whether or not they said the word "anus" jokingly, or *GASP* dared to be a pretty girl while simultaneously being intellectual and on the internet.
Shame on those commenters, and shame on those who excuse this type of sexism and objectification.
For some good takes on this incident, Rebecca Watson and Greta Christina have laid it out quite well.
4 comments:
This Reddit page needs to be curated,so that such comments can be removed. Note that I'm not suggesting censorship, just an effort to stay on point. I'm sure misogynistic assholes can find other forums to vent their hatred on.
Of course, it is not censorship for a blog to remove sexist offensive comments that are irrelevant.
I disagree with Reddit "needing" to be curated. The promise of free, unfiltered expression is one of the highest ideals we can aspire to. I understand why /r/AskScience would use moderation to remove idle speculation and anecdotal claims or other subreddits with particular goals in mind might use moderation to achieve them. But heavy-handed moderation of a discussion forum is going in the wrong direction. Further, I think any attempt to "curate" a discussion forum on an open platform like Reddit would just lead to a new alternative subreddit being formed. It's happened before, where moderators abused their powers and the users told them to remove themselves or they would create a new subreddit themselves.
Dan, I disagree, and I would oppose censorship on even our blog–it's not my call to make, but I'd argue the case for it in UNIFI that we should never delete a person's comments. If one's criteria for relevancy includes whether or not it is offensive, then I argue that one is not really concerned with relevancy in the first place. If that isn't what you meant to say, I misunderstood; it sounds an awful lot like you're suggesting offensiveness implies irrelevancy, however.
Regarding the comments on Reddit, agree with Stef. The girl who posted the picture did not deserve many of the comments posted, they were unwarranted and demonstrated that the internet fails to be anything but puerile.
Fuck Yes, Stef McGraw, whoever you are. Fuck to the yes. Things like this do not pass muster and should not be tolerated.
I also heard that a lot of people involved in this were also atheists. That really chaps my ass. I hope it isn't true, but if it is? I'll bet the farm these jerks were the variety who think calling themselves atheists is a cheat code for intellectual superiority. That is just embarrassing. I am so sick of the intellectualization of misogyny that passes for "free thought" these days.
On that front, I'm finding fewer and fewer places to go. I can't call myself a Leftist because of the prominent stupidity of so many other leftists. I'm hesitant to call myself an atheist because of the prominent stupidity of so many other atheists. It is very frustrating.
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