I couldn't help but share this disheartening article that I ran into this week while researching. The article, entitled "How the web became a sexists' paradise," sheds light on some of the issues of anonymity on the web. In many areas of the internet, responsibility for one's opinions is limited or non-existent, which is enough motivation for people to write whatever they want, no matter how harmful or ignorant. This article does a great job of laying out some of the extremes of such a notion in relation to feminism.
The Guardian "How the web became a sexists' paradise"
I thought your article was really interesting, in a scary kind of way. What struck me in the article was the vulgarity of these threats. It is amazing the way a person can be so explicit, to the point where the other person (in this case, the woman) is marginalized down to practically an object. The threats mostly centered around overtaking her in a sexual way, which is frightening but unfortunately a reality in today's society.
ReplyDeleteYour article reminded me of a conversation I had with a friend from Nebraska last January. She had just finished a feminine class herself and was totally pumped up on everything she had learned. In a desperate attempt to help our other friend and I understand her newfound perspective she told us about a documentary she had seen for the class, "The Price of Pleasure" by Chyng Sun. She said it was a very disturbing documentary about pornography that shed light on some incredibly unfortunate truths. In all honesty, I have not seen the documentary myself, honestly her description of it was enough to scare me away from watching it because she explained some the extreme realities the film conveys. For instance, one of the things she said that struck me most was that, in the pornography industry, the biggest category for men is violent pornography. What does it say about our society that the biggest "turn on" for these guys is watching women be physically overcome and abused while sex is forced on them? That is the best their imaginations can do? According to my friend, the film explored this particular aspect of the industry in great depth, in addition to exploring other areas. According on the website, the film interviews ex-porn stars, scholars of mass media, psychologists, pornography fans, and a variety of others in order to get all takes on the situation. Another major issue it explores is what kind of affect pornography of any sort has on a person's relationships, romantic or otherwise.
Without a doubt the documentary sounds graphic and disturbing but maybe it's something that should be seen. My friend was adamant that it opened her up to a lot of unknowns about an industry she had previously considered too "taboo" to explore. This article about the violent threats of sexual violence seems like just a small step down from some of the content this video explored. I wonder if people were more exposed to realities, such as those supposedly exposed in the documentary, if it would prevent any of them from lashing out in such a graphic, sexual manner? Probably not, but it's a nice thing to hope for (and kind of a twisted way of getting there).